Leak in the Court

Visitors to the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., are often fascinated by several statues depicting the allegorical “Lady Justice.” In some of them, Justice is wearing a blindfold, meant to symbolize that the law is impartial.

That blindfold has taken on a new meaning. The Supreme Court was caught with its eyes closed last week when an insider with knowledge of court deliberations leaked a decision due next month, even providing a copy of an unfinalized draft opinion to the media in the case known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. According to the draft, the court will uphold the state of Mississippi’s law banning abortions after 15 weeks, and take that one giant step further by overturning Roe v. Wade, opening the door for every state to make its own laws on when and whether a woman can legally end her pregnancy.

The Supreme Court had a liberal majority when it voted 7-2 in Roe v. Wade, but the new right-wing majority entrenched by former president Trump’s appointments of three conservatives has changed the tone and the mood of the nation’s highest court.

“It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” Alito wrote in the leaked draft, referring to the individual states.