MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd May, 2022) The United States Supreme Court has voted to overturn the landmark decision on Roe v. Wade case, which ensures the right to abortion at the Federal level, Politico said on Tuesday, citing a leaked draft majority opinion by US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
The case Roe v. Wade was decided by the US Supreme Court in 1973 and enshrined the constitutional protection of abortion rights, recognizing the freedom of a pregnant woman to choose an abortion without undue government restrictions. The 1992 decision in the case Planned Parenthood v. Casey largely upheld this right.
"We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely - the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment," Alito said in the draft majority opinion obtained by Politico.
The justice referred to the constitutional provision that guarantees the rights not mentioned in the US Constitution, which must be "deeply rooted" in the US history and tradition and "implicit in the concept of ordered liberty."
"The right to abortion does not fall within this category. Until the latter part of the 20th century, such a right was entirely unknown in American law," Alito said.
The justice argued that the federal permissibility of abortions must be abandoned, with the mandate to regulate this issue to be handed over to the state authorities.
"The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion," the draft concludes. "Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives," Alito said.
Politico noted that the initial draft was circulated among the judiciary on February 10, and it is unknown whether any amendments were introduced. At the same time, the Supreme Court ruling will not be ultimate until it is published, which is likely to happen in the next two months.
