2022

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Anti-abortion activists and pro-abortion rights supporters took to the streets of Washington on Tuesday after news that the U.S. Supreme Court may overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that legalized abortion.

A leaked initial draft majority opinion suggests the court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, Politico reported on Monday.

Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the authenticity of the draft opinion. The Supreme Court and the White House declined to comment.

Within hours of the news, anti-abortion activists chanting “hey, hey, ho, ho, Roe v. Wade has got to go” and abortion rights supporters shouting “abortion is healthcare” were facing off outside the court.

Abortion is one of the most divisive issues in U.S. politics and has been for nearly a half century.

A 2021 poll by the Pew Research Center found that 59% of U.S. adults believed it should be legal in all or most cases, while 39% thought it should be illegal in most or all cases.

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the draft opinion, which is dated Feb. 10, according to Politico, which posted a copy online.

Based on Alito’s opinion, the court would find that the Roe v. Wade decision that allowed abortions performed before a fetus would be viable outside the womb – between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy – was wrongly decided because the U.S. Constitution makes no specific mention of abortion rights.

“Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each state from regulating or prohibiting abortion,” Alito said, according to the leaked document.

Protester Annie McDonnell, 19, a student at George Washington University, said: “The first line in the draft is that this is a moral issue. If it’s a moral issue, you shouldn’t be depriving us of our choice.”

“Justices get out of my vagina,” said one protest sign.

The unprecedented leak sent shock waves through the United States.

“This decision is a direct assault on the dignity, rights, & lives of women, not to mention decades of settled law. It will kill and subjugate women even as a vast majority of Americans think abortion should be legal. What an utter disgrace,” said former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The ruling would be the court’s most sweeping since former President Donald Trump succeeded in naming three justices to the court, cementing a 6-3 conservative majority.

“The Republican-appointed Justices’ reported votes to overturn Roe v. Wade would go down as an abomination, one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history,” said U.S. House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, both Democrats.

The news broke a little more than six months before midterm elections that will determine if Democrats hold their razor-thin majorities in the U.S. Congress for the next two years of President Joe Biden’s term.

“Congress must pass legislation that codifies Roe v. Wade as the law of the land in this country NOW,” said Independent Senator Bernie Sanders.

California governor Gavin Newsom said the state will propose an amendment to “enshrine the right to choose” in the state’s constitution.

“We can’t trust SCOTUS to protect the right to abortion, so we’ll do it ourselves,” Newsom said on Twitter, referring to the Supreme Court.

ABORTION PROVIDERS STUNNED

The decision appeared based on an oral argument in December on Mississippi’s bid to revive its ban on abortion starting at 15 weeks of pregnancy, a law blocked by lower courts.

The Politico report said a court majority was inclined to uphold Mississippi’s abortion ban and that there could be five votes to overturn Roe. An official ruling is expected before the end of June.

Four of the other Republican-appointed justices – Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett – voted with Alito in the conference held among the justices, it added.

After an initial vote among the justices following an oral argument, one is assigned the majority opinion and writes a draft. It is then circulated among the justices.

At times, in between the initial vote and the ruling being released, the vote alignment can change. A ruling is only final when it is published by the court.

The news of the draft opinion stunned abortion providers.

Andrea Gallegos, executive administrator at Tulsa Women’s Clinic in Oklahoma, had just finished calling some 25 patients to tell them their Tuesday abortion appointments would need to be canceled because of a soon to be enacted Oklahoma law modeled on a highly restrictive Texas abortion ban.

“I can’t say that I’m surprised,” she said.

“Now all these other conservative states like Oklahoma are passing the exact same legislation that Texas did, I have to say I became less optimistic and way more scared for what the future of Roe looks like.”

The Roe v. Wade decision recognized that the right to personal privacy under the U.S. Constitution protects a woman’s ability to terminate her pregnancy.

Christian conservatives and many Republican officeholders have long sought to overturn it.

If Roe is overturned, abortion is likely to remain legal in liberal states. More than a dozen states have laws protecting abortion rights. Numerous Republican-led states have passed various abortion restrictions in defiance of the Roe precedent in recent years.

Democrats said the draft opinion underscores the importance of this year’s elections, in which they are seeking to maintain control of the House and Senate. Republican lawmakers criticized the leak, suggesting it was an attempt to inappropriately pressure the court into changing course.

The anti-abortion group the Susan B. Anthony List welcomed the news.

“If Roe is indeed overturned, our job will be to build consensus for the strongest protections possible for unborn children and women in every legislature,” its president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said in a statement.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley, Gabriella Borter and Moira Warburton; Editing by Scott Malone and Michael Perry)

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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — When New York Gov. Kathy Hochul took office last year after her predecessor resigned in a sexual harassment scandal, one of her first big decisions was appointing a lieutenant governor who could help restore trust in government.

Her choice — and attempt at a reset — imploded last month when her pick, Brian Benjamin, resigned after his arrest on corruption charges.

Now the Democrat is hoping to try again, vetting candidates for a new partner as legislative allies move to change state law in a way that would get Benjamin off the ballot in the primary election and allow Hochul to campaign with a new, yet-to-be named running mate.

Hochul’s choice for a job that normally fades into the background is now a high-stakes decision that could make it tougher to shake off two primary challengers and weigh her down in the general election in November.

“If she gets the wrong person, it gives the Republicans an issue,” Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said. “The question of this choice is being used against her to question her capacity to govern and to make decisions.”

Hochul has said Benjamin’s April 12 arrest surprised her. She dismissed questions Monday about how carefully she vetted Benjamin, a former state senator, pointing to the tight timeframe she had to find a second-in-command after then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned in August and she took his place.

“We had to get someone. It was not a situation that was desirable. Can we do it all over again differently? Yes, and we will do it very differently,” she said.

Her decision of a new partner is expected in the coming days. But in order to take her new pick on the campaign trail, she first needs lawmakers to allow her to remove Benjamin from the June primary ticket.

Existing elections law says a candidate can only get off the ballot in case of death, moving out of state or running for another office.

The state Senate and Assembly started considering a bill Monday that would allow candidates to decline their spot on the ballot if they’ve since been charged with or convicted of crimes.

Hochul told reporters Monday that the bill is about ending dysfunction in Albany. She denied that it’s solely focused on her gubernatorial bid.

“When you think about it, every time I talk to a voter, they can’t believe that that was even the law,” she said. “So why not fix it now since this came to light? They know that a governor deserves to have a running mate of her choosing.”

Mike Murphy, a state Senate Democrats spokesperson, said lawmakers expected to start voting on the bill Monday afternoon.

Once that bill passes, Benjamin can decline his party’s nomination and remove himself from the June primary ballot, something he said Monday he intends to do.

“I am innocent of these unsubstantiated charges. However, I would be unable to serve under these circumstances,” Benjamin said in a statement posted to Twitter.

The Democratic Party and its committee on vacancies would be able to fill Benjamin’s spot with a candidate of party leaders’ choosing, according to a summary of the bill that outlines existing state election law.

“The expectation is that this will be accomplished today and that’ll create the necessary vacancy for there to be someone that goes before the committee on vacancies, they can start doing their work then,” Hochul said.

Republicans, as well as some Democrats, blasted the bill as an unfair changing of election rules at the last minute.

“Instead of working to lower crime and taxes, Kathy Hochul is more focused on salvaging her political future by desperately working to change state law to cover up that she put a known-corrupt LG on her ticket,” Suozzi said.

Hochul’s office didn’t immediately provide answers to questions Monday about when she will announce her new running mate.

Veteran campaign lawyer Jerry Goldfeder said the Democratic party has ample discretion when it comes to picking a new nominee.

“If this passes, they’ll be able to do it, as long as the person fulfills the qualifications for lieutenant governor,” he said.

Hochul, who is white and from Buffalo in western New York, has been pressured to select a person of color who has ties to New York City.

That was a consideration she made when choosing Benjamin, a former state lawmaker who hails from Harlem and was the second Black man to hold the job.

Hochul could also potentially tap one of two lieutenant governor candidates already on the ballot: immigration advocate Ana Maria Archila, and former New York City council member Diana Reyna. Both are running in hopes of serving alongside progressive Jumaane Williams and centrist Tom Suozzi, respectively.

Luis Miranda, a New York political consultant and board chair of the progressive political group Latino Victory, is among those who’ve publicly called on Hochul to appoint New York’s first Hispanic lieutenant governor, a symbolic choice in a state that prizes diversity.

Latinos make up roughly one-fifth of the population but have not yet been elected to statewide office in New York or citywide office in New York City.

“It will make a difference and it will be noticeable and great for the Latino community, and quite frankly, good politics,” Miranda said.

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