Roe v. Wade Leaked DraftLeaked Roe Draft Turns All Eyes on Supreme Court

By Talia Perlstein ‘24
On Monday, May 2, 2022, news outlet POLITICO leaked a draft document suggesting that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will strike down the pivotal Roe v. Wade case, important for granting all women legal access to an abortion.

If the court decides to overturn Roe v. Wade, as the report implies, it will destroy this entitlement, and allow each state to decide whether to permit or ban abortion. Repeal of Roe v. Wade would end half a century of women having the right to choose an abortion. 
The leaked draft was an initial majority opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, which allegedly circulated around the court in February 2022. It would not only repeal Roe v. Wade, but also Planned Parenthood v Casey (1992), a case which helped maintain the precedent of Roe v. Wade. 
Alito was quoted claiming, “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”
    The Roe v. Wade debate began in 1970 when a woman under the pseudonym “Jane Roe,” now identified as Norma McCorvey, sued the district attorney of Dallas County Texas, Henry Wade. In the lawsuit, Roe stated that it is a woman’s right to have an abortion whenever she desires and that it should always be legal to terminate a pregnancy, not just when a doctor is medically required to do so. Roe won the case, not only granting women the ability to legally have an abortion but also preventing countless deaths occuring from illegal, dangerous abortion procedures by giving women safe access to the operation. 
    A formally surveyed doctoral abortion is one of the safest medical operations one can undergo, with a success rate over 99%. However, unsafe, illegal abortion procedures lead to significantly more deaths, with 220 deaths per 100,000 unsafe abortions as opposed to 0.4 deaths per 100,000 safe abortions. 
The impacts of the SCOTUS overturning Roe v Wade stretch beyond a woman’s inability to legally obtain an abortion. Repealing Roe v. Wade will likely result in many more dangerous, illegal abortions, skyrocketing death rates for the potentially safe procedure. Striking down Roe v. Wade also gives states the ability to regulate or even ban contraception such as birth control, leading to an exponential increase in unplanned pregnancies. 
Sophomore Eliana Finkel explained, “I believe that Roe v Wade being overturned is an insult to our democracy. Many women before for us fought for the right to a woman’s healthcare including the right to an abortion. If this leaked opinion from the Supreme Court passes, I believe we just took ten steps back in history.” 
Junior Rafael Turetsky responded, “I identify as male, so maybe it is not fair for me to say this, but I see both sides of this argument, and I would not be upset if the law was overturned. I feel that any type of life, regardless of the size, should be treasured and taken care of.”
Roe v. Wade will also have varying effects on women of different classes. Floridian obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Jennifer Griffin claimed, “You have to consider that women with means will always be able to fly wherever they need to go to get an abortion as long as we do not make it illegal nationwide, but poor women are not going to be able to travel to get an abortion and they are going to be forced to carry pregnancies to term." 
Thirteen states also have “trigger laws” to limit abortions, which will immediately go into effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned. States such as South Dakota have had these laws in place for over 15 years, while others are more recent, such as those in Oklahoma. Aside from these states, others such as Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Utah also have similar laws in place, in anticipation of the impending revocation.