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BACKFIRE! How leaked Roe v Wade document ENSURED it was overturned

Chief Justice John Roberts reportedly tried to convince fellow Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to turn away from the draft opinion

BY KUNAL DEY

PUBLISHED JUL 27, 2022

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is pictured at the House chamber on February 4, 2020, in Washington, DC (Leah Millis-Pool/Getty Images)

A bombshell report has claimed that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts was trying to sway conservative justices to protect abortion rights, but the unprecedented draft opinion leak in May foiled his efforts.

Sources with knowledge of Roberts' conversations reportedly told CNN that the chief justice was quietly directing his efforts to convince conservative Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to turn away from the draft opinion that was leaked in May. Politico shocked the nation as it reported on the leaked opinion, but at the same time unwittingly threw a wrench in Roberts' plans to save the federal right to abortion by publicly exposing what was supposed to be a private deliberation.

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The justices were well aware of the forthcoming Politico report on the draft opinion at the end of April itself and anxiously anticipated the same in the days leading up to its publication on the evening of May 2, according to the CNN report. Sources told the outlet that Roberts continued his efforts to try and convince the junior justices even after the leak of the draft opinion, despite mounting pressure from conservatives to formalize the decision. “Roberts’ overtures this spring, particularly to Kavanaugh, raised fears among conservatives and hope among liberals that the chief could change the outcome in the most closely watched case in decades," CNN legal analyst Joan Biskupic wrote.

U.S. Supreme Court Justices (L-R) Amy Coney Barrett, John Roberts, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Stephen G. Breyer attend the State of the Union address by President Joe Biden to a joint session of Congress in the U.S. Capitol House Chamber on March 1, 2022 in Washington, DC. In his first State of the Union address, Biden spoke on his administration’s efforts to lead a global response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, work to curb inflation, and bring the country out of the COVID-19 pandemic. — Supreme Court Justices (L-R) Amy Coney Barrett, John Roberts, Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Stephen G. Breyer attend the State of the Union address by President Joe Biden to a joint session of Congress in the U.S. Capitol House Chamber on March 1, 2022, in Washington, DC (Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty Images)

SCOTUS insiders told the outlet that Roberts was already facing an uphill battle in convincing Kavanaugh to grant the saving vote in favor of abortion rights. This was allegedly after Kavanaugh had previously revealed his desire to overturn Roe v Wade and had voted against it in a private justices' conference. However, an investigation into the source of the shocking leak led to heightened tensions among the judges and their staff, thereby killing the possibility of any swing votes as the justices feared changing their vote from that in the draft opinion would be perceived as caving to public pressure. Late in June, the Supreme Court voted in the case of Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization, striking down the 1973 landmark Roe v Wade ruling that granted women the federal right to an abortion.

Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC on April 23, 2021. Seated from left: Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Standing from left: Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. — Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC on April 23, 2021. Seated from left: Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Standing from left: Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett (Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images)

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Justice Samuel Alito declared in his opinion that Roe was "egregiously wrong from the start" and "the States may regulate abortion" now. He also maintained that the right to an abortion was a part of the right to privacy — neither of which are included in the Constitution.

U.S. Supreme Court building is seen as an abortion rights rally takes place in front of it on May 05, 2022 in Washington, DC. Protestors on both sides of the abortion debate continue to demonstrate following the leaked draft of the Court's potential decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. — U.S. Supreme Court building is seen as an abortion rights rally takes place in front of it on May 05, 2022, in Washington, DC (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

As Roberts' efforts to persuade fellow justices were thwarted by the nationwide outrage caused by the leak, the chief justice ultimately concurred to uphold the court's decision on Dobbs but dissented on overturning Roe, opining that gutting the federal right to abortion was "a serious jolt to the legal system." He added, "Both the Court's opinion and the dissent display a relentless freedom from doubt on the legal issue that I cannot share."