Speculation about the looming decision has been intense since the December oral arguments indicated a majority was inclined to support the Mississippi law. The disclosure of Alito’s draft majority opinion - a rare breach of Supreme Court secrecy and tradition around its deliberations - comes as all sides in the abortion debate are girding for the ruling. The appearances and timing of this draft are consistent with court practice. The document is replete with citations to previous court decisions, books and other authorities, and includes 118 footnotes. The draft opinion runs 98 pages, including a 31-page appendix of historical state abortion laws. POLITICO received a copy of the draft opinion from a person familiar with the court’s proceedings in the Mississippi case along with other details supporting the authenticity of the document. Roberts also stressed that the draft opinion “does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.” The court spokesperson had declined comment pre-publication.
“This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here.” The work of the Court will not be affected in any way,” Roberts pledged in a written statement. “To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. On Tuesday, after this article was published, Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the draft opinion and said he was ordering an investigation into the disclosure. If the Alito draft is adopted, it would rule in favor of Mississippi in the closely watched case over that state’s attempt to ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The document, labeled as a first draft of the majority opinion, includes a notation that it was circulated among the justices on Feb. How Chief Justice John Roberts will ultimately vote, and whether he will join an already written opinion or draft his own, is unclear. The three Democratic-appointed justices - Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan - are working on one or more dissents, according to the person. A person familiar with the court’s deliberations said that four of the other Republican-appointed justices - Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett - had voted with Alito in the conference held among the justices after hearing oral arguments in December, and that line-up remains unchanged as of this week.
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