Supreme Court's Handling of Landmark Abortion Case Revealed

Leak of Draft Decision Reportedly Solidified Votes to Overturn Roe v. Wade

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett reportedly opposed taking up the case that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, according to a detailed New York Times report. Barrett initially voted for hearing the case but changed her mind, with the case eventually being heard with the minimum four votes needed.
Chief Justice John Roberts and now-retired Justice Stephen Breyer had reportedly been trying to pull together a compromise solution in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Breyer had even reportedly considered siding with the court’s conservatives in order to save Roe by taking a hammer to its abortion protections.
A draft of Justice Samuel Alito's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was anonymously leaked to Politico in May 2022, setting off a wave of protests and threats against the court’s conservatives. The leak likely doomed any lingering hopes by Roberts and Breyer that they could persuade their colleagues into making a narrow decision that would both uphold the Mississippi law and Roe.
The Supreme Court justices decided to overturn Roe v. Wade days after Alito wrote the Dobbs draft, with most of the Republican-appointed justices agreeing to co-sign Alito's draft decision soon after they were shown the 98-page decision.
Following the leak, the Supreme Court asked Court employees to consent to a search of their electronic devices. The form, titled 'Consent to Search Personal Devices Dobbs Leak Investigation', spurred panic among the young lawyers, who were dependent on court relationships for future jobs.