Politico published what appeared to be a leaked draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade 5/03/22 Transcript

Byron: (00:00)
There is breaking news. A report that seems to show how the Supreme Court could eventually decide the fate of abortion rights in this country. Already, barricades have gone up outside the court and a large crowd has gathered. Political obtained an apparent draft of a Supreme Court opinion that is marked as a “first draft” and dated back in February. That seems to show the conservative majority of justices preparing to overturn Roe versus Wade. This draft has not been independently confirmed by ABC News and the Supreme Court is not commenting yet. Terry Moran covers the Supreme Court for us. Terry joins us now. Terry, what does all this mean?

Terry Moran: (00:39)
Well, first Byron, what we don’t know, as you mentioned, we don’t know if this draft is authentic. ABC News has not confirmed it. It looks to be, but we have not confirmed that. We also don’t know, and this is important, where this comes in the process. Supreme Court justices circulate a lot of drafts, sometimes votes can change, but the bottom line here is this apparent draft of an opinion in the case that could overturn Roe versus Wade does just that. Justice Samuel Alito in this apparent draft writing for what looks to be a five vote majority of the Supreme Court says bluntly, “We hold that Roe must be overruled.” Then he goes on to say, “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.” It is a full on repudiation and overturning of Roe versus Wade.

Terry Moran: (01:26)
Once again, we don’t know if this is the way the opinion’s going to turn out, but this is a stunning breach of Supreme Court confidentiality of secrecy of the traditions of the court and one clearly designed to get a public reaction. It’s a crisis for the court because the court’s authority comes from the notion that those justices deliberate and come to a conclusion and they don’t play politic. They don’t play public opinion. But if this apparent draft opinion holds, all of Roe versus Wade will go, and that means there will be no federal constitutional right for a woman to choose an abortion. That issue will go back to the states. One by one, we will have a divided country where, in some places, women can get an abortion, and in other places they’ll be criminals. Byron?

Byron: (02:13)
Terry, thank you so much for putting this moment in context for us tonight. Terry will have much more on this tomorrow morning on Good Morning America.