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3rd May 2022
07:57am BST

Protestors gathered outside the Supreme Court following the leak of the document (Kevin Dietsch/Getty)[/caption]
It adds: "Far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have inflamed debate and deepened division.”
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. It is time to heed the constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
According to Politico, the document is marked as a first draft and was first circulated in February. The Supreme Court justices are set to issue their final ruling by early July. This is part of a case challenging Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15 weeks, Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organisation. https://twitter.com/BillPascrell/status/1521322449756958720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1521322449756958720%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2022%2Fmay%2F02%2Froe-v-wade-abortion-supreme-court-draft-opinion The Supreme Court is made up of nine justices, six of which were appointed by Republican presidents. Along with Justice Alito, four other Republican-appointed justices - Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett - voted in favour of the move. Justices' votes have been known to change during the drafting process. The news of the leak prompted protests outside the Supreme Court, and has been condemned by Democrats. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a joint statement following the news, which read: "If the report is accurate, the Supreme Court is poised to inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past 50 years." They added that if the decision went through it would go down as an "abomination, one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history." https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/1521331795442163714 Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders said that Congress must immediately "pass legislation that codifies Roe v Wade as the law of the land." If the ruling were to go through, it would allow individual states to issue more restrictions on abortion and even ban the procedure altogether. Abortion is one of the most divisive political issues in America, and in recent months a number of states have tried to place more restrictions on the procedure. Last year, Texas introduced a law that bans abortions after six weeks, except in the case of a medical emergency for the mother. Related links:Explore more on these topics: