The five-vote majority needed in the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey remains intact months after Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked draft majority opinion was written, according to a report.
The leaked draft majority opinion penned by Alito is dated February 10 and has almost certainly changed multiple times in the almost three months since it was written, but three conservative sources close to the Court say that the votes supporting the decision remain unchanged, according to reporting from the Washington Post.
The justices set to join Alito’s opinion include Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who has at times sided with the liberal wing of the court, still appears set to oppose the decision, with the report noting that Roberts was still attempting to persuade Coney Barrett and Kavanaugh to take a more incremental approach to allowing abortion restrictions.
The decision is expected to be firmly opposed by the court’s three liberal justices.
The leaking of the draft opinion stunned many observers of the court, who noted that the draft does not reflect the final decision of the justices and their votes could change between when the draft was written and when the decision is officially announced.
Roberts said as much while confirming the authenticity of the draft, opening an investigation into the leak and stressing that the justices have not yet completed deliberations.
“To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed,” Roberts said in a statement last week. “The work of the Court will not be affected in any way.”
