OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A large group of House Democrats marched on the Senate on Wednesday evening just before the upper chamber voted on a liberal bill that would have legalized abortion.
The Women’s Health Protection Act failed in the Senate, but the House Democrats protesting came in the wake of the leak of a draft Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade that would return abortion matters to the states.
The massive group of House Democrats marched through the U.S. Capitol surrounded by reporters filming the protest.
House Democratic women march to the Senate before abortion vote, chanting “my body, my decision!” pic.twitter.com/4FW5xstnyn
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) May 11, 2022
At least 37 House Dems are in the Senate chamber, including Jayapal, Clark, Omar, Tlaib, Cicilline, Bustos, Takano, Escobar, Espaillat
They applauded when @PattyMurray wrapped up her speech and were told those expressions not allowed in the chamber.
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) May 11, 2022
House Democrats have walked to the Senate side of the Capitol, chanting “my body, my decision” in the hallways outside the Senate chamber ahead of procedural vote on bill that would codify Roe v. Wade. pic.twitter.com/RrunTyU5ub
— Jennifer Shutt (@JenniferShutt) May 11, 2022
House Democrats march to the Senate side chanting “my body my decision” ahead of the Senate vote aimed at preserving access to abortion nationwide, which is expected to fail. pic.twitter.com/OO76vUN8dV
— Annie Grayer (@AnnieGrayerCNN) May 11, 2022
Democratic House lawmakers march to the Senate side, changing “my body, my decision!” on the day of the WHPA vote. pic.twitter.com/duoZcQqObs
— Ali Vitali (@alivitali) May 11, 2022
The Democrat-sponsored bill failed in the Senate on Wednesday by a vote of 51-49.
A new report this week stated that a majority of Supreme Court justices remain in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade.
Sources told The Washington Post that at least 5 justices, a majority on the court, have not changed their votes.
“Three conservatives close to the court” told WaPo that “the majority of five justices to strike Roe remains intact,” a question that has stirred those on both sides of the debate that has erupted around the future of abortion law in the U.S. in the wake of the leaked draft.
“The leaked draft opinion is dated in February and is almost surely obsolete now, as justices have had time to offer dissents and revisions. But as of last week, the majority of five justices to strike Roe remains intact, according to three conservatives close to the court who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter,” the WaPo report stated.
It’s assumed that Justices Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett voted in favor of overturning Roe v Wade.
The court’s three liberals — Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan — are presumed to have voted against overturning it.
It’s not clear how Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts voted.
NEW — Alito’s draft majority opinion overturning Roe remains the court’s only circulated draft. None of the conservative justices who sided with Alito have switched their votes.https://t.co/NNMvKE34tN
more scoops from inside the court via @joshgerstein @alexbward @RyanLizza
— Sam Stein (@samstein) May 11, 2022
A draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked to Politico last week it set off a firestorm on social media.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts called the leak of a draft opinion “absolutely appalling” and announced an investigation to find the leaker.
“The draft opinion is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision – Planned Parenthood v. Casey – that largely maintained the right,” Politico reported.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Alito writes.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he writes in the document, labeled as the “Opinion of the Court.”
Alito adds: “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
“We, therefore, hold the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Roe and Casey must be overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito writes in the document, labeled the “Opinion of the Court.”