LWVUS Statement on Supreme Court Leak in Roe v. Wade
[On May 2], a U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion was leaked in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
The opinion seeks to overturn abortion rights decisions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. It is an extreme and frightening opinion that would severely erode the rights on which women and those who may become pregnant have relied for nearly five decades.
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Current members of the U.S. Supreme Court.
 Front row, left to right: Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer, and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Back row, left to right: Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will be sworn in this summer. (Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States)
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Read my statement with LWV CEO Virginia Kase Solomón.
First, I want to acknowledge the pain and fear that this news causes for so many. This very real threat to our reproductive rights puts people in danger, fuels already heightened anxiety and looms as a dangerous degradation of personal civil liberties.
Second, I want to be very clear that the right to an abortion is still protected under federal law. What happened yesterday was a leak of a draft opinion from the Supreme Court. A decision has not been finalized by the Court, so nothing has changed in our federal abortion rights protections. Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land.*
This is a very important point because mis- and disinformation around this case has already begun to take hold. You can help combat this.
When sharing news related to the opinion, we urge everyone to a) uplift the voices of leaders in the reproductive rights movement, and b) verify that any information you share comes from a trusted source. There are several trusted organizations with years of expertise and advocacy within the reproductive rights movement. We will follow their guidance and encourage you to do so as well.
Reproductive rights organizations to follow (and their Twitter handles): Center for Reproductive Rights (@ReproRights), Planned Parenthood (@PPFA), National Women's Law Center (@nwlc), National Abortion Federation (@NatAbortionFed), National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (@LatinaInstitute), National Network of Abortion Funds (@AbortionFunds), NARAL Pro-Choice America (@NARAL), the National Women's Health Network (@TheNWHN), and Moms Rising (@momsrising).
In the face of this emotional, enormously consequential news, it's crucial to ensure that the information we are sharing is accurate. We strongly encourage you only to share updates from trusted resources and to read anything before resharing it across email or social media.
Finally, our reproductive rights partners are calling us to join them in action. I encourage you to consider heeding their call to join protests and marches today and in the coming weeks. Check out Planned Parenthood's actions here. Read our LWVUS protest safety guidance to be prepared and stay safe. We will also continue to share advocacy actions you can take.
All people deserve access to quality health care, including abortion, and the privacy to make reproductive choices. Today Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey are still the law, and we will stand with our allies to protect women's access to care. It is critical that we show up in solidarity, and make our voices heard for reproductive choice. Our democracy depends on it.
Yours in League,
Deborah Ann Turner, MD, JD
President, LWVUS
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*The current law from the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade reads as follows: a) For the stage prior to approximately the end of the first trimester, the abortion decision and its effectuation must be left to the medical judgement of the pregnant woman's attending physician. b) For the stage subsequent to approximately the end of the first trimester, the State, in promoting its interest in the health of the mother, may, if it chooses, regulate the abortion procedure in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health. c) For the stage subsequent to viability, the State in promoting its interest in the potentiality of human life may, if it chooses, regulate, and even proscribe, abortion except where it is necessary, in appropriate medical judgement, for the preservation of the life or health of the mother. The map shows the status of abortion in each state as of May 2022. A decision on Dobbs is expected this summer. If Roe is overturned:
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