On the morning of Tuesday, May 3rd, The Supreme Court announced the authenticity of the leaked Roe v. Wade draft opinion. This opinion drafted by Justice Samuel Alito entails the Supreme Court overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, which guarantees women the right to an abortion without government restriction. The new opinion mentions that the court will return authority to the people and their elected representatives to make decisions, which in most cases will favor Republicans. Five conservative justices, including Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and of course Samuel Alito plan on voting to overturn Roe. However, Chief Justice John Roberts did not want to completely overturn the landmark precedent. Roberts defines the leaked opinion as “a singular and egregious betrayal of trust” which will receive expeditious investigation. 

“To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. The work of the Court will not be affected in any way. We at the Court are blessed to have a workforce of permanent employees and law clerks alike — intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of law. Court employees have an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court,” Roberts said. 

Democrats certainly expressed their discontent with this controversial Supreme Court decision. A multitude of protestors congregated outside of the court after the Supreme Court officially confirmed this decision. Several held signs in support of abortion rights, and the crowd chanted, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Samuel Alito’s gotta go,” and “Abortion rights are under attack; what do we do? Stand up; fight back”. President Joe Biden declares the right to an abortion as a fundamental women’s right, as he hopes to progress the law. In addition to Biden, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Alexis McGill Johnson recently stated that their abortion clinics will remain open and they will continue to fight for access to legal, safe abortions. 

“I think that the foundation of the United States is based on separation of church and state. Although one can have their own opinions and may not agree with abortions, they don’t have to infringe that right on other people. Women are still going to have abortions, it’s just not going to be safe and women would be put at risk. These kids are just going to go into the foster care system. Statistics say that most people want to adopt kids ages 0-8, but what happens to those who are ages 9-18? Not a lot of people are adopting those kids and these kids are going to go into poverty once they are out of the foster care system. That’s just the system. People are saying there are so many other options other than abortions, but there are minimal people actually willing to adopt. People can have their own beliefs but don’t infringe them on others,” magnet junior Alison Bolanos said. 

On the other hand, Conservatives tend to believe that abortions stand against their religious beliefs and humane morals. Justice Amy Coney Barret advocates for the lives of unborn fetuses and does everything in her power to voice her opinions. According to the Washington Post, Barret signed a letter in a newspaper in 2006 calling the legacy of Roe “barbaric”. 

As of now, the final decision for Roe v Wade remains unknown. The opinion of the Supreme Court only exists as a draft. This knowledge brings a multitude of new outcomes; whether in favor of abortion or against it, the opinion unearths dozens of insecurities within U.S. law for thousands of Americans.