Texas politicians react to leaked SCOTUS draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade
Not long after a U.S. Supreme Court draft document suggesting the overturn of Roe v. Wade was leaked late Monday night, Texas politicians took to social media to voice their opinions and concerns.
According to a report by Politico, in the draft majority opinion document, dated Feb. 10, Justice Samuel Alito wrote, “the Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.”
The draft document written by Justice Alito was confirmed to be authentic by Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday morning. In a statement by Roberts, he called the leak a “betrayal of the confidences of the Court” and said it was intended to undermine the court’s operations.
“This is a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here,” Roberts said in his statement.
On Tuesday morning, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, initially criticized the leak of the document calling it the most “egregious” breach of trust at the Supreme Court that has ever happened.
In a tweet posted Tuesday morning, Cruz called the leak “stunning” and said it was damaging to the independence of the judiciary.
Cruz later retweeted a quote made by himself that said he supports overturning Roe v. Wade, which he said was wrong the day it was decided.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, retweeted a copy of the statement issued by Roberts but did not voice his opinion on the decision right away.
As of Tuesday morning, Gov. Greg Abbott did not publicly voice his opinion on the draft decision; however, his Democratic gubernatorial opponent Beto O’Rourke took to social media Monday night when news of the leak was beginning to circle Twitter.
“Every woman deserves the freedom to make their own decisions about their body, health care, and future,” O’Rourke said.
Some Tarrant County candidates also chimed in with input on the leak.
District Attorney candidate Matt Krause posted a link to the breaking Politico article Monday night and said he prayed the decision was true.
Krause also shared a photo of a document with amendments to increase funding for an Alternatives 2 Abortion program and said in light of the leak, the piece of paper had become a “lot more important.”
Tarrant County judge candidate Tim O’Hare tweeted in response to a tweet that called the leak “the greatest security breach” in the court’s history and said it was “without a doubt.”
State Rep. Chris Turner, whose house district is in Arlington, Grand Prairie and Mansfield, spoke out against the decision and said Congress needed to take action.
This story was originally published May 3, 2022 at 12:23 PM.
