It's not enough that conservatives want to "burn down democracy by supporting free speech," as suggested by some liberal media outlets. But those outlets also allege that Monday's leak of Associate Justice Samuel Alito's takedown of Roe v. Wade is "pretty much the nightmare scenario" … "an illegitimate decision by an illegitimate court" … and, according to one liberal pundit, "my biggest fear is that this is not the end."
The Alito draft – which yesterday was confirmed as authentic – clearly was an evisceration of the controversial 1973 Supreme Court decision that made killing unborn children legal in all 50 states. Scott Whitlock of Media Research Center contends the Left has been building up to this since oral arguments in December in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health.
"It's a total freak out, it's a total meltdown – and it started as soon as you saw this break [on Monday evening]," he tells AFN. "But really, we saw it last fall when the hearings took place [and] it seemed like there were enough justices to severely weaken or overturn Roe v. Wade."
In the 98-page draft that was leaked, Alito argues the court was essentially legislating from the bench in its 1973 ruling. And Whitlock says while Alito's reasoning was clear and compelling, that doesn't matter to the pro-abortion crowd.
"These are people who love abortion; they love it like a religious sacrament," he exclaims. "[That's why] when they see this, they feel as though something terrible has happened and something is being taken away from them."
But the Left did get one thing right, he concludes: If this ends up being a 5-4 decision – as some are predicting after having read Alito's draft – Donald Trump's picks to the high court will get the credit … or the blame, depending on where one stands in the abortion debate.
"If it's just the five votes [in favor] and three of the votes come from Donald Trump's Supreme Court picks? Whatever you think of Donald Trump, you certainly have to give him credit," Whitlock states.
Dems' deception lurks
As for the leak itself, Chief Justice John Roberts has called for an investigation. In response, one pro-life group argues "rightfully so" – and is joining with legal experts who say it's a serious breach of court protocol.
"This is an unprecedented break with Supreme Court rules," says Mallory Carroll of Susan B. Anthony List. "The only person who could have leaked this very detailed draft is one of the justices themselves or a Supreme Court clerk."
Whoever the source of the link is, said legal scholar and law professor Jonathan Turley on Fox News Tuesday, is probably a "small institution" or "small number of people" who "likely took steps to hide their tracks." He also described the leak as "an unspeakably unethical act."
While the final ruling on Roe isn't expected until June, there is a stirring in Congress to deal with it by passing what Carroll refers to as "the very deceptively named 'Women's Health Protection Act.'"
"[H.R. 3755] is radical legislation that would codify the status quo that we have under Roe v. Wade, make it national law that we have abortion on demand up until the moment of birth, paid for by taxpayers, performed by non-doctors, and with as little regulation as possible," the pro-lifer describes.
Carroll explains that should the high court overturn Roe, it would simply mean the states would legislate abortion on their own. In contrast, the federal legislation would make Roe the law of the land once more. The Women's Health Protection Act passed in the House in September (218-211).
