Thousands rally across US over abortion rights after Supreme Court draft leak

Thousands of people across the US poured into the streets on Tuesday in protest against a potential rollback of abortion rights by the nation's top court by overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling.

Angry protesters flooded the streets in New York and took to the steps of the conservative-controlled US Supreme Court to denounce the news, which was first reported on Monday by Politico magazine.

The magazine revealed the apex court’s majority draft opinion to strike down the landmark 1973 ruling, which set out a woman’s right to an abortion in the country, triggering spontaneous protests.

The Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 found that laws criminalizing abortions violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the US constitution.

Apart from scattered protests in different US cities, organizers from the Women's March, a global protest held after President Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2017, called on supporters of abortion rights to demonstrate outside federal courthouses and other government buildings.

“For years, women in this country have been warning about the end of abortion. That day has arrived … this is a worst-case scenario come to life. If and when this decision takes effect, the consequences will be unbearable – and, for many women, lethal. That is no exaggeration,” read a statement from Women’s March.

“But it’s also no exaggeration to say that women will fight back like we always have. We won’t take this lying down.”

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Protest outside the apex court in Washington was significantly bigger and louder as participants held placards and chanted slogans such as “my body,” my choice” and “pro-life is a lie, you don’t care if people die.”

The pro-abortion crowd was interspersed with a smaller number of anti-abortion activists, including some with drums and guitars chanting, "Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Roe v. Wade has got to go."

The top judiciary official John Roberts on Tuesday confirmed that the leaked draft was “authentic”, but he stressed it was not final and ordered an investigation into what he said was an “egregious” leak.

“This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here. I have directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak,” Roberts wrote.

The protests and counter-protests show abortion remains one of the most divisive issues in US politics.

According to a poll conducted by Washington Post and ABC News last month, 54 percent of Americans said the Supreme Court should uphold the ruling, compared with 28 percent against the decision.

In USA TODAY/Ipsos poll published in April, about 49% of people said abortion should be "legal and accessible", most of the Democratic supporters.

A 2021 poll by the Pew Research Center found that 59% of US adults believed it should be legal in all or most cases, while 39% thought it should be illegal in most or all cases.

Overturning the landmark ruling by the top court would allow states in the US that have attempted to restrict women’s access to reproductive healthcare to ban abortion.

The case before the court, brought by Mississippi, is expected to be officially decided in the summer.

Former US secretary of state and senior Democratic leader Hillary Clinton said the decision was a “direct assault” on the rights and lives of women, as well as settled law.

“It will kill and subjugate women even as a vast majority of Americans think abortion should be legal,” she was quoted as saying. “What an utter disgrace.”

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