TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — While speaking in Fort Myers, Gov. Ron DeSantis called the leak of the first draft of U.S. Supreme Court decisions on whether or not to overturn Roe v. Wade “judicial insurrection.”
The leak of the first draft, authored by conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, entered the national news circuits around 8 p.m. Monday. As news of the day, it was one of the first things DeSantis was asked about during the event’s question and answer session.
Alito’s first draft for the majority opinion was first published by Politico Monday night.
Addressing abortion rights, DeSantis doubled down on the stance of being strongly pro-life, and said the 15-week abortion ban signed into law just weeks ago were consistent with both the state and federal Constitutions.
“We are also anticipating that when our protections go into effect July 1, that will be subject to a state constitutional and statutory challenge. There is case law that’s out there that we would have to overcome to be able to sustain those protections,” DeSantis said. “I think we can do it, but I do think that’s going to be something that is going to happen once the law takes effect. So we’ll see what the federal, U.S. Supreme Court does, and then obviously we are going to see some litigation on the state level with the protections that we have done.”
He said he expects the state would win those court battles, before addressing the SCOTUS leak itself.
“I will say though to have that leak out the way it did, was really unprecedented. I think it was really an attack on a lot of the justices, I think it was an intentional thing to really try to whip up the public, really try to make it very political, maybe try to bully them into changing their positions. And that is not something that’s appropriate for the judicial branch,” DeSantis said. “So, I hope, I know they launched an investigation. They really need to figure out who did that, and they need to hold them accountable. Because that’s a real significant breach of trust. You want to talk about an insurrection? You know, that’s a judicial insurrection, to be taking that out and trying to kneecap a potential majority through kind of extraconstitutional means. So I was surprised to see that.”
In the day after the draft from SCOTUS was leaked, politicians across the political spectrum have weighed in on the abortion draft decision. Republican lawmakers and pundits have called the leak the problem, while praising that the court would overturn Roe v. Wade, while Democratic lawmakers and President Joe Biden have said they will fight for a woman’s right to choose and called the right to abortion “fundamental.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called for the U.S. Senate to vote on codifying the right to abortion federally, as SCOTUS overturning Roe would put abortion’s legality into a state-by-state environment, with varying limits and potential penalties dependent on each individual part of the U.S.
At this stage, and despite not having a final vote or decision on the matter, politicos across the U.S. are waiting for a final tally of justices to tell them how big of a majority on the conservative-led court there would be. Chief Justice John Roberts is a well-known swing vote. Should he side with his liberal colleagues, the majority would pass on a 5-4 vote, rather than a 6-3.
