Rep. Smith weighs in on leak of SCOTUS abortion ruling draft, wants probe

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-8) said Wednesday he is in "full support" of an investigation into how a draft of a U.S. Supreme Court decision made its way into a Monday story published by politico.com.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith speaks to attendees of the Lincoln Day dinner March 12 at Knights of Columbus Hall in Jackson. Smith said he is in "full support" of investigating the leak that allowed a draft of a U.S. Supreme Court decision to fall into the hands of an online news organization earlier this week.

The draft in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, presumably penned by Justice Samuel Alito, was leaked to Politico and appears to show the high court is preparing to rule in favor of Mississippi's authority to outlaw abortions at and after 15 weeks gestation.

The revelation of the leak has unleashed a rhetorical firestorm because its contents are a direct challenge of the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision enshrining the right to an abortion.

"There is no question this leak is an attempt to put undue pressure on individual justices to influence their decision-making in the Dobbs case," Smith wrote in an email to the Southeast Missourian.

"Justices must be allowed to rule free from the demands of a mob, which is why this leaking is so egregious. I fully support an investigation into how this happened, who is responsible and hope the individual is held to full consequence for the action," he added.

Smith, who has been in office since 2013 representing 30 counties in south and Southeast Missouri, reiterated what he termed his clear stand on abortion.

"I strongly support the sanctity of and the right to life and will be praying for a ruling consistent with these values," he noted.

Excerpts

The 98-page document supplied to Politico, which includes 118 footnotes and a 31-page appendix on historical state abortion laws, was published in full.

"Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," the document reads. "Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences," adding Roe v. Wade "must be overruled and it is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives."

Roe v. Wade is the nearly half-century old decision protecting the right to an abortion in the U.S. up to the point a fetus can survive outside the womb — widely regarded as 24 weeks gestation. A full-term pregnancy is 39 weeks gestation.

Roe v. Wade is among the most controversial Supreme Court rulings in American history and has to-date survived all legal challenges over the years.