The journalists at Good Morning America on Tuesday jumped into total freak out mode at the leaking of an apparent draft opinion showing the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade. They warned of the “shockwaves” and efforts by Court conservatives to “upend” the “lives of women.”
Senior legal analyst Terry Moran huffed about the “scorn” Justice Samuel Alito was inflicting on Roe v. Wade: “The language of this draft is blunt, at times scornful, of the landmark decision that protected a woman's right to choose abortion.”
Co-host Robin Roberts began with the “shockwave” and then sputtered, “Are they going to overturn a nearly 50-year-old precedent established by Roe vs. Wade?” This became a reoccurring theme as Moran worried about the fall of “50 years of constitutional law and profoundly transforming the lives of women in the United States.”
The show featured no labels in the entire two hours for the liberal Supreme Court justices, but Moran again warned of “five conservative justices have voted to overturn Roe vs. Wade and nearly 50 years of abortion rights precedent.”
In the 8:00 a.m. Eastern hour, he repeated:
If it is authentic [the leak], as it seems to be, it means the conservative majority on this court stands poised to overrule Roe vs. Wade and roll back what for half a century American women have understood to be their fundamental constitutional right.
If this leak does prove to be final and accurate, expect journalists to totally meltdown at the idea that states could decide this issue. If fairness and objectivity weren’t already dead, the apocalyptic response by journalists will show just how lifeless the concept really is.
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Transcripts are below. Click “expand” to read more.
Good Morning America
5/3/2022
7 AMROBIN ROBERTS: On this Tuesday morning, an unprecedented leak from the Supreme Court sending shockwaves through the fight over abortion rights. Overnight, an apparent draft Supreme Court opinion. Are they going to overturn a nearly 50-year-old precedent established by Roe vs. Wade? Justice Alito calling the ruling, quote, "Egregiously wrong from the start." The reaction this morning and how it would dramatically upend abortion rights across the country.
(....)
7:02 a.m. Eastern
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We’re going to get right to that major breaking news, unprecedented leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion apparently showing five justices trying to overturn Roe V. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that laid the foundation for abortion rights.
ROBERTS: Crowds gathered outside the court overnight after the report was released. We have team coverage of this story and our senior national correspondent Terry Moran starts us off there at the Supreme Court. Good morning, Terry.
TERRY MORAN: Good morning, Robin. This is a shocking leak out of the Supreme Court, a breach of traditions of confidentiality and secrecy and trust and if this draft opinion is authentic — and while ABC News hasn't independently confirmed it, it does look like the real thing — It means that the conservative justices here are poised to overturn Roe v. Wade and 50 years of constitutional law and profoundly transforming the lives of women in the United States. Overnight tensions flared outside the nation's highest court after an unprecedented leak.
[Crowd chanting ]
MORAN: An apparent draft of a Supreme Court obtained by Politico. The document, dated February 10th, apparently shows that five conservative justices have voted to overturn Roe vs. Wade and nearly 50 years of abortion rights precedent. The draft opinion is apparently written by Justice Samuel Alito. It was not meant to be released to the public and is not final but it would uphold Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15 weeks and explicitly overturn Roe vs. Wade and the 1992 decision that reaffirmed it, Planned Parenthood vs. Casey. The language of this draft is blunt, at times scornful, of the landmark decision that protected a woman's right to choose abortion.
Justice Alito apparently writing that, Roe “was egregiously wrong from the start.” He calls it an “abuse of judicial authority” and adds, “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives.” Abortion rights groups including Planned Parenthood sharply criticized this leaked opinion but reminded a woman, “it's outrageous it’s unprecedented but it is not final, abortion is your right and it is still legal.” And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issuing a joint statement declaring that justices like Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, “lied to the Senate, ripped up the Constitution and defiled both precedent and the Supreme Court's reputation.
WOMAN: They are not going to get away with this! Let me say, I don't care what I have to do, they are not going to do this to America! There is more of us than there is of them and we are going to fight!
MORAN: But the bombshell report comes as five states enacted strict restrictions and sweeping bans, ready to immediately cut off access to care and 13 states have so-called trigger laws which would immediately outlaw abortion once the court overturns Roe. Anti-abortion Activists can feel their triumph at hand.
CATRIONA FEE: We are so excited of the prospect of the Supreme Court overturning Roe and finally sending this awful decision of the Court back to the ash heap of history.
MORAN: This leak, if proved authentic, is a crisis because justices frequently draft opinions and circulate them and votes can change. but it certainly does look like the conservatives are ready to go all the way and overturn Roe. George.
(....)
8:02 a.m. Eastern
MORAN: If it is authentic [the leak], as it seems to be, it means the conservative majority on this court stands poised to overrule Roe vs. Wade and roll back what for half a century American women have understood to be their fundamental constitutional right.
(....)
