Trump calls for writers of leaked Supreme Court draft overturning Roe v Wade to be put in JAIL

Donald Trump has called for the authors and publishers of the leaked Supreme Court draft of Roe v. Wade to be threatened with prison unless they reveal the source of their bombshell scoop.

Addressing a rally in Robstown, Texas, on Saturday night, the former president said that the person who provided the draft decision to Politico for their May 3 story should be rooted out.

He said the way to get the reporters, Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward, to reveal their sources – a fundamental violation of journalistic ethics – was to threaten them and the publishers of Politico with jail. 

‘You know in this country they leak all over the place – even on the Supreme Court,’ he said.

‘By the way, you have to find the leaker.’

He then called for them to be imprisoned if they refused to say who handed them the draft document. 

Donald Trump on Saturday night called for the journalists behind the May scoop about the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade to be locked up

Alexander Ward, Politico's national security reporter, co-authored the report

Josh Gerstein, Politico's senior legal correspondent and one of the authors of the Politico story

Alexander Ward, Politico’s national security reporter, and Josh Gerstein, senior legal correspondent, co-authored the May 3 story

The May 3 scoop by Ward and Gerstein caused shockwaves, and sparked an investigation to find the source of their report

The May 3 scoop by Ward and Gerstein caused shockwaves, and sparked an investigation to find the source of their report

The former president is seen taking the stage on Saturday night in Texas

The former president is seen taking the stage on Saturday night in Texas

Trump supporters are pictured at Saturday night's rally in Texas

Trump supporters are pictured at Saturday night’s rally in Texas

Trump supporters are pictured at the rally in Robstown, Texas, on Saturday

Trump supporters are pictured at the rally in Robstown, Texas, on Saturday

‘You know how you find the leaker?’ Trump continued.

‘They say you can’t find the leaker. He leaked all about Roe v. Wade.

‘This person leaked from the Supreme Court – never happened.

‘And they don’t want to mention this as they think it’s so terrible.

‘You take the writer – they say they’re never going to find it, they’re going through phone records, it’s been a long time – you take the writer and the publisher of the certain paper. And you say, who is the leaker?

‘National security. And they say we’re not going to tell you.

‘And you say, OK, you’re going to jail.

‘And when this person realizes they are going to be the bride of another prisoner very shortly, he will say: I’d very much like to tell you exactly who that leaker was. It was Bill Jones, I swear he’s the leaker!

‘They don’t want to do that. But that’s the only way.’

Demonstrators carry the lead banner of the Women's March for reproductive rights in Washington DC on October 8

Demonstrators carry the lead banner of the Women’s March for reproductive rights in Washington DC on October 8

Women in Washington DC are seen demanding abortion rights on October 8

Women in Washington DC are seen demanding abortion rights on October 8

Activists in Washington DC demand access to abortion for all women in the U.S. on October 8

Activists in Washington DC demand access to abortion for all women in the U.S. on October 8

Locking up journalists for refusing to reveal their sources would put the United States in the same category of countries as China, Myanmar, Egypt and Belarus. 

The Committee to Protect Journalist’s annual report found that, as of December 1 2021, 293 journalists were imprisoned in 37 different countries – up from 280 in 2020. 

China was far and away the worst offender, holding 50 journalists prisoner.

There were no journalists in behind bars in the United States, Canada or Mexico. 

Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, CPJ’s advocacy and communications director, told VOA there is a common theme across countries jailing journalists.

‘Authoritarian governments are portraying journalists as unfair liars and criminals,’ she said at the time. 

‘That narrative serves political polarization plaguing the world and is also a critical component in erosion of trust in the free and independent media worldwide.’

Trump has previously called for the leaker to be found, but has not previously suggested they be imprisoned if they refuse to disclose their sources.

‘The U.S. Supreme Court MUST find, reveal, and punish the ‘Leaker.’,’ he wrote in June on his own social media network, Truth Social. 

‘Very easy to do – Go to the reporter who received the leak.

‘This is a tremendously serious matter that has never happened, to anywhere near this extent, before,’ he added. 

‘The Court will be compromised and demeaned until this very big problem is solved!’

Donald Trump in June demanded that the person who leaked a Supreme Court opinion showing the overturn of Roe v. Wade be found and punished

Donald Trump in June demanded that the person who leaked a Supreme Court opinion showing the overturn of Roe v. Wade be found and punished

The nine justices of the Supreme Court: clockwise from top left - Amy Coney Barrett; Neil Gorsuch; Brett Kavanaugh; Ketanji Brown Jackson; Sonia Sotomayor; Clarence Thomas; Chief Justice John Roberts; Samuel Alito; and Elena Kagan. The nine are pictured on October 7, to mark Brown Jackson joining the court

The nine justices of the Supreme Court: clockwise from top left – Amy Coney Barrett; Neil Gorsuch; Brett Kavanaugh; Ketanji Brown Jackson; Sonia Sotomayor; Clarence Thomas; Chief Justice John Roberts; Samuel Alito; and Elena Kagan. The nine are pictured on October 7, to mark Brown Jackson joining the court

Gerstein and Ward’s story reverberated around the world and sparked immediate response – with both pro-life and pro-choice activists taking to the streets. 

On June 24, their reporting was proved correct and the Supreme Court published its official decision overturning 60 years of federally-guaranteed access to abortion.

John Roberts, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, condemned the leak of the draft decision and launched an investigation the day after the bombshell publication.

‘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,’ he said in a May 3 statement. 

‘I have directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak.

‘To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. 

‘The work of the Court will not be affected in any way. We at the Court are blessed to have a workforce – permanent employees and law clerks alike – intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of law. 

‘Court employees have an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court.’

The marshal of the Supreme Court oversees about 260 employees, including the court’s police department, which has the power to arrest people on the grounds of the court.

People with access to a draft decision would be the nine justices and the people working in their chambers, including their clerks and staff – nearly 50 people in all.

So far Roberts is yet to announce that the source of the leak has been found.

Justice Elena Kagan called the leak ‘horrible’ and ‘terrible’ and an ‘obvious, blatant violation of the court’s rules.’ 

THE 26 STATES TO OUTLAW ABORTION NOW THAT ROE V. WADE HAS BEEN FORMALLY OVERTURNED

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

Idaho

Kentucky

Louisiana

Michigan

Mississippi

Missouri

North Dakota

South Dakota

 

Oklahoma

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

West Virginia

Wisconsin 

 Wyoming

Georgia

 Iowa

Ohio

South Carolina 

Roe v. Wade: The landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in America

In 1973, the United States Supreme Court recognized a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion in Roe v. Wade. The landmark ruling legalized abortion nationwide but divided public opinion and has been under attack ever since. 

The case was filed in 1971 by Norma McCorvey, a 22-year-old living in Texas, who was unmarried and seeking a termination of her unwanted pregnancy. 

Because of state legislation preventing abortions unless the mother’s life was at risk, she was unable to undergo the procedure in a safe and legal environment.

So McCorvey sued Henry Wade, the Dallas county district attorney, in 1970. The case went on to the Supreme Court, under the filing Roe v. Wade, to protect McCorvey’s privacy.

Supreme Court Decision

The Supreme Court handed down the watershed 7-2 decision that a woman’s right to make her own medical decisions, including the choice to have an abortion, is protected under the 14th Amendment. 

In particular, that the Due Process Clause of the the 14th Amendment provides a fundamental ‘right to privacy’ that protects a woman’s liberty to choose whether or not to have an abortion.

 …nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law

The landmark ruling saw abortions decriminalized in 46 states, but under certain conditions which individual states could decide. For example, states could decide whether abortions were allowed only during the first and second trimester but not the third (typically beyond 28 weeks). 

Impact 

Among pro-choice campaigners, the decision was hailed as a victory which would mean fewer women would become seriously – or even fatally – ill from abortions carried out by unqualified or unlicensed practitioners. Moreover, the freedom of choice was considered a significant step in the equality fight for women in the country. Victims of rape or incest would be able to have the pregnancy terminated and not feel coerced into motherhood.

Pro-lifers contended it was tantamount to murder and that every life, no matter how it was conceived, is precious. Though the decision has never been overturned, anti-abortionists have prompted hundreds of states laws since then narrowing the scope of the ruling.

One such was the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act signed by President George W. Bush in 2003, which banned a procedure used to perform second-trimester abortions.   

McCorvey lived a quiet life until the 1980s, when she revealed herself to be Jane Roe

McCorvey lived a quiet life until the 1980s, when she revealed herself to be Jane Roe

Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe)

Following the ruling, McCorvey lived a quiet life until the 1980s, when she revealed herself to be Jane Roe. McCorvey became a leading, outspoken pro-abortion voice in American discourse, even working at a women’s clinic where abortions were performed.

She performed an unlikely U-turn in 1995, becoming a born again Christian and began traveling the country speaking out against the procedure.

In 2003, she filed a motion to overturn her original 1973 ruling with the US district court in Dallas. The motion moved through the courts until it was ultimately denied by the Supreme Court in 2005.

McCorvey died at an assisted living home in Texas in February 2017, aged 69. 

‘The Heartbeat bill’

Multiple governors have signed legislation outlawing abortion if a doctor can detect a so-called ‘fetal heartbeat,’ part of a concerted effort to restrict abortion rights in states across the country.

Under the ban, doctors will be prosecuted for flouting the rules.

Abortion-rights supporters see the ‘heartbeat bills’ as virtual bans because ‘fetal heartbeats’ can be detected as early as six weeks, when women may not even be aware they’re pregnant.

Anti-abortion campaigners have intensified their efforts since former President Donald Trump appointed two conservative justices to the US Supreme Court, hopeful they can convince the right-leaning court to re-examine Roe v. Wade.

Georgia, Ohio, Missouri and Louisiana have enacted ‘heartbeat laws’ recently, and Alabama passed an even more restrictive version in May, amounting to a near-total ban on abortion from the moment of conception. Other states have similar legislation pending.

Similar laws has also been passed in Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, Iowa and Kentucky, though they have been blocked by courts from going into effect as legal challenges have been brought against them.

source: dailymail.co.uk