WASHINGTON — Over private dinners last fall, three of the Supreme Court justices who would ultimately overturn Roe v. Wade laid out for their conservative colleagues their vision for the future of abortion rights in America, according to people familiar with the discussions..
Their goal, they said, was to write an opinion that would dismantle the nearly 50-year-old precedent and return the question of abortion to the states..
But the dinners also exposed deep divisions among the justices over how to achieve that goal and how much to overturn. And in the months leading up to the court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, those divisions would become increasingly apparent..
At one dinner, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., the author of the court’s opinion, suggested that the justices could uphold the Mississippi law at issue in the case while preserving some aspects of Roe, including the right to an abortion before a fetus is viable. But Justice Clarence Thomas pushed back, arguing that the court should go further and overturn Roe entirely..
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. seemed to side with Justice Alito, at least initially. But over time, he came around to Justice Thomas’s view, persuaded in part by a draft opinion that Justice Alito circulated in February..
The draft opinion was a bombshell. It not only overturned Roe but also took aim at other precedents protecting the right to privacy, including the right to same-sex marriage. The leak of the draft opinion in May set off a firestorm of protests and fueled speculation about the future of other rights..
In the end, the court’s conservative majority — Justices Alito, Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — voted to overturn Roe. Chief Justice Roberts concurred in the judgment but wrote a separate opinion that would have upheld the Mississippi law without overturning Roe..
The decision was a major victory for the anti-abortion movement, which had been working for decades to overturn Roe. But it was also a setback for abortion rights advocates, who vowed to continue fighting for access to abortion..
The decision has also raised concerns about the future of other rights, including the right to same-sex marriage and the right to contraception. The court’s conservative majority has signaled that it is willing to reconsider these precedents, and the outcome of those cases could have a profound impact on American society..
