In response to report about draft Supreme Court opinion in favor of overturning abortion ruling, Gov. Pritzker tweets, ‘Hell no!’

CHICAGO (CBS/AP) — Upon the release of a published report indicating that a draft opinion showed that a majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices had thrown support behind overturning the 1973 case Roe v. Wade, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker was quick to tweet, “Hell no!”

The report published Monday in Politico referenced a draft opinion circulated among Supreme Court justices about the case that legalized abortion nationwide. It amounted to a stunning breach of court confidentiality.

The Associated Press and other sources could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the draft Politico posted, which if verified marks a shocking revelation of the high court’s secretive deliberation process, particularly before a case is formally decided.

When asked, U.S. Supreme Court Public Information Officer Patricia McCabe told CBS News,” The court has no comment.”

Politico published what was labeled as a “1st Draft” of the “Opinion of the Court” in a case challenging Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks, a case known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

According to Politico, the reported draft opinion appears to have been written in February. Opinions can change and get rewritten many times before they are final.

Pritzker on Monday night tweeted: “Hell no! In Illinois, we trust women. We cannot let their most profound and personal rights be violated.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot also issued a tweet reading: “What we’re seeing tonight on Roe v. Wade is a horrendous attack on our fundamental right to choose, and we will fight against it with everything we’ve got. You have my word: I will do everything I can to guarantee your right to an abortion.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-Illinois) issued a tweet calling on the Senate to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, which has already passed the U.S. House.

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) issued a thread of tweets calling the draft opinion an “emergency” that would “represent a tragic step backwards for equal rights under the law.

The Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling in the Mississippi case, and again, opinions — and even justices’ votes — have been known to change during the drafting process. The court is expected to rule on the case before its term is up in late June or early July.

The reported draft is signed by Justice Samuel Alito, a member of the court’s 6-3 conservative majority, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush.

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” the reported draft opinion states.

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” it adds, referencing the 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. Casey that affirmed Roe’s finding of a Constitutional right to abortion services but allowed states to place some constraints on the practice. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

The reported draft opinion in effect states there is no Constitutional right to abortion services and would allow individual states to more heavily regulate or outright ban the procedure.

The reported draft said the vote fell along party lines, with conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett agreeing with Alito. According to Politico, the three justice appointed by Democrats are working on at least one dissent.

It is unclear what Chief Justice John Roberts will do.

Politico said only that it received “a copy of the draft opinion from a person familiar with the court’s proceedings in the Mississippi case along with other details supporting the authenticity of the document.”

If Roe v. Wade were overturned, abortion rights in Illinois would not be affected. In 2017, then-Illinois Gov.  Bruce Rauner signed legislation that removes language in Illinois law that states a desire to criminalize abortion if Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing the procedure, is overturned.

Illinois Democrats adopted that provision after then-President Donald Trump expressed his opposition to abortion.

The 2017 law also provided state health insurance and Medicaid coverage for abortions.

Rauner signed the legislation to the consternation of some of his fellow Republicans  

Late Monday, protesters were already starting to gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.