Roe v Wade: What happened with US abortion law leak and why does it matter

Leak appears to shows court ready to overturn Roe v Wade ruling that guarantees federal constitutional protections of abortion rights

Police move barricades in place as a crowd of people gather outside the Supreme Court, Monday night. Picture: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

What’s happened?

A draft supreme court opinion, apparently by the conservative justice Samuel Alito, was leaked to Politico for a story published late on Monday. It appears to show that the court is preparing to rule in favour of Mississippi in a case over whether the state can outlaw nearly all abortions at and after 15 weeks gestation – a direct challenge to the guarantee of abortion rights enshrined in Roe v Wade.