Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas warned against bullying government institutions to achieved a preferred outcome after a draft opinion overturning abortion rights was leaked earlier this week.
Thomas made the comments during a judicial conference in Atlanta on Friday as protests continue around the country after the leak showing that the nation’s high court is set to overturn women’s right to an abortion.
“We are becoming addicted to wanting particular outcomes, not living with the outcomes we don’t like,” Thomas said, according to Reuters. “We can’t be an institution that can be bullied into giving you just the outcomes you want. The events from earlier this week are a symptom of that.”
Fencing has been erected around the court amid protests which have been peaceful.
The draft majority opinion, authored by conservative justice Samuel Alito was leaked to Politico on Monday. The opinion overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Alito writes. “Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he added. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
Alito canceled his appearance at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ judicial conference on Thursday. He sent a video message instead telling attendees it would have been “impractical” to attend, people who attended the conference told Reuters.
