# Who leaked the draft abortion decision? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 4, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910 "2022-05-04T00:45:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/161 "2022-05-05T15:03:38Z")
Hmm, she is a whack job who might have had access. And who wouldn’t face any serious repercussions if she was discovered That’s a promising idea. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/162 "2022-05-05T15:32:42Z")
As you mentioned, there are repercussions other than legal that one may face. And it’s not a given that whoever leaked didn’t break any laws. If someone broke into offices, or hacked into computers, or acted in a mopery fashion, they could be charged with that, even if not the actual leak. It’s just, as a matter of pure speculation, she seems to be the most insulated from any consequence. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/163 "2022-05-05T16:30:29Z")
> [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](#): > > Is there some standard of practice here which would require making clear when you’re purporting to quote someone, that you’re actually quoting something they themselves quoted from another source, and it’s not their own words? [side-topic] Yeah, it’s a quirk of Discourse that a quote of a quote gets mis-attributed like that. Some users here take the trouble to manually fix the attribution, like this example, but it would be nice if more users would too: > [@HuffPost article as quoted by SpacemanSpiff\_II above](#): > > That information is crucial to the story and is likely information that could only be learned as a justice or law clerk, or from them. (Be even nicer if Discourse could be fixed to get these quote attributions right.) [/side-topic] ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/164 "2022-05-05T16:31:26Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > As a side comment, I have to say that I find it completely demented that the “who leaked it” question seems to be a much bigger deal in the national conversation than the grotesquely awful legal thinking that has been illuminated by the leak. Fwiw, I’ve participated in both discussions. But the implications of that decision are just so depressing that i don’t like to spend a lot of time thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/165 "2022-05-05T16:33:29Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > As a side comment, I have to say that I find it completely demented that the “who leaked it” question seems to be a much bigger deal in the national conversation than the grotesquely awful legal thinking that has been illuminated by the leak. Note that on this very Board, the adjacent “Draft Opinion by Alito” thread has 360+ posts, while this thread has but a scant 160+ posts. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/166 "2022-05-05T16:37:14Z")
Never forget that according to “the Right,” meaning Fox “News” and all their other usual outlets, _this is the true issue over which we should be outraged! Who leaked???_ So I guess we’re doing their bidding. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/167 "2022-05-05T16:37:22Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Fwiw, I’ve participated in both discussions. But the implications of that decision are just so depressing that i don’t like to spend a lot of time thinking about it. Yeah, I don’t have a lot to say about it other than it’s horrible, and incredibly frightening, particularly in its breadth in undermining a whole host of important civil rights decisions, some of which affect my life fundamentally. I feel like all I can do is hope it isn’t the opinion of the majority when the decision is made. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/168 "2022-05-05T16:53:10Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > on this very Board, the adjacent “Draft Opinion by Alito” thread has 360+ posts, while this thread has but a scant 160+ posts Of course, and that’s heartening, but I said “the national conversation” deliberately. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/169 "2022-05-05T17:30:43Z")
> [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](#): > > But I think they’re ignoring the real reason a liberal law clerk would have leaked it, i.e. to provoke a backlash and frighten off a wavering majority justice (they suggest “anger and pique” instead). As I have pointed out before, this theory makes no sense. The leak makes it less likely that a majority justice would flip not more likely and even the thickest liberal law clerk would know this. None of the justices in the majority can allow it to appear that they were on board with overturning Roe but backed down in the face of liberal outrage. The whole idea is preposterous. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/170 "2022-05-05T17:57:18Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > As I have pointed out before, this theory makes no sense. > > The leak makes it less likely that a majority justice would flip not more likely and even the thickest liberal law clerk would know this. There’s arguments in both directions about which side of the debate is most aided by this link, based on different ideas about how the public will react to it. Regardless of which argument you think is the strongest, you can’t rule out the possibility that whoever leaked it was simply wrong about the reaction the leak would generate. That you think this leak works against liberal interests doesn’t necessarily mean the leaker thought it worked against liberal interests. That said, I lean towards it being a conservative leaker, for no other reason than a liberal leaker is actually risking their livelihood by leaking it. Sure, leaking this means you’ve blown up your legal career, but you’ve opened up any number of avenues that allow you to make a fortune off of conservative audiences. Being both a guy who knows the law well enough to clerk at the Supreme Court, but also a “good Christian” who ensured that the wavering justices didn’t cave and made sure to protect the unborn? The right will beat a path to his door. Book deal, Fox news “expert,” eventual run for Congress… that guy can pretty much write his own check. There’s no similar career path for a liberal leaker. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/171 "2022-05-05T18:10:50Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > That you think this leak works against liberal interests doesn’t necessarily mean the leaker thought it worked against liberal interests. I’m not claiming that the leak works against liberal interests in the post you are responding to. I’m saying that the idea that the intent of the leak was to get Alito or one of the other four justices to sign on to his opinion to flip is dumber than shit. There is no credible argument that if one of them was wavering that making their position publicly known makes them more likely to flip rather than less likely. There is still the possibility that the leaker is liberal. There’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff that we don’t know. However, there is no chance that the purpose of the leak was to get a conservative justice to flip. That’s just stupid. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/172 "2022-05-05T18:23:28Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > However, there is no chance that the purpose of the leak was to get a conservative justice to flip. That’s just stupid. Normally, I wouldn’t put the necessary stupidity of an actor against their likelihood of doing something, but these would be law clerks, and for anything you could say about them, stupid is not likely one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/173 "2022-05-05T18:27:58Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Normally, I wouldn’t put the necessary stupidity of an actor against their likelihood of doing something, but these would be law clerks, and for anything you could say about them, stupid is not likely one of them. Right? They are not stupid enough to believe that Brett Kavanaugh would publicly move from overturning Roe to affirming it because he saw some angry liberals on TV. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/174 "2022-05-05T18:41:25Z")
The leak is being pushed hard by the conservatives and their propaganda networks because they do not want to talk about what was leaked. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/175 "2022-05-06T01:28:41Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Couldn’t it be to provoke _legislative_ responses before the judicial decision takes effect? How would that work, in a world where the filibuster in the Senate is still a thing? I mean, the Democratic Senate caucus includes at least one pro-lifer, after all, and there’s no way he’s going to get rid of the filibuster to pass the National Abortion Rights Act or somesuch. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/176 "2022-05-06T01:29:51Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > > Couldn’t it be to provoke _legislative_ responses before the judicial decision takes effect? > > How would that work, in a world where the filibuster in the Senate is still a thing? In state legislatures. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/177 "2022-05-06T01:30:37Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I now want so, so much to believe that Politico got it from a liberal Justice — and also from a conservative Justice — and also from maybe half-a-dozen clerks, each acting on their own initiative; and, sure, also from someone’s wife, and also from this or that janitor. The leak on the Politico Express? Everybody did it? I Kinda like it. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/178 "2022-05-06T01:39:42Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > In state legislatures. Hmm. I’m not sure what difference it would make to have it leaked now as opposed to two months from now, but I suppose there are some states which may end their legislatives sessions in the meantime. How many of them are Democratic-dominated and still have anti-abortion laws on the books? Those would be the ones where action would be most likely. I think most Republican-dominated states have already passed either their trigger laws in anticipation of a June decision or in emulation of Texas’ law. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/179 "2022-05-06T02:37:50Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > How many of them are Democratic-dominated and still have anti-abortion laws on the books? Those would be the ones where action would be most likely. Possibly even more relevant: Liberal-leaning states where abortion is legal, that are now passing or contemplating additional “abortion sanctuary” laws to protect women coming from other states that are trying to project their anti-abortion laws beyond their own borders. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910/180 "2022-05-06T04:12:10Z")
never mind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-leaked-the-draft-abortion-decision/963910.md?page=10)