Protesters gather at Supreme Court over potentially seismic abortion ruling

Anti-abortion activists and abortion rights supporters took to the streets of Washington, D.C. after news that the U.S. Supreme Court may overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion.

A leaked initial draft majority opinion suggests the court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, Politico reported on Monday.

Within hours of the news, anti-abortion activists chanting "hey, hey, ho, ho, Roe v. Wade has got to go" and abortion rights supporters shouting "abortion is health care" were facing off outside the court. 

Abortion is one of the most divisive issues in U.S. politics and has been for nearly a half century. The news broke a little more than six months before midterm elections that will determine if Democrats hold their razor-thin majorities in the U.S. Congress for the next two years of President Joe Biden's term.

A 2021 poll by the Pew Research Center found that 59 per cent of U.S. adults believed it should be legal in all or most cases, while 39 per cent thought it should be illegal in most or all cases.

"Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the draft opinion, which is dated Feb. 10, according to Politico, which posted a copy.

Based on Alito's opinion, the court would find that the Roe v. Wade decision that allowed abortions performed before a fetus would be viable outside the womb — between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy — was wrongly decided because the U.S. Constitution makes no specific mention of abortion rights.

"Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each state from regulating or prohibiting abortion," Alito said, according to the leaked document.

Supreme Court justices can — and sometimes do — change their votes after the initial vote. A ruling is only final when it is published by the court.

Biden, while not offering an opinion on the legitimacy of the leaked opinion, said in a statement provided by the White House early Tuesday that his administration "will be ready when any ruling is issued."

"If the Court does overturn Roe, it will be on our nation's elected officials at all levels of government to protect a women's right to choose. And it will fall on voters to elect pro-choice officials this November," he said.

"At the federal level, we will need more pro-choice senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law."

Protester Annie McDonnell, 19, a student at George Washington University, said, "The first line in the draft is that this is a moral issue. If it's a moral issue, you shouldn't be depriving us of our choice."

"Justices get out of my vagina," said one protest sign.