Supreme Court votes to END Roe v Wade in draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito 

The Supreme Court has voted to strike down Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion in the United States, a bombshell report revealed on Monday.

The news sent shock waves throughout Washington D.C. with Democrats vowing to codify the legal right to an abortion into law and Republicans demanding an investigation into the leak, claiming it was done to try and influence the high court ahead of its formal ruling. 

Perhaps anticipating backlash, the Supreme Court building initially was barricaded Monday night before being watched by security. 

Protesters eventually headed toward the gates in large numbers, with some standing up and chanting, while others sat outside the building and lit candles in silence. A small number of counter-protesters also gathered. 

The draft opinion – originally obtained by Politico – was written by Justice Samuel Alito, one of the six justices appointed by Republican presidents on the nine-member court, repudiating both Roe and the 1992 Planned Parenthood vs. Casey decision.

‘Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,’ Alito writes in the draft opinion, which was crafted in February and circulated among the court members. ‘We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,’ he continues in the document, titled ‘Opinion of the Court.’ 

‘It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.’

Politico reports that, aside from Alito, four other judges voted in favour of overturning the law: Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, all of whom were nominated by Republican presidents. 

If the Roe vs Wade ruling is overturned, it would give individual states the power to decide on whether to ban abortion. The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research group, has said that 26 states are ‘certain or likely’ to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned. 

Politico noted that this is the first such case in modern history of a Supreme Court draft decision being leaked to the public while the case was still pending.

The draft document is not final until the court formally announces its decision in a case, meaning the ruling could still be changed. Sometimes drafts are circulated by one justice in the hopes of swaying fellow judges. The court is expected to issue its final ruling before its term is up in late June or early July.

That led to speculation the Alito draft was leaked ahead in the hopes public outrage could temper the court’s decision. 

The court, notably, did not deny the legitimacy of the draft opinion. A spokesperson for the Supreme Court said: ‘The Court has no comment.’ 

Republican appointed-Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett all voted to strike down Roe with Samuel Alito, Politico noted

The beginning of the original leaked draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito

Protesters gather, chant and hold signs outside the Supreme Court in Washington Monday night 

Lights burn inside U.S. Supreme Court offices late at night after the leak of a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito

There were smaller gatherings of anti-abortion protesters at the event as well

Politico executive editor Dafna Linzer sent a note to staff after the story posted, expressing confidence in the story and their verification of the draft opinion.

‘After an extensive review process, we are confident of the authenticity of the draft. … We take our responsibilities to our readers with the greatest seriousness,’ she noted. 

Politico posted the entire draft opinion online. 

If Alito decision is adopted, it would return the issue of abortions to the states.

About half of the 50 states are set to immediately impose broad abortion bans. Any state could still legally allow the procedure.

‘There are lots of signals the opinion is legit,’ wrote Supreme Court attorney Neal Katyal on Twitter. ‘The length and depth of analysis, would be very hard to fake. It says it is written by Alito and definitely sounds like him. It’s 60+ pages long.’ 

‘Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,’ Alito writes. ‘We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,’ he continues in the document, titled ‘Opinion of the Court’

Some people held vigil silently outside the court in the nation’s capital Monday evening

The opinion draft – originally obtained by Politico – was written by Justice Samuel Alito, one of the six justices appointed by Republican presidents on the nine-member court

Politico reports that four of the five remaining Republican-appointed justices voted with Alito in December, after hearing oral arguments on a Mississippi abortion case. And that line-up remains unchanged as of this week.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett all voted to strike down Roe. 

Democrat-appointed justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan are working on dissents. 

What remains unclear his how Chief Justice John Roberts, appointed by George W. Bush, will vote. Sources told CNN that he would’ve dissented with the liberals on Alito’s opinion draft. 

But if the justices stand firm, it would not matter how Roberts votes as five back the Alito draft opinion.

Draft opinions can change and the ruling will not be final until it is published.

If the Alito draft is adopted, it would rule in favor of Mississippi in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization – a case involving the state’s  attempt to ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. 

The draft opinion runs 98 pages, including a 31-page appendix of historical state abortion laws, Politico notes in its report. The document is replete with citations to previous court decisions, books and other authorities, and includes 118 footnotes. The appearances and timing of this draft are consistent with court practice. 

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.’ 

Katyal described how the Supreme Court handles its decision making process.

‘After oral argument the Justices take a tenative vote. This would have happened in December. The senior most justice in the majority gets to assign the opinion. That might have been Roberts, but doubtful since Alito wrote this draft,’ he noted on Twitter.

‘Now, once the draft is circulated, the justices in dissent will write an opinion. That’s presumably happening now. But the tenative vote seems strong, and Chief Justice Roberts is irrelevant if the 4 + Alito hold with their tentative votes,’ he added. 

Pro-abortion rights protesters react outside the U.S. Supreme Court

One person holds up a signing expressing their dissent on the possible ruling

The unprecedented leak has likely shaken the Supreme Court to its core. 

Barricades were being posted around the building shortly after the report was posted online. Posts to social media showed people gathering at the metal fencing, holding candles in vigil. 

The highly-respected SCOTUSblog, which covers the court in-depth, noted: ‘The document leaked to Politico is almost certainly an authentic draft opinion by J. Alito that reflects what he believes at least 5 members of the Court have voted to support — overruling Roe. But as Alito’s draft, it does not reflect the comments or reactions of other Justices.’

‘It’s impossible to overstate the earthquake this will cause inside the Court, in terms of the destruction of trust among the Justices and staff. This leak is the gravest, most unforgivable sin,’ SCOTUSblog tweeted. 

Other observers called it a crisis for Roberts’ tenure as chief justice.

‘The article represents the greatest crisis that Chief Justice John Roberts has faced in his tenure on the Court,’ wrote legal scholar Jonathan Turley.

Turley also pointed out the leak happened to put pressure on the court to change its ruling before it’s publicly announced. 

‘The most likely motivation is obviously to pressure the Court and push the legislation in Congress on a federal abortion law before the midterm elections. It will also likely renew the call for court packing,’ he added. 

And Democratic campaign strategist Brian Fallon tweeted: ‘Is a brave clerk taking this unprecedented step of leaking a draft opinion to warn the country what’s coming in a last-ditch Hail Mary attempt to see if the public response might cause the Court to reconsider?’ 

Observers called the leak a ‘crisis’ for Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts’ tenure leading the court – above Roberts speaks with retiring Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer in March at the State of the Union address

Such a ruling would immediately become an issue in the 2022 midterm election where Democrats are struggling to keep control of Congress. 

Abortion would also become a major political issue in governors’ races with states being given the right to determine whether or not to allow the procedure.  

Both sides of the political aisle immediately jumped on the report with Democrats outraged and Republicans praising the news.

‘Abortion care is a fundamental human right and we must legislation like it,’ wrote progressive Rep. Ayanna Pressly of Massachusetts on Twitter. 

Protesters use coat hangers to signify that they were used for illegal abortions prior to Roe vs. Wade 

Marchers hold up a sign reading ‘The people are supreme’ in front of the Supreme Court

A woman holds up a sign saying ‘we won’t go back’ at the protest

Protesters numbered in the hundreds according to reporters at the Supreme Court Monday night

‘This is bulls***,’ wrote Democratic Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota on Twitter.  

‘Our daughters, sisters, mothers, and grandmothers will not be silenced. The world is about to hear their fury. California will not sit back. We are going to fight like hell,’ wrote Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California. 

‘The Supreme Court is preparing to overturn Roe – the most significant and glorious news of our lifetime. Join me in praying to God for the right outcome. Life begins at conception. Let’s protect it,’ tweeted conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida claimed the leak was done to influence the ruling.

A sign telling the Supreme Court one opinion on their potential ruling

The 26 states where abortion will likely become illegal if SCOTUS overturns Roe vs Wade

The 26 states where abortion will likely become illegal if SCOTUS overturns Roe vs Wade after leaked draft opinion showed a majority of justices supported the move

More than half of all US states have some kind of abortion ban law likely to take effect if Roe v Wade is overturned by the United States Supreme Court. 

According to the pro-reproductive rights group The Guttmacher Institute, there are 26 states that will likely make abortions illegal if the Supreme Court overturns the landmark 1973 ruling.

18 have existing abortion bans that have previously been ruled unconstitutional, four have time limit bans and four are likely to pass laws if Roe v Wade is overturned, the organization found.

The 18 states that have near-total bans on abortion already on the books are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. 

In addition, Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, and South Carolina all have laws that ban abortions after the six-week mark. 

Florida, Indiana, Montana and Nebraska, are likely to pass bills when Roe v Wade is overturned, the Guttmacher Institute said.

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin’s bans all have pre-Roe v Wade laws that became unenforceable after the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision – that would kick into effect if the federal legal precedent established in Roe were overturned.

Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Texas have further bans that will come into effect if the law was overturned. These were passed post-Roe v Wade.

They’re joined by Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming, in passing such laws. 

The states that will limit abortions based on the length of time a patient has been pregnant are Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota and Ohio.

There are four states that have laws that state abortion is not a constitutionally protected right: Alabama, Louisiana, Texas and West Virginia. 

‘The next time you hear the far left preaching about how they are fighting to preserve our Republic’s institutions & norms remember how they leaked a Supreme Court opinion in an attempt to intimidate the justices on abortion,’ he wrote on Twitter. 

And Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas called for an investigation of the leak.

‘The Supreme Court & the DOJ must get to the bottom of this leak immediately using every investigative tool necessary,’ he tweeted.  

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, in September, passed legislation that would codify abortion rights protections amid threats to Roe v. Wade.

That bill has been stalled in the 50-50 Senate, where it needs at least 60 votes to move forward. And it may need more than that as not all Democratic senators are guaranteed to vote for such a bill, particularly moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders said that 60-vote thresh hold, often called the filibuster, must be removed to legalize abortion.

‘Congress must pass legislation that codifies Roe v. Wade as the law of the land in this country NOW. And if there aren’t 60 votes in the Senate to do it, and there are not, we must end the filibuster to pass it with 50 votes,’ he tweeted on Monday night. 

Republicans call the leak of Roe v. Wade draft opinion an effort to ‘intimidate’ justices into changing their ruling as Democrats promise to ‘fight like hell’ to stop abortion being banned   

Republican lawmakers have celebrated the news of a Supreme Court draft opinion that is set to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision which legalized abortion – but have denounced the leak as an attempt to ‘intimidate’ the justices into changing their minds.

Republicans called it a victory for the social conservatives and Christians who have worked for decades in lockstep to reach this moment.

The draft document is not final until the court formally announces its decision in a case, meaning the ruling could technically still be changed. The court is expected to issue its final ruling before its term is up in late June or early July.

That led to speculation from some on the right that the Alito draft was leaked in the hopes public outrage could temper the court’s decision.

Indeed, following its release, several notable Democrats have already slammed the decision, saying they will not abide by it. 

One Democratic Representative compared the decision to a dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed the state would ‘fight like Hell’ to oppose the ruling.

‘Our daughters, sisters, mothers and grandmothers will not be silenced,’ Newsom tweeted Monday night. ‘The world is about to hear their fury.’

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, meanwhile, questioned why the opinion was leaked 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the ‘world is about to hear [the] fury’ of ‘our daughters, sisters, mothers and grandmothers’ as he vowed to fight back against the decision

Mike Gibbons, who is currently facing Trump-endorsed candidate JD Vance in the Republican primary for an Ohio Senate seat, wrote that the decision marked a ‘huge pro-life victory,’ noting it’s ‘great to see the Court recognize all life is protected under the Constitution.

‘We still have to make sure we elect candidates that will continue to defend the unborn, which is exactly what I’ll do in the U.S. Senate.

Others, though, raised doubts about why the opinion was leaked to POLITICO, with Marco Rubio writing: ‘The next time you hear the far left preaching about how they are fighting to preserve our Republic’s institutions and norms remember how they leaked a Supreme Court opinion in an attempt to intimidate the justices on abortion.’

Republican Josh Hawley, of Missouri, also tweeted that the leak is ‘an unprecedented breach of confidentiality, clearly meant to intimidate.’

‘The Justices mustn’t give in to this attempt to corrupt the process,’ Hawley wrote. ‘Stay strong.’

Embattled Congressmember Madison Cawthorn also tweeted that the story ‘was meant to intimidate the Supreme Court into backing down.’

‘Pray for the end of Roe v. Wade. Pray the Court will defend innocent life. Pray the Court will stand strong,’ he urged his followers, noting:  ‘Evil MUST not triumph. Science, common sense, and LIFE will win.’

On the left, Democrats and abortion rights activists slammed the decision – saying it is a ‘nightmare scenario’ as they vowed to fight the ruling.

In a statement following the news, Planned Parenthood CEO Jodi Hicks said: ‘This is the nightmare scenario we in the reproductive health, rights, and justice space have been sounding the alarm about and especially once the U.S. Supreme Court had a conservative majority.

‘And now, if this opinion truly is reflective of the final decision of the majority of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices, then even if abortion remains legal today, we are just days away from more than 26 states banning access to abortion services, essential and safe health care that has been a constitutional right for nearly 50 years.’

‘Make no mistake about it, the plan has always been to ban and criminalize abortion ever since 1973 when Roe v. Wade was decided,’ she claimed.

Rubio questioned the leak of Alito’s decision as a liberal plot on Monday night

Conservatives celebrated the news on Twitter Monday night – even as they questioned the leak

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a joint statement that the decision ‘would go down as an abomination, one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history.’

They also used the opportunity to slam former President Trump, saying: ‘Several of these conservative justices, who are in no way accountable to the American people, have lied to the US Senate, ripped up the Constitution and defiled both precedent and the Supreme Court’s reputation – all at the expense of tens of millions of women who could be stripped of their bodily autonomy and the Constitutional rights they’ve relied on for half a century.

‘The party of Lincoln and Eisenhower has now completely devolved into the party of Trump,’ the two top Congressional Democrats continued, adding: ‘Every Republican Senator who supported Sen. McConnell and voted for Trump justices pretending that this day would never come will now have to explain themselves to the American people.’

And Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also tweeted Monday night she is ‘not surprised’ by the news.

‘This decision is a direct assault on the dignity, rights and lives of women, not to mention decades of settled law,’ she wrote. ‘It will kill and subjugate women even as a vast majority of Americans think abortion should be legal. 

‘What an utter disgrace.’

Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a joint statement following the news – apparently using the opportunity to slam former President Donald Trump

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also tweeted that she was ‘not surprised’ by the news, but thought it was an ‘utter disgrace’

Many have now said they would fight the decision if it were passed – either at the federal or the state level. 

In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy reminded his followers that he signed into law the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act, which codifies the right to an abortion into New Jersey law.

‘New Jersey will not go backwards on reproductive rights,’ he wrote in a tweet.

Meanwhile, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said abortions rights would not be overturned ‘on my watch,’ and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also promised that ‘abortion will always be safe and accessible in New York,’ saying it will welcome anyone who says they need an abortion ‘with open arms.’

‘I refuse to let my new granddaughter have to fight for the rights that generations have fought for & won, rights that she should be guaranteed,’ Hochul tweeted.

At the same time, New York Attorney General Letitia James also promised in a tweet to ‘do everything in our power to protect the right to an abortion’ adding, ‘Congress must act immediately to do the same.’

And in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she will ‘fight like hell to make sure abortion remains safe, legal and accessible in our state.’

On the progressive end , woke Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, noted that Sen. Joe Manchin is preventing a vote on codifying abortion rights into law, while Sen. Bernie Sanders suggested ending the filibuster to get it passed.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren also branded the Supreme Court ‘extremist’ in a tweet saying it will ‘impose its far-right, unpopular views on the entire country.

‘It’s time for the millions who support the Constitution and abortion rights to stand up and make their voices heard,’ Warren wrote. ‘We’re not going back—not ever.’

 

 

Prominent Democrats from across the country raged against the news on Twitter, as several Democratic governors vowed to protect abortion rights in their states

Maryland Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin, meanwhile, warned that Alito’s decision could also lead to bans on birth control as he claimed the decision is reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale.

He was referring to the novel by Margaret Atwood – which was later turned into a television show. In both iterations, women are forced by the state to give birth.

‘The basic legal claim here is that the word “abortion” doesn’t appear in the Constitution, and of course it doesn’t appear in the Constitution,’ Raskin, a Constitutional lawyer, explained to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Monday night.

‘But the Supreme Court in 1973, in Roe v. Wade or Griswold v. Connecticut – which was a 1965 decision by the Supreme Court striking down a law banning birth control, even for married couples in Connecticut – the Supreme Court said that the due process liberty clause include a right to privacy, over intimate decision making.

‘So the point is that Justice Alito’s decision would also apply, presumably, to the right to privacy in contraception,’ he continued. ‘If Casey is to fall, if Roe v. Wade is to fall, then Griswold v. Connecticut presumably is to follow as well because the word “contraception” or “birth control” doesn’t appear in the Constitution [either].

 ‘So this would appear to be an invitation to have Handmaid’s Tale-type anti-feminist regulation and legislation all over the country,’ Raskin concluded.

Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin compared a draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade to The Handmaid’s Tale on Monday night

He explained in an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, left, that the decision could also jeopardize access to birth control

Roe vs Wade: The Texas mother who won the landmark 1973 case but then became a fierce opponent of abortion rights – and her ‘Roe Baby’ daughter who finally revealed her identity last year 

Norma McCorvey, known as ‘Jane Roe’, is pictured in January 1983. A decade earlier she had won a landmark abortion case – but the baby she wished to abort, Shelley Lynn Thornton, was born before the case concluded

The original Roe v. Wade case was brought in 1971 by Norma McCorvey, a 22-year-old living in Texas who was unmarried and seeking a termination of her unwanted pregnancy. 

She married at the age of 16, but separated shortly after while she was pregnant. She gave custody of her daughter to her mother. 

She gave a second child up for adoption, but when she got pregnant a third time she decided to have an abortion. 

She said she couldn’t afford to travel to one of the handful of states where it would have been legal.

Because of state legislation preventing abortions unless the mother’s life is at risk, she was unable to undergo the procedure in a safe and legal environment.

So McCorvey sued Henry Wade, the Dallas county district attorney, in 1970. The case went on to the Supreme Court, under the filing Roe vs Wade, to protect McCorvey’s privacy.

Sarah Weddington and  a former classmate, Linda Coffee, brought a class-action lawsuit on behalf of a pregnant woman challenging a state law that largely banned abortions.

She had been among only five women out of a class of 1,600 to graduate with a law degree from the University of Texas in 1967.

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion in Roe v. Wade. The landmark ruling legalized abortion nationwide but divided public opinion and has been under attack ever since. 

The landmark ruling saw abortions decriminalized in 46 states, but under certain specific conditions which individual states could decide on. For example, states could decide whether abortions were allowed only during the first and second trimester but not the third (typically beyond 28 weeks). 

Among pro-choice campaigners, the decision was hailed as a victory which would mean fewer women would become seriously – or even fatally – ill from abortions carried out by unqualified or unlicensed practitioners. Moreover, the freedom of choice was considered a significant step in the equality fight for women in the country. Victims of rape or incest would be able to have the pregnancy terminated and not feel coerced into motherhood.

However, pro-lifers contended it was tantamount to murder and that every life, no matter how it was conceived, is precious. Though the decision has never been overturned, anti-abortionists have prompted hundreds of states laws since then narrowing the scope of the ruling.

Norma McCorvey aka ‘Jane Roe’ (left) and her attorney Gloria Allred at the Supreme Court in 1989, the year she made her identity known. After winning Roe vs Wade, Norma went on to be a face for women’s rights before switching to be pro-life years later. She admitted before she died that she made the change in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars 

Following the ruling, McCorvey lived a quiet life until the 1980s when she revealed herself to be Jane Roe. McCorvey became a leading, outspoken pro-abortion voice in American discourse, even working at a women’s clinic where abortions were performed.

However, she performed an unlikely U-turn in 1995, becoming a born-again Christian and began traveling the country speaking out against the procedure.

In 2003, a she filed a motion to overturn her original 1973 ruling with the U.S. district court in Dallas. The motion moved through the courts until it was ultimately denied by the Supreme Court in 2005.

McCorvey died at an assisted living home in Texas in February 2017, aged 69. She admitted before she died that she made the change in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

This is my deathbed confession,’ she says. ‘I took their money and they took me out in front of the cameras and told me what to say. That’s what I’d say.’ 

In the interview, McCorvey refers to herself as ‘the Big Fish’ in the eyes of evangelical leaders who were eager to have her publicly switch sides and take up their cause. 

In addressing her activism for the religious right, McCorvey boasts: ‘I’m a good actress.’

Shelley Lynn Thornton, now 51, is the biological daughter of Norma McCorvey and spoke on the record for the first time in 2021.

Baby Roe: Shelley Lynn Thornton, a 51-year-old mother of three, spoke out for the first time last year. Her biological mother Norma McCorvey was Jane Roe, whose landmark lawsuit Roe vs Wade won women across America the right to have abortions

Shelley appeared on Good Morning America for her first ever TV interview. Her identity was only made public in September by The Atlantic.  

‘A lot of people didn’t know I existed,’ she said, adding she fears the world blames her for abortion being legal. 

‘It doesn’t revolve around me, I wasn’t the one who created this law. I’m not the one who created this movement. I had nothing to do with it. I was just a little itty-bitty thing and, you know, circumstances prevailed. 

‘My whole thinking is that, “oh God everybody is going to hate me because everyone is going to blame me for abortion being legal,’ she said. 

Thornton, who never met her birth mother in person before her death in 2017, told journalist Joshua Prager she had decided to speak out after more than half a century because she wanted to free herself from the ‘secrets and lies.’

‘Secrets and lies are, like, the two worst things in the whole world. I’m keeping a secret, but I hate it,’ she said, in an adapted excerpt from Prager’s new book ‘The Family Roe: An American Story’, published in The Atlantic.  

‘I want everyone to understand that this is something I’ve chosen to do.’