Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer.
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Newly retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said that he did “everything” he could to stop the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“Did I do everything I could to persuade people? Of course, of course,” Breyer told CNN.
Breyer, an 84-year-old liberal, retired from the bench in June after serving nearly three decades.
Newly retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said that he did “everything” he could to stop the nation’s high court from overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that granted a constitutional right to abortion.
Breyer, an 84-year-old liberal who retired from the bench in June after serving nearly three decades, made the comments to CNN’s Chris Wallace in his first televised interview since stepping down from the court.
“And you say, did I like this Dobbs decision? Of course I didn’t. Of course I didn’t,” a stern Breyer told Wallace, referring to the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which struck down Roe v. Wade.
The decision, released on June 24, gutted the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
“Was I happy about it? Not for an instant,” Breyer said in the interview, which debuted Friday on HBO Max. “Did I do everything I could to persuade people? Of course, of course. But there we are, and now we go on. We try to work together.”
The decision to overrule Roe was 5-4 in a majority opinion delivered by Justice Samuel Alito, joined by his conservative colleagues, Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
During the interview, Breyer called the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe “very damaging.”
When Wallace asked Breyer if there was “an earthquake inside the court” over the leak, the retired justice responded, “An earthquake?”
“It was very damaging because that kind of thing just doesn’t happen. It just doesn’t happen. And there we are,” said Breyer.