Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said in a televised interview that he pushed his colleagues on the court to change their votes and not overturn Roe v. Wade, the seminal 1973 precedent that legalized abortion in the United States, a ruling that in the end they voted to reverse.
Breyer, 84, was referring to the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which the Supreme Court voted 6-3 on June 24 to uphold a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The court also voted 5-4 to overturn Roe, returning the regulation of abortion to the states.
Days after the decision, Breyer was replaced on the court by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was sworn in June 30 after being confirmed by the Senate on April 7. Breyer, who was nominated by then-President Bill Clinton, took his seat on the court on Aug. 3, 1994….