Bill Gates, on Tuesday, expressed “shock” at the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that indicates the court is about to reverse abortion rights.
Speaking via Twitter, the Microsoft founder said a ruling that rescinded the impact of Roe v. Wade “would set us back 50 years and disproportionately impact the most vulnerable women in society.”
Gates is one of the first business titans to address the issue, which many others avoid because it is a political hot potato.
Also on Tuesday, Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the document that was obtained by Politico, but he said “it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.”
Gates has been outspoken in the past in support of abortion rights. In 2017, he criticized Donald Trump’s anti-abortion “gag rule,” saying it could endanger millions of woman and children. And the Gates Foundation has frequently donated to Planned Parenthood and similar organizations, with overall family planning donations reaching into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The U.S. Supreme Court is due to rule on the Mississippi abortion law that challenges Roe v. Wade by the end of June. If the court does send the matter back to the states, as the leaked draft implies, roughly two dozen states are prepared to limit or prohibit abortion access in short order.
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