Who is Samuel Alito? Family and ethnicity explored amid Roe vs Wade draft opinion furor

US Supreme Court judge Samuel Alito will vote to overturn the monumental Roe v. Wade ruling, as per an initial draft majority opinion obtained by Politico.

The outlet released the "1st Draft" of the "Opinion of the Court" in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, a lawsuit challenging Mississippi's restrictions on abortion beyond 15 weeks.

However, the authenticity of the draft that Politico obtained could not be confirmed in writing.

In the document, Justice Samuel Alito writes that:

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start."

The 1973 judgment created a countrywide right to abortion, and the 1992 decision, Planned Parenthood v. Casey contributed to the right's continued existence.

In the document, Alito wrote:

"We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely–the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. That provision has been held to guarantee some rights that are not mentioned in the Constitution, but any such right must be “deeply rooted in the Nation’s history and tradition” and “implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.”

Roe vs. Wade enables states to limit but not prohibit abortions up to the period of fetal viability, which is around 24 weeks.

Alito later added that:

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

It's unclear if the paper represents the court's final verdict on the subject.

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All you need to know about Samuel Alito

Born on April 1, 1950, Samuel Alito is a native of Trenton, New Jersey. As for his family, his father and mother were immigrants from Italy. His parents were also teachers in public schools. Steinert High School in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, was his alma mater.

Currently, Samuel Alito is an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. President George W. Bush nominated him to the Court to replace the seat left vacant by Sandra Day O'Connor on October 31, 2005. On January 31, 2006, he was sworn in and confirmed by the United States Senate.

The associate judge married Martha Ann Alito, previously Bomgardner, in February 1985. Martha Ann is a former librarian who previously worked for the United States Attorney's Office.

The married couple has two children: Philip, a son, and Laura, a daughter. Philip, like his father, is a lawyer with a political career.

Alito graduated from Princeton University in 1972 in history and political science and a military commission (as a second lieutenant) in the United States Army Reserve.

He served three months in active service and three months on inactive duty before being released in 1980. Before graduating with a J.D. in 1975, Alito attended Yale Law School, where he edited the Yale Law Journal.

He began his legal career as a clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit under Leonard Garth. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey and as an assistant to the United States Solicitor General. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan selected him as United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

President George H.W. Bush nominated him, and he was confirmed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 1990, where he stayed until his nomination to the Supreme Court.