Justice Samuel Alito's draft opinion that would overturn Roe v Wade published Monday night would be the worst nightmare scenario for supporters of abortion rights.

Although December's oral arguments looked grim for progressives, many still held out hope that when the justices retreated to their ornate conference room and gathered around the table to cast an initial tally, they would stop short of voting to overrule a decision from a half century ago. The thinking went that Chief Justice John Roberts -- who floated a compromise position at oral arguments -- would vote to uphold Mississippi's 15-week ban but leave intact some federal right to abortion.

And the Chief, some thought, would be able to lure one other conservative justice to his position: Roe would be gutted, but there would be something left.

But it appears, if the draft opinion published by Politico is legitimate, that after that initial vote there was a solid five-vote majority -- including three of former President Donald Trump's appointees -- to strike down Roe.

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