Ellison discusses leaked Supreme Court opinion

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison joined the ongoing national conversation on abortion rights Wednesday.

Ellison said the possible decision was “not a cause for panic, but it is a cause for concern.” He said the decision would have a minimal impact on Minnesota because of a 1995 Minnesota State Supreme Court decision in the case of Doe v. Gomez.

“The Gomez decision says no matter what happens to Roe v. Wade, no matter what happens if Roe vs. Wade gets overturned, our state constitution still protects a right for women to be able to terminate a pregnancy,” said David Schultz, a constitutional law expert at Hamline University. Schultz explained that a decision overturning Roe v. Wade would not overturn Doe v. Gomez.

“The U.S. Supreme Court cannot overturn a decision made by the Minnesota Supreme Court made on the basis of the Minnesota Constitution,” Schultz told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.

“This means even if the Supreme Court strikes down Roe, Minnesotan’s rights will be protected,” Ellison noted during the press conference.

The conversation has been ongoing since a draft of a Supreme Court opinion was leaked, and suggests justices are prepared to strike down the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion across the country.

RELATED: Biden joins federal, state politicians in reacting to leaked Roe v. Wade draft opinion

Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the draft was authentic Tuesday morning, and called it an “egregious breach of trust.”

In a statement, Roberts said, “To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed”, and added “I have directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak.”

RELATED: Chief Justice confirms Roe v. Wade draft, orders probe into ‘egregious’ leak

Ellison talked about the leaked draft with the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States.

CLICK HERE for full Roe v. Wade coverage.

You can watch the full news conference in the video player below.