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Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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FACT BRIEF

Did the Supreme Court state that it would overturn gay sex and marriage protections in a leaked opinion about abortion rights?

By Austin Tannenbaum
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NO

A leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion undoing federal abortion protections does not explicitly state that the court will also overturn gay sex and marriage protections. However, the arguments given for overturning Roe v. Wade could potentially be used to support overturning Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges, which prohibited states from passing laws banning gay sex and marriage, respectively.

In the draft opinion, Justice Samuel Alito argues that there is no abortion guarantee in the Constitution, nor is "the right to abortion deeply rooted in the Nation’s history and traditions." Alito did state that the Court's ruling applies only to abortion rights and does not "cast doubt" on any other precedents.

Legal experts speaking with Bloomberg Law suggested that the opinion nonetheless implicitly challenges the legitimacy of Lawrence and Obergefell given that gay sex and marriage are similarly absent from the Constitution and "the nation's history and traditions." However, another expert noted that because these cases entail equal protection and due process considerations, they would be harder to overturn. 

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Politico Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows
Bloomberg Law Abortion Draft Raises Alarm Over Future of Privacy, LGBTQ Rights
Oyez Lawrence v. Texas
Oyez Obergefell v. Hodges
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Gigafact
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.