One oft-heard criticism of the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion reversing Roe v. Wade is that it would be the first time the Court reversed a precedent protecting individual rights, as opposed to one that limits them. For example, law professors Sonia Suter and Naomi Cahn write that "this decision would mark the first time the Court overturned precedent to eliminate, as opposed to recognize a new, right." Georgetown professor David Cole, who is also the legal director of the ACLU, makes a similar, though somewhat more nuanced argument, contending that the Court has "extended fundamental rights… in virtually all its decisions overturning constitutional precedents," whereas a reversal of Roe would be almost unprecedented in abolishing such a right.
