At Least One Police Officer Injured During Abortion Rights Protests in Los Angeles

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said that he believes the US Supreme Court should uphold the Roe v Wade ruling that legalises abortion throughout the United States because it ensures a woman's fundamental right to choose whether to terminate a pregnancy.

On Tuesday, more than 250 abortion rights protesters gathered in downtown Los Angeles.

Police officers were called to disperse the demonstrators, according to Fox News, and consequently the rally escalated to violent clashes during which at least one officer was injured.

Some protesters threw objects at the police officers, reports said.

"We attempted to communicate, and provide a dispersal order to the group," Fox News quoted Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore as saying, but the "crowd began to throw rocks and bottles at officers."

Late on Monday a leaked draft majority opinion by US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito emerged stating that the justices had voted to overturn the court's decision in the Roe v Wade case.

Later in the day, the US Supreme Court said in a release that the document which was leaked on Monday night is authentic but does not represent the final decision of the court or of any member of the justices. The court has also launched an investigation into the leak.

The Supreme Court ruled in the Roe v Wade case in 1973 and extended constitutional protection of the women's right to undergo abortion without undue government restrictions. The 1992 decision in the case of Planned Parenthood v Casey upheld the earlier ruling.