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This Saturday was a day of national mobilization in the United States to defend the right to abortion. In several cities, including New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago, thousands of protesters took to the streets at a time when this reproductive right is more threatened than ever in the country.
The huge demonstrations, which have taken place across the United States, could be the beginning of a “summer of rage” as organizers call it.
Thousands of people, mostly women, marched in several cities to defend the right to abortion, in response to the Supreme Court’s likely decision to overturn the 1973 decision, which established the federal constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy.
In parallel, there were also anti-abortion demonstrations in some cities of the country, but on a smaller scale.
In New York, the inhabitants marched to the cry of “my body, my decision!” and to the rhythm of drums and speakers. The protest began in the neighborhood of Brooklyn and the participants then crossed the famous bridge to reach the square of ‘Foley Square’.
In the capital, Washington DC, thousands of people gathered at the Washington Monument to listen to different speeches before marching towards the Supreme Court, surrounded by two security rings.
Probable revocation of the right to abortion
On Tuesday, May 3, the Supreme Court confirmed the authenticity of a leaked document that recognized the real possibility of ending the constitutional right to abortion.
According to this document, the Republican judges of the Court, who enjoy a majority, want to cancel the decision in the Roe vs. Wade, which has protected women’s abortion rights in the United States since 1973.
In recent months, the question of abortion rights has been at the center of debates in the United States with the Supreme Court, examining a law in the state of Mississippi that prohibits abortion beyond the 15th week of pregnancy. If this Mississippi law is allowed, the Court would endanger the one that allows women to abort until the 22nd or 24th week of pregnancy.
The Supreme Court has until June to rule definitively.
In case the court annuls Roe v. Wade, each state could choose whether to ban or allow abortion. Several states have already expressed their intention to completely ban abortion, even in the case of rape or incest, such as Alabama, Ohio or Texas.
US President Joe Biden claimed Tuesday that the Supreme Court bill went “way beyond” abortion and potentially challenged “a whole host” of other rights.
The women worried
“We are at a turning point in the course of the history of sexual and reproductive rights (…) we are demanding that all people in power, including the administration of President Biden, take all necessary action ( …) to continue safe and legal access to abortion in the United States,” said Yamelsie Rodriguez, president of Planned Parenthood in Missouri, in an interview with France 24.
In New York, Irna and Isabel Gadd, grandmother and granddaughter, participated in the march together. “I am here because the idea that abortion is prohibited is a depression, it is against women’s health and because women have the right to determine what happens to their bodies. The government should not do that,” Irna explained. , 74 years old.
Her 27-year-old granddaughter fears that the abortion ban will be accompanied by the rollback of other rights.
“My fear is that if this happens, there will also be a huge loss of other reproductive rights, the inability to access contraception, and many people will be pushed further and further into poverty and oppression,” Isabel explained.
A social and political fracture
Abortion rights divide American society with some states historically conservative and more religious than others. However, polls show that most Americans want to preserve the right to abortion, at least in the early stages of pregnancy.
The debate on this reproductive right has become politicized, with conservative religious groups representing an important ‘lobby’ in the United States, hand in hand with the Republicans.
In the late 1970s, the Republican Party made an alliance with religious groups to gain political support, making it the party of anti-abortion discourse.
With EFE, Reuters and AP
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