The ruling of a year ago by the Supreme Court of the United States that repealed the right to abortion marked a before and after in the country.
(Read here: Abortion in the US: the states where the restriction grows in the country)
In the first place, this decision entailed a judicial change that annulled the decision known as roe v. Wadewhich guaranteed since 1973 the right of American women to terminate the pregnancy and left it up to each state to legislate in this regard.
And secondly, this last year it has paved the way for progress on other bans against abortion pills and interstate travel to terminate a pregnancy. This has practically divided the states that endorse and punish these practices into two.
To date, and according to data from the Planned Parenthood organization, which has the largest network of reproductive health clinics in the United States, access to abortion has been partially or totally eliminated in 20 states, such as Texas, Florida, AlabamaGeorgia, Kentucky or North Carolina. By contrast, 25 states and Washington DC have constitutional or legal protections, as do Michigan, New York, Maryland, or Colorado.
Many people continue to get the abortions they need” but “face major obstacles
The truth is that the overall impact in figures is still limited. According to a study by the Family Planning Society, an average of 79,031 abortions per month were performed nationwide from July 2022 to March 2023, compared with 81,730 in April/May 2022, a decrease of 3 ,3 percent.
“Many people continue to get the abortions they need” but “have to face great obstacles,” Ushma Upadhyay, professor of public health and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco, and co-author of the study, summarized for the AFP agency.
And it is there, in the obstacles that the Americans have to face, where the greatest effect of the ruling of June 24, 2022 has been.
Beyond the economic cost, some have to get a day off or give explanations to relatives. Sometimes they are forced to postpone the procedure, which can have a psychological impact.
In a lawsuit, Anna Zargarian, a Texan, claims her water broke too soon for the fetus to survive, but she had to travel to Colorado to deliver it.
The flight was “terrifying”. “It was like playing Russian roulette, knowing that I was at risk of infection, bleeding or childbirth at any moment,” according to the AFP agency in said testimony.
The other issue that continues to be a major unknown, and that derives from this bid for abortion, has to do with the pill to terminate the pregnancy.
In April, a federal judge withdrew the authorization to market mifepristone (RU 486), It has been used by five million people since it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000.
The Supreme Court put the sentence in brackets, but an appeals court could uphold it.
The battle also continues in the political arena. The Democrats, led by President Joe Biden, a practicing Catholic, have made defending abortion rights one of their priorities. This strategy appears to have helped save them from an announced defeat in last year’s midterm elections.
The failure of referendums against abortion in the very conservative states of Kansas and Kentucky it also tempered the ardor of the Republicans.
To satisfy the religious base, an essential part of their electorate, they lobby at the local level in favor of restrictive legislation. But they are more flexible at the federal level so as not to scare away moderate voters despite pressure from the main anti-abortion organizations.
Among these, the group SBA Pro-Life stands out, which has already warned that it will only support candidates for the 2024 presidential elections who commit to promoting a law that limits abortion throughout the country.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With AFP and Efe
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