Anti-abortion laws continue to proliferate across the United States of Amerca. According to the Guttmacher Institite, more than 500 restrictive abortion laws have been passed across 46 since the beginning of 2022. This article aims to draw attention to recent restrictions on abortion rights in many US states and the response of pro-choice groups.
Roe vs Wade - the story of Norma McCovey
The Roe vs Wade supreme court judgement was a landmark for abortion rights in the United States and across the world. In 1969, Norma McCovey, a 21-year-old Texan woman wanted to terminate her pregnancy. At the time, abortion was only legal in Texas if the women's health was at risk, or in case of rape or incest. Under the legal pseudonym “Jane Roe”, two female attorneys filled a complaint suing the state of Texas claiming that Texas’ abortion laws was unconstitutional. Jane Roe's lawyer's argument was based on the imprecision of the Texas anti-abortion laws and their contradiction with the first, fourth, fifth, ninth and fourteenth articles of the United States Constitution. The state of Texas wins the case but Jane Roe and her attorney appeal and it went to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees a woman's right to an abortion and that the states cannot deprive her of this right. In 1992, the Supreme Court clarified that this right is valid until the fetus is "not viable", i.e. around 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Recent restrictions on abortion rights However, many US states seem now tempted to change the legal framework that has guaranteed American women's right to abortion for half a century, either by restricting it or by striking it down altogether. In Texas, The Heartbeat Act prohibits abortion as soon as fetal heart activity has begun - at approximately six weeks of pregnancy with very little execption. Even though the state of Texas is not authorized to prosecute, pro-life groups have been encouraging civil suits. Just last month, the state of Idaho has passed a law penalizing health care providers who perform abortions. It also gives the right to to file a complaint against the clinics or doctors who performed the procedure, even if the fetus is the result of a rape. In Florida, women will no longer have the right to have an abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, according to the law which goes into effect on July 1. It reduces the legal threshold for abortion from 24 to 15 weeks of pregnancy. Many others states are also considereing passing laws that severely restrict legal and safe access to abortions. In the United States, one in every four women will terminate a pregnancy during her lifetime, Some go even as far to say that we are witnessong the final days of reproductive freedom in America. Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit that aims to provide sexual haealth care, claims
that courts have been filled with anti-abortion judges whose goals are to limitate wmen’s reproductive rights by passing unconstituional legilation. Ultimately, pro-life groups would like to completely reverse Roe V. Wade.
Many consider that it is President Biden’s duty to act against the proliferation of these restrictive laws as he campaigned to guarantee women the freedom to choose . Nevertheless, some elected Democrats have been fight back in the face of this disturbing retreat from freedoms. For example, the governor of Washington State signed a text stipulating that health professionals performing abortions could never be prosecuted. The State of Vermont, for its part, amended its constitution to clearly include the right to abortion.
Bibliography
Abrams, A. (2022, February 28). Abortion rights advocates say president Biden Must do more. Time. Retrieved April 24, 2022, from https://time.com/6152237/abortion-rights-biden-roe-wade/ Guardian News and Media. (2022, April 8). We are witnessing the final days of Reproductive Freedom in america | Moira Donegan. The Guardian. Retrieved April 24, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/08/oklahomas-move-to-ban-abo rtions-is-a-prelude-of-america-without-roe-v-wade Kasakove, S. (2022, April 12). What's happening with abortion legislation in states across the country. The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/article/abortion-laws-us.html?login=email&auth=login-email Parenthood, P. (n.d.). Abortion. Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Retrieved April 24, 2022, from https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion United States. Center for Reproductive Rights. (2022, April 7). Retrieved April 24, 2022, from https://reproductiverights.org/our-regions/united-states/
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