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Video length: 8 min
United States: women’s fight for abortion in states where abortion is prohibited
United States: women’s fight for abortion in states where abortion is prohibited
(France 2)
Abortion has become illegal in several American states, forcing women to travel miles or go to clinics at dawn to benefit from an abortion. Some narrowly escape death.
In a neighborhood in Florida, in the United States, a single light is on at 5 a.m. Arrivals at this clinic are discreet by car, because women have appointments to have an abortion. Their entry, escorted by volunteers, is accompanied by the invectives of anti-abortion activists. The speech is always intended to make people feel guilty. “We try to convince women not to kill their children”comments one of the activists, sign in hand. In Florida, the right to abortion is limited to 6 weeks of pregnancy, compared to 16 in France.
In Alabama, the procedure is illegal, even in cases of rape or incest. Alyssa Gonzales, a young mother, had to leave the state like many other women. When she was 4 months pregnant, the young woman learned that her fetus had Down syndrome, a fatal disease from which the child has no chance of surviving.
Alyssa, increasingly ill, was at risk of septicemia. She had to travel to Washington, a 15-hour drive from home, to have an emergency abortion. “I was beyond angry”she confides. A traumatic experience which convinced the couple to change their conservative vote for progressive values.
Watch the full report in the video above.