Posted at 6:00 a.m.
108
This is the number of laws restricting access to abortion that have been adopted in 19 states in 2021 in the United States, a record according to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice organization. This year, abortion may face more restrictions: as of March 24, legislatures in 46 states were considering 1,885 provisions related to sexual rights and reproductive health.
About 1,350 abortion restrictions have been passed by states since 1973 [année où l’avortement a été légalisé dans tous les États aux États-Unis], or 28 restrictions per year on average. A new record was set in 2021, with 108 restrictions enacted. These restrictions have long had a significant impact on women, especially on certain groups, such as low-income people, young people, etc.
Joerg Dreweke, associate director of communications at the Guttmacher Institute
54%
This is the percentage of abortions occurring in the United States in 2020 performed using abortion pills – which do not require surgery and can be used for up to 10and week of pregnancy. Several states led by Republicans are trying to ban the use of these abortion pills, as South Dakota has just done, for example. According to the organization Planned Parenthood, at least 24 states are working to restrict access to abortion pills.
GUTTMACHER INSTITUTE INFOGRAPHIC.
Abortion pills are used in a majority of abortions in the United States today.
Up to 10 years in prison in Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Legislature on Tuesday passed a law that makes performing an abortion in the state a felony that can result in 10 years in prison or a $100,000 fine. The state’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt is expected to sign the law, which would go into effect at the end of the summer. Oklahoma welcomes thousands of Texas women who want abortions after the practice was banned in Texas on 1er last September.
Right now, reproductive rights are under attack in states across our nation. The Oklahoma legislature has advanced a shameful bill that would ban nearly all abortions if it becomes law. If signed into law, this bill will only prevent women from getting the health care they need.
Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, on Twitter on April 6, 2022
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MICHAEL LABOSSIERE
Michael LaBossiere, author and specialist in theories of knowledge and professor in the philosophy department at Florida A&M University
If anti-abortion laws were motivated by a desire to save lives, one would expect these states to act in other ways to protect babies. Unfortunately, it is not the case. States that impose the greatest restrictions on abortion tend to have statistically higher infant (and maternal) mortality rates. These states also tend to have high rates of child poverty, which is bad for babies. The best explanation, in most cases, would be that these laws are aimed at harming women and that the argument of wanting to “save the babies” is advanced in bad faith.
Michael LaBossiere, author and specialist in theories of knowledge and professor in the philosophy department at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
Colorado takes the lead
While states try to ban the right to abortion, others want to protect it: this week, Jared Polis, governor of Colorado, signed into law a law which modifies the Constitution of the state in order to enshrine that the pregnant women can decide to continue their pregnancy and give birth, or else to have an abortion. The law prohibits public entities from denying or restricting this right. In the United States, 15 states have enshrined the right to abortion in their Constitution.
The End of Roe c. Wade?
GUTTMACHER INSTITUTE AND THE WASHINGTON POST
States likely to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade was to be invalidated. Sources: Guttmacher Institute and The Washington Post
The U.S. Supreme Court could issue a decision in June that will have a major impact on Roe v. Wade, who legalized abortion across the United States. The judgment could be overturned or weakened. Sensing this possibility, 13 US states have already passed laws that would automatically ban abortions in their jurisdictions if the Supreme Court were to strike down Roe v. Wade. If so, clinics in pro-abortion states expect to be inundated with calls — and abortion could then be inaccessible to teenage girls or women who don’t have the time or resources. necessary to travel to a State where the operation is permitted.
Spain completely the opposite
Spain is located nearly 6000 km from the United States, but this is nothing compared to the ideological distance that separates the countries on the question of the right to abortion. This week, Spanish lawmakers passed a reform that provides for prison sentences for anti-abortion activists found guilty of “harassing” women in an attempt to convince them not to have abortions, Agence France reported. -Hurry. Indeed, people found guilty of having harassed a woman with a view to “obstructing the exercise of the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy” by “embarrassing, offensive acts, intimidation or pressure” may be sentenced to terms ranging from three months to one year in prison or community service.