(Raleigh) Abortions now considered illegal after 20e week of pregnancy in North Carolina, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday. This decision erodes women’s rights in one of the southern states of the United States which until now has remained a place of refuge for reproductive freedom.
Posted at 6:37 p.m.
In his judgment, Justice William Osteen concludes that the recent decision of the Supreme Court, having invalidated the famous judgment Roe v. wadehad the consequence of canceling any legal basis supporting his own decision rendered in 2019, where he had imposed an injunction against the application of an anti-abortion law dating from 1973. This reversal by Judge Osteen goes against the recommendations made by all parties involved in the 2019 ruling, including doctors, prosecutors and the attorney general’s office, who had filed briefs earlier this month asking to leave the injunction in place.
“Neither this court, nor the public, nor lawyers, nor doctors have the right to ignore the rule of law as determined by the Supreme Court,” wrote Justice Osteen who was appointed under the chairmanship of the Republican George W. Bush.
Unable to pass a new abortion-banning law that can survive Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto, Republican leaders in the General Assembly asked Justice Osteen to withdraw his injunction and restore law enforcement. of 1973 in a factum filed July 27 as an amicus curiae. A gesture made following the refusal of the Attorney General of the State, a pro-choice Democrat, to submit himself to the judge a request to restrict the right to abortion.
This decision by Justice Osteen adds fuel to the fire in a midterm election already heated since the Supreme Court ruling that thrust state politics into the spotlight. In November, the Republicans of North Carolina will try to get their hands on the five seats they need to hold a supermajority allowing them to counter the Democratic governor’s right of veto.
The elected Republicans do not hide that a victorious campaign could open the door to even more severe laws to prohibit the terminations of pregnancy.
House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters on July 26 that he would like to see a bill put before the assembly that would ban abortion as soon as an ultrasound can detect the heartbeat of the fetus. . Generally, a heartbeat can be detected around the sixth week, before many women even know they are pregnant.
Governor Roy Cooper and the Democrats have already made abortion rights a major campaign issue. By a decree signed on July 6, Mr. Cooper protected patients who travel to another state to undergo an abortion against any extradition procedure. It also banned all state agencies in North Carolina from collaborating with other states to prosecute women who travel for pregnancy termination.
In the southern United States, North Carolina is considered a haven for women from South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, where abortion is prohibited from the sixth week of pregnancy.
Prior to Justice Osteen’s withdrawal of the injunction, abortion was legal in North Carolina until the fetus was viable, meaning somewhere between the 24e and the 28e week of pregnancy. Only medical emergencies allowed exceptions.