The decision was expected and it strikes a blow “terrible” women’s rights in the United States. The conservative majority of the American Supreme Court overturned, Friday, June 24, the historic judgment of 1973 which guaranteed the right to abortion throughout the country. Returning to its own case law, the highest American court leaves each state free to legislate to limit or prohibit voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion). Half of the fifty American states are concerned, according to the Guttmacher Institute (in English).
>> Follow the reactions after the US Supreme Court decision on abortion in our live
Elizabeth Schlachter, spokesperson for the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in the United States, analyzes for franceinfo the impact of this decision.
Franceinfo: What does the Supreme Court decision mean for American women?
Elizabeth Schlachter: We know that half of the 50 American states will now ban or limit abortion. Several of them had anticipated this decision by adopting trigger laws [des lois devant entrer en vigueur dès que l’arrêt historique de 1973 Roe contre Wade serait renversé]. Since Friday morning [vendredi après-midi en France]abortion is illegal in Louisiana, Utah and Missouri.
This is terrible news for American women who live in these states, especially those who find themselves in a precarious situation and who already suffer from unequal access to care. But banning abortion has never prevented women from terminating their pregnancies. The abortion pill now accounts for more than half of abortions performed in the United States and American women will continue to use it, by purchasing it online or in other states.
But the Conservatives are already trying to limit access to this solution, for example by prohibiting the prescription of this drug during online consultations. In addition, the abortion pill is a safe solution up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. Beyond that, surgery is recommended. Americans living in a state that prohibits abortion and who can afford it will have an abortion in another state, in Canada or Mexico. But the poorest will resort to clandestine abortions, which pose a much higher risk to their health and their lives.
How will Family Planning respond to this decision?
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) will continue its activities in all states whose law authorizes abortion. In the more than twenty States which now prohibit it, on the other hand, Planning must respect the legislation. Anticipating the Supreme Court’s decision, the PPFA has already been forced in recent weeks to refuse to perform abortions in states that were preparing to ban the procedure. But we will continue to help American women access safe ways to abortincluding providing them with reliable information and directing them to clinics in other states.
Are there still remedies to guarantee the right to abortion throughout the United States?
Ever since the Supreme Court handed down its ruling legalizing abortion at the federal level in 1973, the Conservatives have made their goal clear: to overthrow Roe against Wade. They finally succeeded. Now they plan to go even further. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said he believed his party could make abortion illegal across the United States. Conservative states also want to criminalize abortion, to prosecute women who resort to it and all those who help them access it.
By reversing its own case law, the Supreme Court has also paved the way for the reversal of other judgments, such as the one legalizing marriage for all, or restrictions on contraception. The challenge now is to ensure that the conservatives will not have the majority in Congress, to prevent them from attacking all these rights. The Democrats must retain the majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate after the midterm elections in November.
More generally, we appeal to the federal Congress because the lives of many American women are at stake. The right to abortion was vulnerable because it was based on case law and not on federal law. We must legislate to protect access to abortion throughout the country and make abortion possible again in all the states that now prohibit it.