the right to abortion is threatened

Several hundred people gathered on the evening of Monday May 2 at the foot of the Supreme Court in Washington (United States). With on one side the defenders of the right to abortion, and on the other those who denounce it. “It has been a founding principle of our Constitution for about forty years. Now is not the time to go back on it, it worries me a lot”, defend a man.

The renewed tension was caused by the unprecedented leak of internal documents at the Supreme Court. They reveal that a majority of judges are preparing to cancel the right to abortion. “(This decision) has been unfounded from the start (…). The right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the history and traditions of the Nation”, can we read in this preliminary draft decision, unveiled by the site Politico. This questioning was denounced on Tuesday, May 3, by US President Joe Biden, for whom abortion is a fundamental right.

The situation is made possible by the recomposition of the Supreme Court, wanted by Donald Trump. Among the nine judges in question, six are conservative, and fiercely opposed to the 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the United States. If this right were removed, each state would be able to pass its own law on the matter. At least 26 of them could decide to ban abortion.