The White House on Friday castigated the “extreme” laws that come into effect to ban abortion in Oklahoma, Idaho, Texas and Tennessee, in a statement from its spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.
Referring more generally to the conservative offensive against the right to abortion, President Joe Biden declared to him, during a meeting at the White House with local elected officials: “I think that Americans realize that all of this crosses the line, that this is going too far. »
He repeated that a federal law had to be passed to restore the right to abortion throughout the territory, and assured that in November, during the mid-term elections, “the Americans will make sure that happens”, which means giving the Democrats a clear majority in Congress.
The defense of the right to abortion, and its corollary, the virulent criticism of the Republicans in this area, play the leading roles in the Democratic Party’s campaign for this election.
Idaho, Texas and Tennessee have joined the dozen or so conservative states that had put in place so-called “dormant” laws (trigger laws), some of which prohibit any voluntary termination of pregnancy, including in cases of rape and sexual assault. ‘incest.
Their entry into force is the direct consequence of a decision by the now very conservative US Supreme Court.
The institution, shaped by former President Donald Trump, dynamited on June 24 the constitutional right to abortion which extended to all of the American territory.
The law that comes into force in Oklahoma is not strictly speaking a “trigger law”. It aims to punish doctors or medical personnel who continue to perform abortions, with heavy fines and sentences of up to 10 years in prison.
“These near-total bans on abortion are part of an ever-widening initiative by Republicans to suppress freedoms that Americans have enjoyed for nearly half a century,” said Karine Jean-Pierre.
“Americans need to know that these and other basic rights, including the right to contraception and marriage for all, are under threat,” she insisted.
The White House on Friday released a series of polls showing that the majority of Americans support the right to abortion and are worried about seeing it threatened, which has increased the voting intentions in favor of the Democrats.