By SudOuest.fr with AFP
Supreme Court offered major victory to abortion opponents by refusing to suspend a Texas law that bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy even if there is rape or incest
The high court, seized urgently by defenders of the right to abortion, does not rule on the constitutionality of the law which entered into force 24 hours earlier in this vast conservative state, but it invokes “complex procedural issues and news ”to leave it in place as the legal battle continues.
His decision was taken by a narrow majority of five out of nine magistrates, three of whom were chosen by Donald Trump for their opposition to abortion. It therefore also represents an a posteriori victory for the former president and his conservative allies.
“The Republicans had promised to bring down Roe v. Wade and they made it, ”Democrat elected Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez immediately tweeted, referring to the iconic Supreme Court ruling that, in 1973, recognized the right to abortion in the United States. In fact, Texas law is the most restrictive law allowed to come into effect in nearly half a century.
Signed in May by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, it bans Texans from aborting once the embryo’s heartbeat is detected – after about six weeks of pregnancy, when most women don’t even know it. ‘they are pregnant. There is only one exemption: in the event of a medical emergency.
More than 85% of abortions performed so far in Texas have taken place after that date, according to family planning organizations, which on Wednesday reported their deep distress.
“Bonus” for informing
Before Texas, twelve states passed comparable laws but they were all struck down in court because they violate Supreme Court jurisprudence which guaranteed the right to abort as long as the fetus is not viable, either around 22 weeks pregnant.
But Texas worded its law differently: it is not up to the authorities to enforce the criminal law, but “exclusively” to citizens, encouraged to file civil complaints against organizations or people who help women to have abortions.
The text provides that these plaintiffs receive at least 10,000 dollars in “compensation” in the event of conviction. Critics of the text see it as a “bonus” for denouncing, but its supporters have already created sites to collect all “anonymous information”.
For procedural reasons, this device makes it more difficult for the federal courts to intervene, which have so far refused to take recourse against the law. The Supreme Court has now followed suit, while stressing that other appeals could be filed against the text, in particular before the state courts.
Nearly half a century after this ruling, the right to abortion still deeply divides the United States. According to an NBC poll released Wednesday, 54% of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in the majority of cases and 42% illegal.
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