EPA Vice President Kamala Harris at an earlier meeting on abortion
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 14:56
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Devi Boerema
Foreign editor
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Devi Boerema
Foreign editor
US Vice President Kamala Harris will start her today Fight for Reproductive Rights-tour through the United States. Since the Supreme Court rolled back the nationwide right to abortion, it has become more difficult for American women in conservative, Republican states to end their pregnancies.
The Democrats think they can mobilize voters with this theme and possibly convince doubting conservatives. That’s why they’re making abortion rights an important election issue this year. In rallies in the coming months, Harris wants to “highlight the harm caused by these abortion bans.” There is also room for stories from those affected.
“This topic is about the identity of Americans, it is so deeply personal,” says America expert Laila Frank. “The Democrats also link this to an infringement of personal freedom by a meddling government.” According to her, this connection was not chosen by chance: independent and conservative voters in particular can respond to that message.
Harris as messenger
It is convenient for the Democrats that Harris can take on this theme. President Biden, an 81-year-old Catholic man who previously had quite conservative views on abortion, is much less suitable as a messenger. But the question is how much a Democratic president can really change current abortion rights.
“There are currently many conservative judges on the Supreme Court who will determine what happens in the coming years,” says doctor Rebecca Gomperts. She has been campaigning for the right to abortion for years, including through the non-profit organization Women on Waves. She is happy with the attention from the Democrats, but also thinks that the damage has already been done with this conservative Supreme Court.
APP Protest against abortion at the US Supreme Court (photo from June 2023)
Harris starts her campaign tour today, exactly 51 years after the famous verdict in the case Roe v. Wade. In 1973, the Supreme Court established that women had the right to self-determination and made abortion possible nationwide. That decision was reversed in June 2022 and since then the responsibility has returned to the states. As a result, 21 of the 50 states banned abortion or made it impossible from six weeks.
“Of Initial figures show that the birth rate has increased in a number of states since abortion laws were scrapped. Especially among women from a lower economic class,” says Gomperts. These women cannot afford to travel to another state where abortion is still allowed. According to Gomperts, the number of women who die during pregnancy has also increased.
Correspondent Marieke de Vries from Washington:
“Conservative America celebrated the rollback of the national right to abortion as a victory, but it has since become apparent that Americans view it differently than conservatives had expected. In the conservative state of Kansas, a ban on abortion was voted down in a referendum. The no camp unexpectedly received support from conservative women, who voted against en masse because they put their freedom above an interfering government.
In Ohio, a state that went to Trump in 2020, a majority even voted last November to include the right to abortion in the state constitution. The Democrats campaign on preserving the right to abortion by stating that that right is only safe with them. Partly because of this, they achieved victories in the midterm elections in pro-Trump states such as Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Now – for the first time – you hardly hear Republicans talking about the subject of abortion anymore. They have seen that they will lose if they advocate a ban, but also fear that they will alienate more conservative voters and donors if they adopt a moderate tone.
The elections on November 5 are about more than just who will become president. In nine states, voters are also being asked to cast a vote on whether to regulate abortion.
In Florida, for example, where Governor DeSantis wants to ban abortion after six weeks. Pro-abortusactivisten want to use a referendum to implement an amendment to the Florida Constitution that would actually expand the options for obtaining an abortion. Whether the referendum will actually go ahead is up to the highest court in the state still decide.
In states where abortion is not directly reflected on the ballot, voters do have the option to vote for more liberal or conservative politicians in November.
Abortion pill case
Before that happens, an important ruling from the Supreme Court is expected before the summer. This must decide whether mifepristone, the active substance in pills used for abortion and which Gomperts, among others, provides with her organization Aid Acess, remains approved.
“Because the pills are available by post, women in all states can arrange an abortion themselves for up to thirteen weeks,” Gomperts explains. She emphasizes that providing the abortion pill is not the solution to restricting abortion rights in the US. Abortion should continue to be safe, both via the pill and with a doctor, she says.
Whatever the Supreme Court decides on the abortion pill, Laila Frank thinks it will in any case reignite the debate in the summer. “It gives both camps ammunition to continue their campaign.”
2024-01-22 13:56:30
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