The location of the final rally of the 50th “March for Life” is the program. Unlike in previous years, the organizers of the US lifeguards’ demonstration chose a place between Congress and the Supreme Court in Washington. “It was a huge victory a few months ago when ‘Roe’ was overturned,” recalls the Republican majority leader in the House of Representatives Steve Scalise to the cheers of the approximately 50,000 participants in the June 2022 abortion verdict. “But as you all know, that was it just the beginning of the battle…”
The Supreme Court, with its conservative majority of six to three votes, had overturned the jurisprudence that had been in force for half a century, but had not created any new law. Since there is no national law in the USA regulating access to abortions, responsibility automatically fell back to the states. Depending on the political orientation, there is now a patchwork of legal provisions.
Tightened Rules
Since June, there have been near-total abortion bans in the Republican states of Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Many of these states also have no exceptions for rape or incest. Access to abortions is also severely restricted in North Dakota and Wisconsin.
In Ohio, Indiana and Wyoming, state courts have temporarily blocked bans with temporary injunctions, while in South Carolina the Supreme Court has ruled a six-week fix unconstitutional; other states have 12 and 15 week deadlines. In contrast, 16 democratically governed states, including New York and California, have legal access to abortions.
Image: ©picture alliance / landov/Rob Griffith
In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the landmark “Roe vs. Wade” ruling that declared abortion a private matter in 1973.
“The March for Life will continue until there are no more abortion rights,” Jeanne Mancini, president of the “March for Life”, told the demonstrators. There are still too many states where abortion is legal.
Within the pro-life movement, there are different views on the further strategy. While some are calling for more to be done for expectant mothers and single mothers, others are considering tougher sanctions. Excessive restrictions are rejected by voters even in conservative states. Ex-President Donald Trump recently blamed “the abortion issue” for the Republicans’ poor performance in the November midterm elections.
In Kansas and Kentucky, citizens overwhelmingly rejected initiatives that would have enshrined abortion bans in the constitution. Conversely, in Michigan, voters passed an amendment to the constitution that provides for a “right to abortion.”
Expert: There has never been a compromise in the US abortion debate
The overturning of the landmark “Roe vs. Wade” judgment has led to heated debates in the United States. In an interview, philosophy professor and Jesuit Godehard Brüntrup talks about the division in the country – and the difference to the abortion debate in Europe.
Incumbent President Joe Biden took the 50th anniversary of the “Roe v. Wade” decision of 1973 as an opportunity on Friday to call on Congress to bring the principles passed at the time into law. He will do everything “to protect women and families from the damage” brought about by the Supreme Court’s decision.
In his sermon at the opening service on Thursday evening, Bishop Michael Burbidge, who is responsible for life protection at the Catholic US Bishops’ Conference, saw the end of “Roe vs. Wade” as a cause for celebration. This “eyesore” no longer exists in the US legal system or in the nation’s culture.
9,000 at service
More than 9,000 people attended the opening event in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. In addition to Burbidge, Cardinals Sean O’Malley of Boston, Wilton Gregory of Washington, and the President of the Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, also attended the service.
Abortion remains a hot topic among US citizens. A current “Marist” survey before the “March for Life” showed that six out of ten respondents believe that women have the right to decide on abortion. Almost four out of ten respondents described themselves as opposed to abortion.
By Bernd Tenhage (KNA)
