EPAPro-abortion demonstrations at the Supreme Court in Washington DC
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 02:27
The highest court in the US state of Arizona has reinstated an ancient law that could ban almost all abortions. The law was drawn up in 1864, when the American Civil War was still gripping the country.
The law stipulates that abortions are only permitted if it can save the woman’s life. Anyone who carries out such a procedure for any other reason faces up to five years in prison. Before this, abortions were prohibited after the fifteenth week of pregnancy.
Now an average of 1,100 abortions are performed in the state every month. That number is expected to drop to almost zero. The ruling will not come into effect until two weeks later. In the meantime, parties will still have the opportunity to appeal.
Draconian
Arizona is the fifteenth of the fifty American states to tighten abortion laws since the federal Supreme Court struck down the nationwide right to abortion in 2022. This placed legislation back in the hands of the states.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, called the local Supreme Court’s decision “unconscionable and an affront to freedom.” She insists she will not prosecute any doctor or woman for breaking the “draconian law”.
“The decision to reinstate this law, which dates back to an era when Arizona was not a state, the Civil War was raging and women were not even allowed to vote, will go down as a stain on our statehood,” Mayes said.
Biden outraged
President Biden says the Supreme Court’s ruling is “the result of the extreme positions of Republican lawmakers who are determined to take away women’s freedom.”
Biden regularly speaks out strongly against anti-abortion legislation. Political analysts expect the pro-abortion movement to win him many votes in the presidential elections in November.
2024-04-10 00:27:48
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