Two guards in front of an antenna of Planned Parenthood, one of the main family planning groups in the United States, on January 24, 2013 in Washington. – AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI
The governor of Texas on Wednesday signed a law prohibiting abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. “The law guarantees that every unborn child whose heart beats will be saved from the ravages of abortion,” said Republican Greg Abbott.
The text does not provide for an exception in the event of incest or rape. Before Texas, a dozen American states (including Louisiana and Georgia) passed similar laws to ban abortion as soon as the fetus’ heartbeat is noticeable, around the sixth week of pregnancy. However, many women are still unaware that they are pregnant at this time.
Courts blocked 6 week abortion bans elsewhere, but GOP trying new decentralized enforcement in TX bill that allows almost anyone to sue those who “aid or abet” the abortion.
Planned Parenthood & ACLU sued Monday over similar ban in Lubbock. Background: https://t.co/KgbeRXwo6H
— Sophie Novack (@SophieNovack) May 19, 2021
A very fragile right to abortion
These laws have all been struck down in court. They violate the case law of the American Supreme Court, which has recognized a right to abortion as long as the fetus is not viable, that is to say between 22 and 24 weeks of pregnancy. But the court said on Monday that it could review this criterion of “viability” when reviewing a Mississippi law, which prohibits abortion after 15 weeks.
The entry of three justices appointed by Donald Trump to the Supreme Court galvanized the Conservatives. The latter compete in imagination to provide the Court with opportunities to return to the subject. Texas law, for example, contains an unprecedented device authorizing any American citizen to sue doctors and structures who would help a woman to have an abortion.
Abortion, soon just “a right on paper”?
This measure makes Texas law “one of the most extreme in the country and sets a dangerous precedent,” commented Alexis McGill Johnson, president of the organization Planned Parenthood, which runs many clinics providing abortions. “The goal is clear: relentlessly attack reproductive health rights until abortion is just a right on paper. “
The president cites in particular the adoption of 500 restrictive measures since the beginning of 2021 against abortion. Although the right to abort was recognized by the Supreme Court in 1973, it continues to strongly divide the country, with strong opposition to abortions in religious circles, and constitutes a powerful instrument for mobilizing voters on the right.
–
