“
I was going to work Tuesday morning when the
New York Times
alert came, I literally exploded with joy.”
Like many Americans, Nicole Bestard, founder of the press relations agency specializing in tech Quarter Horse PR Strategies in New York, did not remain indifferent to France's vote to include the right to abortion in the Constitution.
She herself allocates pro-bono time for initiatives in favor of women's reproductive rights.
To discover
Business masterclass: on March 8, treat yourself to some time for yourself
Also read: The entry of abortion into the Constitution: Mathilde Panot, the one whose name we won't remember?
“During the day, I spoke with other women involved in gender equality, we talked about it and we all agreed how courageous and important this decision is, but also how it reminds us that we are going backwards in the United States, where women’s health is at risk.”
A bittersweet feeling
This ambivalent feeling is shared by Krystal LaJoie, an engineer in Denver, Colorado.
“
A friend sent me the news.
I had a bittersweet feeling, it's so exciting for France but it's a harsh reminder of the long battle we're going to have to fight."
The young woman considers herself particularly lucky to live in a state that has not limited the right to abortion.
For her, who volunteers for Planned Parenthood, the issue is historic, because the reality of abortion is already serious: in Colorado, five times more women on average come to have an abortion since the end of Roe vs Wade .
Pro-choice Americans inspired by France
Carole Joffe, an American sociologist specializing in reproductive rights since the 1980s, recalled with emotion the precedents in France.
“When I heard the news, I remembered the words of the Minister of Health Michèle Barzach in 1988, when mifepristone (
name of the abortion pill, Editor's note
) had finally been approved after much back and forth: “ it is the moral property of women,” she said.
Many “pro-choice” Americans (
pro-abortion, editor’s note
) had been inspired by what was happening in France at the time.”
Kristin Hady, program director at Abortion Access Front, an organization that uses humor to destigmatize abortion, welcomes the historic decision to include abortion in the Constitution in France.
“Any positive trend is good for all of us.
We must celebrate this victory for France, because we are no longer used to having one.”
“It is a huge achievement, a world first to place abortion in the Constitution.
We are taking action on this moment
,
” adds Olatunde Johnson, professor of constitutional law at Columbia University.
In the United States, the threat to IVF and high-risk pregnancies
For Amanda Shanor, professor at Wharton University in Pennsylvania, “France is an example, and the news is fabulous.”
But it is also striking at a time when in the United States, the Supreme Court of Alabama almost decided that embryos fertilized by IVF (in-vitro fertilization) should be considered babies.
So much so that the majority of fertility centers in Alabama have canceled their IVF procedures out of fear of legal retaliation.
Fortunately, the legislature intervened and Alabama has just passed a law protecting IVF practitioners in the state.
“On the one hand, we protect the immutable right to abortion in France, and on the other, we consider life from conception, which prohibits women from terminating high-risk pregnancies, and threatens the future of IVF.”
However, resistance is being organized.
Kristin Hady recalls the case of Ohio, the latest state to have included the “right of everyone to make their own reproductive decisions” in its Constitution, last November.
A total of 12 states have included abortion protections in their state constitutions, with initiatives underway in Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Arizona.
The November election, highly anxiety-provoking
For these Americans who are calling for resistance, the stakes of the November presidential election are anxiety-provoking.
“My mother and my grandmother had more rights than me and the younger generations, it’s terrifying.
I’m really worried,” admits Nicole Bestard
.
“It’s a scary time.
We have made 150 years of progress and if the Democrats lose the majority in both houses, it will be a time bomb for abortion,” adds Krystal LaJoie.
“I didn’t think we’d have to beat Trump twice.
Biden is not the ideal candidate because he has not invested in the abortion rights movement, but I prefer someone who does nothing to a dangerous man.”
A slogan: beat Donald Trump
“The most urgent task for abortion defenders is to beat Donald Trump, who will have no hesitation in passing a national ban on abortion if his friends on the right ask him
,
” anticipates Carole Joffe.
Like her, Kristin Hady is galvanized by the electoral deadline: “I'm excited, the majority of Americans are pro-choice, people are mobilizing to protect our rights.
We must take back power and fight for what matters, we have no choice.”