“Poor women will be the ones who suffer the most after the ruling on abortion”

The author Joshua Prager.Peter van Agtmael

Joshua Prager (Eagle Butt, South Dakota, 51 years old) is one of the people who best knows the

case , which constitutionally enshrined the right to abortion in the United States in 1973. Investigative reporter specializing in the characters he overwhelmed la Historia, made a big splash in September 2021 with

(WW Norton).

Published around the time Texas passed its restrictive abortion law, the book, on which he worked for a decade, revealed the identity of

Norma McCorvey's daughter (whom the judge gave the pseudonym

while litigating for her right to an abortion, precisely, in… Texas.

McCorvey's fight, which gave the girl up for adoption (today she is a woman named Shelley Lynn Thornton, as Prager discovered), reached the Supreme Court.

This ruled in 1973 in his favor (seven against two) in what is usually defined as "the most controversial sentence" in its history.

A title that is about to be disputed by the one that is currently cooking in that same court for the

which pits a Mississippi clinic against the state, which in 2018 enacted a law contrary to the spirit that

enshrined constitutionally.

If the final resolution confirms what is progressing in the draft revealed this Monday by the

, five conservative justices will topple a half-century precedent and split the United States in two when it comes to women's reproductive rights.

Prager answers EL PAÍS from his home in New Jersey, one day after learning of a draft whose content, he says, has not surprised him “at all”.

Ask.

Although it was suspected that the Supreme would go there, the text has caused a real earthquake...

Response.

It was enough to look at the arguments of the oral hearing.

There are seven justices who we knew in advance what they would vote [three conservatives, three progressives, and Chief Justice John Roberts].

The two unknowns were [the two justices appointed by Donald Trump] Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh.

This one spent all the time mentioning precedents that the court had reversed in the past.

And hers spent much of her time talking about adoption as a viable alternative to abortion.

So they made it pretty clear that they were going to, at the very least, cut

.

There were also signs that they could knock it down completely, as it seems they can.

Although you never know, and things could still change, we must not forget that what we have known is a draft.

More information

The United States Supreme Court is preparing to repeal the right to abortion

Q.

How could that happen?

R.

It all comes down to whether or not Judge Roberts [a moderate conservative, who has voted in favor in the past on issues such as immigration, LGBTI rights or, also, abortion] can win over one of those two judges for his cause.

And the cause of it is the following: he does not want in any case a headline like the one that has exploded this week.

He is a man respectful of precedent and deeply concerned about the reputation of the court he leads.

In many ways, he is alone.

P.

Kavanaugh and Barrett were quite clear in their respective Senate hearings that they would respect precedent.

Did they lie?

A.

Those confirmation hearings are just a ridiculous game.

a farce

Do they lie?

Technically yes.

But it is a game that everyone plays.

And it was precisely

that got that game started.

The Supreme Court's confirmation processes used to be normal, honest and open, until in 1987, candidate Robert Bork, appointed by Ronald Reagan, was rejected.

The Democrats presented him as a radical.

Obviously, he was a rightist, but not a radical.

They made it clear that if he was elected, the United States would become a dangerous hell in which women would once again have abortions in the alleys.

So that was because of

.

It is always

that has caused earthquakes like the current one for half a century.

P.

How do you imagine the United States after

R.

Unfortunately, it will be the same as always.

Rich white women will have access to abortion without problem.

Poor women and women of color will be the greatest victims.

They will be forced to travel to other States to exercise their right and will lack the resources to do so.

It's tragic, but that's how it is.

This is a country divided by class and by racial origin.

And this will be just another example of it.

P.

Is it also another demonstration of the wild polarization that the country is experiencing?

R.

Abortion is the issue that faces the most in the United States, even more than race.

It wasn't like that.

It shouldn't be like this.

But it is like this.

Q.

Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose death opened the door to Trump's third

appointment , believed that the original sin of the

sentence was that it was based on the right to privacy rather than equality.

Do you agree?

R.

Many people believe it, and I am among them.

But, to be fair: Justice [Harry] Blackmun [one of the nine members of the Supreme Court at the time, who also wrote the majority opinion] said that he did not have enough votes to obtain a favorable sentence for Norma Roe if they resorted to the equality argument.

Maybe that's not true, because it was a seven-to-two ruling, but that's what he said.

Q.

What could have been done better?

A.

It is a good question.

If the constitutional analysis had been more armored, it would have been less vulnerable to later attacks.

It is always said that

poisoned America, that he confronted her, but it is not entirely true.

The justices could have made it clear in their argument that before that process, the Republican Party had already begun to politicize the issue.

Nixon's advisers suggested that he change his mind on abortion for electoral gain.

Q.

Speaking of getting votes… Would you say this leak benefits the Democrats politically?

R.

It is not possible to know at this time, because if you look at the polls, obviously, what people are most concerned about right now is the economy.

However, it could benefit them in the November elections for Congress.

Why?

Because, poll after poll after poll, for 50 years, basically it has been shown that Americans, despite their leaders passing, and even though both sides have become more extreme, still believe that abortion should be legal during about the first trimester.

P.

If the Supreme Court knocks down

in some states, such as Texas or Oklahoma, the term will be reduced to six weeks, which is equivalent to prohibiting it...

R.

That's why it can have an effect.

If the 1973 ruling galvanized the so-called

-lifers , its repeal will rally those in favor of women's right to decide.

Q.

What do you think of the arguments of Judge Samuel Alito, who wrote the draft?

R.

Nothing new under the sun.

They are very extreme, lack nuance and are unfair, as well as one-sided.

I know enough about this topic to be able to point out many points that Alito maintains are simply lies...

Q.

For example?

R.

When you talk about the first symptoms that women feel during pregnancy.

For 700 years, the Catholic Church differentiates between abortions before and after that time, but he prefers not to mention it.

And so many other things: it is not an impartial opinion.

And that, unfortunately, does not surprise me.

Q.

What about the argument that the Constitution does not mention abortion?

R.

It is true that it is not mentioned, but there are many issues that are not in the Constitution and that are in our legal system.

It seems hypocritical to me.

Q.

Does the Supreme represent the United States of 2022?

R.

I think it represents the leaders of the anti-abortion movement of the last 50 years, the same ones that have made this a more politicized and more extreme issue at this time.

And now there are these judges who want to change such an entrenched precedent on the grounds that

's motivation was flimsy… We can all agree that there could have been better reasoning, but it is stupid to pretend that it is only about the interpretation of the Constitution.

They say that they are only talking about the law, that they do not know what effects their decision will have on society, that this is not their job.

Come now!

Of course it is!

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