The Supreme Court is poised to strike down the only federal protection of abortion rights in the United States, Roe v.
Wade, according to a draft court opinion leaked by Politico.
Although this is not a final ruling, it raises the possibility of a historical change.
"If the information is accurate, the Supreme Court is about to
inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the last 50 years,
not only on women, but on all Americans," the two top Democratic leaders of the Supreme Court said in a joint statement. Congress.
These are the keys to what is being debated and how it can change the lives of millions of people.
Is abortion legal now in the United States?
Yes. Until now, abortion continues to be recognized as a right at the federal level.
The final decision of the Supreme Court is expected to be announced before July.
Meanwhile, people who need the procedure can do so, depending on the state where they are, as there are different restrictions that complicate access.
“
Our health centers remain open
and make no mistake, we are fighting with everything”, tweeted Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood – one of the main providers of abortion services in the country – after knowing the draft of the Court.
What is Roe v.
Wade and why do we care?
There is no federal law that protects or prohibits abortion.
But there is the case Roe v.
Wade, which is a Supreme Court ruling that in 1973 recognized abortion as a constitutional right.
That is, each woman could choose whether to end a pregnancy or not, without interference.
The ruling stated that the procedure cannot be prohibited before the point at which the fetus can survive outside the womb, known as fetal viability.
Most experts estimate that fetal viability occurs between 23 or 24 weeks.
What is Roe v.
Wade?
We explain the ruling that decriminalized abortion in the US in 1973
May 3, 202200:36
UN data collected by Amnesty International shows that when access to safe abortions is restricted or criminalized, the number of interrupted pregnancies is not reduced.
In fact, they continue to be carried out, only clandestinely, which endangers the lives of pregnant people.
What will happen if the Court annuls this ruling?
If the Supreme Court maintains the position expressed in the draft and annuls Roe v.
Wade,
the states will be the ones that will determine and regulate access to abortion
, which implies deciding in what week and with what methods it is allowed, among other points, and also the possibility of totally prohibiting it.
About half of the states in the country would ban or restrict access to abortion primarily because they have laws that would take effect immediately if Roe is struck down, according to a map from the Center for Reproductive Rights, which tracks related policies. to the subject in the country.
Among them are Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
By contrast, 16 states and the District of Columbia have policies that explicitly protect abortion rights, and other Democratic-leading states may do the same.
This is what abortion in America might look like in a post-Roe world.
States are expected to make different decisions if Roe v.
Wade, ranging from the prohibition of abortion to its protection by law. Map: Felipe Galvez Tabach / Noticias Telemundo
Who will be the most affected?
Abortion restrictions exacerbate logistical and financial barriers for marginalized communities, such as racial and ethnic minorities, low-income people, and people from rural communities.
Experts agree that further setbacks in abortion rights would be very detrimental to these communities.
"Those with more resources and privilege will likely find ways to get the care they need
," Elizabeth Nash, senior policy associate for state affairs at the Guttmacher Institute, told The Washington Post.
"Abortion is health care, plain and simple," she remarked.
“Abortion is health care, plain and simple”
elizabeth nash guttmacher institute
Latino communities are precisely the most affected by the lack of access to health coverage in the United States.
Latina workers at clinics that perform abortions have recounted the “terror” and “desperation” experienced by Hispanic women in Texas in the face of the restrictive anti-abortion law approved in the state.
"We're seeing a level of desperation on our patients' faces that we've never seen before," said Adrienne Mansanares, CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains.
In certain regions of the country, people would not have any options available to them
.
Louisiana, as shown on the map by the Center for Reproductive Rights, would not have any surrounding states with legal and safe access to abortion, forcing people living in this state to travel much further to obtain this health care.
Can the federal government change what is happening?
President Joe Biden has promised to work to make abortion rights law.
To achieve this goal, it will be necessary for the Democrats to achieve a majority agreement in Congress with the Republicans, which is highly unlikely, analysts say, although not impossible.
The United States is then left with a patchwork of abortion laws, depending on each state.
Biden mentioned that, too, inviting people to vote in the November midterm elections.
"If the court strikes down Roe, it will fall on our nation's elected officials at all levels of government to protect women's right to choose," the president said in a written statement.
What has changed and where are we going?
In the last decade, restrictions on the right have increased in the country, with state governments – especially those with Republican leadership – taking increasingly extreme positions.
"Some states have adopted so many restrictions that almost all that was left was to ban abortion," said Elizabeth Nash of the Guttmacher Institute.
[Five keys for Latino families who need medical coverage in the US]
"It's a setback."
Experts react to the leaked draft that would nullify the right to abortion
May 3, 202202:36
One of the most resounding cases was the Texas law, which prohibited the procedure after six weeks, when most pregnant people are unaware that they are pregnant.
In the first month of validity, abortions in the state fell by 60%, which suggests that clandestine procedures, which endanger the lives of those who practice it.
In 2022, the trend was accentuated: in just the first two months of the year, more than 315 anti-abortion bills have been introduced in 41 states, according to an analysis by Planned Parenthood.
The trends that mark access in the US:
Abortion bans after 15 weeks.
Four states have introduced abortion bans after 15 weeks gestation modeled after the Mississippi law that the Supreme Court is deciding.
Among them is Florida.
Texas-style
abortion bans
.
Ten states have introduced bans modeled on Texas, which include a “sue your neighbor” provision allowing private individuals to act as bounty hunters and sue those who help patients access abortions.
Restrictions on medical abortion.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) eliminated the requirement for in-person supply of one of the drugs in the two-phase medical abortion regimen, which expanded access to this procedure.
But at least 22 states have tried to crack down on these drugs.
This includes excessive and cumbersome reporting requirements for suppliers, distributors and manufacturers;
bans on telemedicine for medical abortion;
medically unnecessary waiting periods and mandatory sonograms.
Bills on the access of minors and parental control
.
Various measures have been introduced that limit minors' access to abortion, sex education, and gender-affirming health care through parental notification and consent laws.
These bills are often presented as efforts to give parents more control over their children's education, but experts warn that they take away children's right to a full and objective education.
Five bills have been introduced that explicitly stigmatize LGBTQ+ content in schools.
[Latinos Support LGBTQ Issues in Classrooms: Axios and Noticias Telemundo Survey]
Latinos are often thought to be more conservative than other Americans on the issue of abortion.
However, a Pew Research Center survey revealed that in 2021,
58% of Hispanics believed that abortion should be legal
in all or most cases, a figure very close to 57% of whites.