USA before Kulturkampf over abortions?
Court could overturn women's rights - Conservatives rejoice
Created: 05/04/2022, 12:53 p.m
By: Anna-Katharina Ahnefeld
The Supreme Court could overturn the existing right to abortion.
The US state of Oklahoma pushes through the "heartbeat" law.
Washington, DC – "My body, my choice" is a feminist slogan that defends the right to self-determination over one's own body.
In the USA, this could now be fundamentally changed by a threatened abortion verdict.
The U.S. newspaper
Politico
on Monday published a pierced draft Supreme Court ruling that upheld the 1973 landmark decision Roe v.
Wade” would abolish the fundamental right to abortion.
While Democrats sharply criticized President Joe Biden, conservative Republicans cheered.
Meanwhile, thousands of people took to the streets in the heated US abortion debate.
Large anti-abortion and pro-abortion demonstrations took place on Tuesday in cities including Washington, New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle.
Abortion law in the USA: landmark decision “Roe v.
Wade" in jeopardy - bill smashed
In many countries, women still have no right to self-determination over their own bodies.
You don't have to look very far to find examples.
It was not until 2020 that a restrictive abortion law was introduced in the EU member state of Poland, which only allows abortions if the life of the pregnant woman is in danger or if the pregnancy was caused by rape.
In Germany, too, a beating is illegal under Section 218 of the Criminal Code - and only allowed after a mandatory consultation.
With the change in the law, the clock in the USA could suddenly be turned back by 50 years.
Because if the Supreme Court, on which the conservative camp has had a majority since President Donald Trump was in office, says “Roe v.
Wade" actually tip, states can ban abortion or massively restrict access.
Around half of the 50 states are planning such an approach.
A Supreme Court decision is expected in June.
In the draft judgment published by
Politico
, conservative judge Samuel Alito referred to "Roe v.
Wade" as "egregiously wrong from the start".
This right is "not deeply rooted in the history and traditions of the nation".
"Roe v.
Wade” and “Casey” would therefore have to be “repealed” and “the question of abortion returned to the elected representatives of the people”.
With "Roe v.
Wade” the Supreme Court enshrined a fundamental right to abortion in 1973.
In 1992, the Court confirmed this in its Planned Parenthood v.
Casey".
As a guideline, abortion is permitted until the fetus is viable outside the womb.
This is usually the case from about the 24th week of pregnancy.
"Roe v.
Wade”: US President Biden appeals to the Supreme Court – shocked democratic leadership
Court President John Roberts confirmed on Tuesday the authenticity of the document that had become public.
At the same time, he emphasized that the final decision was not yet reached.
Roberts also announced an investigation into who leaked the draft verdict to the press.
The conservative constitutional judge condemned a "unique and egregious breach of trust".
Democratic US President Joe Biden appealed to the Supreme Court, “Roe v.
Wade" not to cancel.
"I believe women have a fundamental right to abortion," he said.
"Roe v.
Wade" has been in force for nearly 50 years, and "fundamental fairness and the stability of our law dictate that it not be repealed."
Biden also warned that if Roe v.
Wade,” numerous other issues such as same-sex marriage and “how to raise your child” would also be at risk.
Congressional Democrat leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer said scrapping abortion rights would be "one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history."
Top German politicians were also shocked.
Green Federal Chairwoman Ricarda Lang tweeted: "It's so blatant that women have had to fight for decades, over and over again, for something so obvious, like deciding for themselves whether to have children or not." Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in 2020, went viral:
Republican Response – “Heartbeat” anti-abortion bill signed in Oklahoma
Republicans, such as hardliner Marjorie Taylor Green, on the other hand, rejoiced: "This is the best and most important news of our lives," she commented on MPs.
Senator Josh Hawley asked the court to release the final decision "now."
People gather outside the Supreme Court early Tuesday, May 3, 2022.
The U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to overturn its 1973 landmark ruling on abortion.
This comes from a draft circulating in the court, which is available to the magazine "Politico".
© Alex Brandon/dpa
Amid the heated debate, Oklahoma's governor has already signed into law one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the United States.
Governor Kevin Stitt said on Tuesday (local time) on Twitter that he wanted his state to be the state in the United States that was fighting hardest to preserve unborn life.
He represents four million residents "who overwhelmingly want to protect the unborn".
The law prohibits abortions from about the seventh week of pregnancy.
Exceptions are possible, but not in the case of rape or incest.
Stitt's signing came just hours after the Supreme Court's pierced draft verdict was announced.
(
aka with material from AFP
)
