Abortion Rights in America: A Step Backward

During the previous evening, the Politico portal published the initial draft of the decision of the US Supreme Court, which explains the decision to annul the legal effect of the ruling in the case of Roe v. Wade from 1973, which guaranteed the federal constitutional protection of the right to abortion in the USA. The draft decision was written by Samuel Alito, one of the nine judges of this court, and it was adopted and sent to further proceedings, with a majority decision of five votes for and four against.

The draft was secretly delivered to the media, as it is assumed, by one of the lower officials of the court, which caused additional controversies and mutual accusations by Republicans, who interpret this gesture as contempt of court, and Democrats, who generally praise the courage of an unidentified individual who, in his desire to prevent the adoption this judgment, put his career on the line. It is a draft decision, in which, as is usual in the practice of the Constitutional Court, the opinions of the other judges are incorporated and which is then voted on again, before the final adoption.

Until now, there have been cases where judges changed the way they voted during this process, but the assessment of the political public and the media is that this time it is unlikely.

Photo: AP

In practice, such a decision of the Supreme Court, if it is adopted in its current form, means that the right to abortion will cease to be universal and that each of the fifty American states will have the opportunity to independently decide whether one of the most significant achievements of the struggle for human and especially real women survive.

Thirty-one states, in which the Republican Party is in power, many of which already have laws in force that prohibit or make it much more difficult to terminate a pregnancy, have announced that they will pass new laws that either prohibit the right to abortion completely or in greatly restricts. Some of them, like Oklahoma or Texas, announce draconian laws that will make abortion illegal even in cases where the pregnancy occurred as a result of rape or incest.

Fifteen minutes after Politico published the news, disgruntled citizens and activists from human rights organizations began gathering in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, and mass demonstrations are being announced in almost all major American cities for the next weekend.

The latest public opinion polls show that 49 percent of Americans say they are "pro choice," that is, they are in favor of the right to choose, and 46 percent are "pro life." At the same time, as many as 69 percent of respondents oppose the repeal of Roe v. Wade and the abolition of women's right to abortion, which means that half of "pro-life" Americans believe that abortion is not a good solution, but that in practice women's reproductive rights should not be taken away.

With the exception of wars or natural disasters, it is difficult to think of any event in recent decades that, for many reasons, has caused such an explosive and immediate reaction from the media and the liberal part of the public, not only in the United States of America, but, it is safe to say, all over the world. .

Attempts are being made once again to hinder or completely take away women's rights, which were achieved through a truly arduous struggle and with countless sacrifices, arbitrarily and absurdly by the decision of state authorities. The right to dispose of one's own body, including the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, which was won in many countries in the second half of the twentieth century, represents a continuation of the series in which women managed to rise from the terrifying situation in which they lived for centuries.

As is sometimes forgotten, until recently, in historical thought, women did not have the right to their own property, the right to inherit, the right to education, the right to choose a partner, the right to change their place of residence, the right to work, the right to engage in politics, the right to vote. Even today, women are often forced to accept jobs where they are paid less than men for the same work, and victims of mobbing or domestic violence do not receive nearly adequate protection. And this all applies to women who were lucky enough to be born and live in countries with more liberal systems. The position of women in traditionalist and totalitarian societies is incomparably more difficult.

Further decisions of the Supreme Court in this case are eagerly awaited, but the prevailing belief is that the final verdict will be similar to the one proposed in the leaked draft and that the rights of women in America will be drastically reduced.

The makers of such laws, by all means, forgot about the countless examples in which states tried to model the life of an individual with prohibitions and punishments, and life itself and the need of each person to decide for himself still found ways to deal with the obstacles. Statistics from a number of countries in Latin and South America where anti-abortion laws are in force show that after their adoption, the number of unwanted pregnancy terminations even increased, with women being forced to travel to other countries or go to illegal clinics with incomparably higher costs and risks to one's own health.

It remains to be seen whether the announced protests, some initiatives announced by the Democratic Party and odium in a large part of the public will be enough to prevent such a verdict from the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, the very speed of citizens' reaction, the activism shown and their willingness to fight is encouraging and provides hope that too many steps backwards will not be taken. As history teaches, freedom is hard won and lost when we take it for granted.

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