Why are US states trying to tighten their abortion laws right now? We take a look at the situation:
Pro-life and pro-choice campaigners at Georgia State Capitol building. Image: Alyssa Pointer Pro-life and pro-choice campaigners at Georgia State Capitol building. Image: Alyssa Pointer THIS WEEK, THE US state of Alabama passed what has been called the toughest abortion ban bill in the US. It bans almost all abortions at any stage – even in cases of rape and incest.
Under the bill, abortions will only be legal if the life of the mother is in danger or the foetus has a fatal condition. Abortion is not allowed in the case of rape or incest. That’s why we have a case where liberal states can have more liberal abortion laws, and more conservative states can have more conservative laws.Roe v Wade is a landmark US Supreme Court case from 1973, where the court ruled that the Constitution provides a fundamental ‘right to privacy’, and this covers making a personal decision about an abortion.The case was taken after a Texan woman, Norma McCorvey became pregnant for the third time aged 21.
The Guttmacher Institute, which defends women’s rights, has said that 28 out of the 50 US states this year have introduced more than 300 new rules to limit abortion. As for last year, the Center for Reproductive Rights says that: As pregnancies are dated from the first day of the pregnant person’s last period, being six weeks pregnant means around two weeks after a missed period.
Should any abortion cases reach the Supreme Court again, the make-up of the judges in this court is seen as hugely important. US President Donald Trump is on record as being pro-life. He is also on record as saying that he wants to place pro-life justices on the Supreme Court. So, this has led to concern among pro-choice groups in the US that Trump is appointing pro-life justices to the Supreme Court so that, should a law challenging Roe v Wade reach that court, there is a higher chance of the landmark case being overturned.
What happens if Roe v Wade is overturned? The New York Times has reported that in some states, the pre-1973 statutes that criminalised abortion were not repealed. So if Roe v Wade was reversed, potentially these statutes would be in place – though it could depend on the state’s legal system and its approach to unenforced old laws.
There is a long road to get to this point, as it depends, as we said above, on whether the bill manages to progress to the Supreme Court. Even then, the Supreme Court judges will have to decide whether they even want to deal with it.
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