Hundreds of protesters gathered on Saturday in front of the US Supreme Court in rejection of the decision of the judge of nullify the precedent Roe Vs Wadewhich for nearly half a century has recognized women’s constitutional right to abortion.
The devastating failure The court’s decision, backed by a 6-3 conservative majority, is poised to upend American life, with nearly half of states called to drastically restrict abortion in the coming weeks.
The division in the United States on the right to termination of pregnancy became clear: supporters of abortion rights called it a dark day in history, while opponents of abortion described the ruling as the answer to their prayers.
That is why this Saturday thousands of Americans gathered throughout the United States to express their opinion on the matter, either to demand that the state Congress approve laws that guarantee the right to abortion or to express their support for the Supreme Court ruling. .
In Photos | Abortion rights further divide America
Firearms, education, the pandemic, and even the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential elections. There are many issues that divide two Americas that are increasingly distant; a situation that the Supreme Court ruling against the right to abortion threatens to further aggravate.
In addition, Supreme Court Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas suggested in the ruling that the court’s reasoning could also lead to to reconsider previous rulings that protect the right to contraception, legalize gay marriage across the country, and invalidate state laws that ban gay sex.
The crowd gathered this Saturday in Washington DC represented both opponents of termination of pregnancy with T-shirts that said “I am the pro-life generation” and supporters of abortion rights who chanted “my body, my choice.”
“The Supreme Court has made some terrible decisions,” Democratic President Joe Biden said Saturday.
He added that the White House will be keeping an eye on how states enforce bans, and administration officials have already signaled that they plan to fight attempts by states to ban a pill used for abortion.
Closure of clinics
The abortion bans that were established in some states in the event that Roe v. Wade automatically went into effect Friday, while clinics in states like Alabama, Texas and West Virginia stopped performing abortions. for fear of being prosecutedcausing patients to leave their facilities with tears in their eyes.
“Some patients collapsed and couldn’t speak between their sobs,” said Katie Quinonez, executive director of West Virginia’s only abortion clinic, whose staff called dozens of patients to cancel their appointments. “Some patients were stunned and didn’t know what to say. Others did not understand what was happening.
Women who traveled to another state to terminate their pregnancies found that, in some places, abortions stopped because of state laws that went into effect after the court decision or because of confusion about when those laws would go into effect. laws.
By eliminating the constitutional right to abortion in force for half a century, the Supreme Court leaves in the hands of the states resolution of this highly politically charged issue, of which about half could ban the procedure.
Doctors ask for licenses in other states
Jennifer Kerns, a California doctor, will soon be serving nearly 2,000 miles away at an abortion clinic in Kansas, where women from nearby states in the Midwest with bans on the procedure are expected to seek care.
Abortion providers and clinics say Kerns is among dozens of doctors who recently applied for new medical licenses in states where abortion could remain legal, in anticipation of Friday’s landmark Supreme Court decision to end recognition of abortion. constitutional right of a woman to terminate a pregnancy.
“We felt like this was part of our responsibility — to provide services where they are really needed,” said Kerns, a surgeon who teaches and practices at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. He plans to fly to Wichita, Kansas, when his schedule allows.
Adding out-of-state doctors is just one of the measures being taken by abortion clinics facing an uncertain landscape in which access to abortion will be decided state by state, threatening to close some clinics and forcing those that remain with more patients. .
* With information from AP and Reuters.
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