The country departs from the international trend that expands reproductive liberties.
In an anticipated but equally disturbing decision, the US Supreme Court struck down America’s constitutional guarantee of access to abortion, reversing half a century of judicial protection of this fundamental right.
Access to abortion is a crucial right to guarantee a broad spectrum of other human rights, including the rights to life and security of the person, privacy, non-discrimination, and freedom from cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, among others.
However, while the court has for now removed the constitutional protection for access to abortion, the United States has assumed international human rights obligations to ensure that right.
Such obligations are part of international treaties ratified by the United States, and the right of access to safe and legal abortion is rooted in international human rights law.
While constitutional law experts continue to delve into the complexities of the court’s ruling, what is clear from Justice Alito’s drafted opinion is that the Court has determined that the United States Constitution does not confer a right of access to abortion.
By issuing this decision, the Court annuls the paradigmatic case Roe v. Wade and the subsequent case Casey v. Planned Parenthood. With this decision, the court returns the power to regulate abortion “to the people and their elected representatives.”
It has been shown that when abortion is prohibited or limited, it does not stop happening but only moves underground through research.
This increases the risk of unsafe procedures and people being reported to the police or criminally prosecuted for suspected abortions.
It is likely to particularly affect people who have historically had less access to health services due to discrimination and other systemic barriers, including adolescents black and indigenous.
Other people who live in rural communities or village areas. Who is discriminated against because of their sexual orientation and gender identity?
Research by Human Rights Watch also shows that abortion bans can lead health professionals, fearful of potential criminal prosecution, to report patients with obstetric emergencies or miscarriages to the police, which could appear to be induced abortions. It would make it difficult for medical personnel to carry out their work and provide their patients with the highest level of care. “US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade”
As pointed out in the dissenting votes, unlike the United States, countries around the world as diverse as Thailand, Ireland, and Mexico have moved to expand the assumptions of legal abortion and this decision places the United States in an exceptional position in a matter of human rights.
As pointed out by Human Rights Watch, along with Amnesty International and the Global Justice Center to the US Supreme Court.
Abortion law is written on a blank page. The United States can and should learn from the experiences and results of other nations.
These experiences have taught us that the United States—which surprisingly has the highest maternal mortality rate among at least 10 other rich countries should prepare for rising maternal mortality and morbidity, particularly among people living in poverty.
The court has decimated protections for a fundamental right that is closely tied to gender equality, racial justice, and basic economic and social rights and it is easier for the government to control one of the decisions more private than a person could consider.
President Biden supported the Roe vs. Wade
THE PRESIDENT: – no exaggeration to say – the Supreme Court of the USA has expressly taken away from the American people a constitutional right that is already recognized.
It wasn’t that they limited it, just took it away. It has never been done with a right so important to so many Americans. And it is a sad day for the country.
Roe v. Wade has been national legislation past Fifty years.
This landmark case protected a woman’s right to choose her right to make extremely personal decisions with her doctor, without political interference.
It reaffirmed the basic principles of equality: that women have the power to control their destiny. Likewise, it reinforced the fundamental right to privacy: the right of each of us to choose how to live our lives.
Now, in the absence of Roe, we must be very clear: The health and lives of the women of this country are in danger.
Conclusion
In this Friday’s decision, the conservative majority ruled that the Constitution does not provide for abortion rights, and the power to regulate abortion returned to the people.
Democratic governors of several states, including Michigan, New Mexico, and California, have already announced plans to protect abortion rights in their respective constitutions following the repeal of Roe v Wade.
US Vice President Kamala Harris met Thursday with seven attorneys general from Democratic states to discuss ways to defend abortion rights. “US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade”
In the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade case, the Supreme Court ruled by a 7-2 vote that a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy was protected by the United States Constitution “US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade”
The ruling gave American women the absolute right to have an abortion in the first three months of pregnancy, Although it allowed for restrictions in the second trimester and bans in the third trimester.
