United States, exception in case of abortion

Legal framework, trends, public opinion: When it comes to abortion rights, the United States clearly represents an exception on the international scene.

– With Beijing and Pyongyang –

In the absence of a federal law, the Supreme Court of the United States in 1973 was in charge of guaranteeing the right to abortion, which, however, is limited to a “viable” fetus, that is, to the moment in which it is from the 22nd of gestation. The ability to survive outside the uterus between 24 weeks.

In a hearing on Wednesday in what could be a historic turning point, the country’s Supreme Court wants to backtrack.

Supreme Court leader, conservative John Roberts, declared himself particularly “uncomfortable” when considering that “the United States shares a range of viability with China and North Korea”, while the rest of the world has more sanctions. .

Using the same logic, the former Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence, an ultra-Orthodox Christian, asked the Supreme Court a day earlier to remove the United States from a “radical margin” to make its legislation more Western. can be customized. Thought outline.

In fact, the United States ranks among the countries with the longest deadline for abortion.

According to a study by the Center for Reproductive Rights, about 67 countries in the world, mainly Western, authorize voluntary interruption of pregnancy without justification.

In addition, the United States is part of a dozen countries with the most extended borders, with many territories in China, Great Britain (24 weeks), Canada (by delivery), and Australia.

However, these limits are misleading, as many countries also have “economic, social or medical” exceptions to perform abortions until the moment of delivery, according to Julie Rinkelmann, an attorney who advocates “status quo” in the Supreme Court. defends. on Wednesday”.

– In other states –

Above all, the lawyer added in his response to Judge Roberts, those countries “don’t have the kind of barriers that we have here.”

Conservative states in the center and south of the country have imposed restrictive laws in recent years, effectively forcing many abortion clinics to close, to the point that only one of the six centers remains open.

As of September 1, the state of Texas bans abortions from six weeks’ gestation, which has yet to receive a decision from the Supreme Court. In contrast, abortion is very accessible in neighboring progressive states such as California or New York.

Few countries offer such remarkable differences between states or territories.

– reverse current –

“We are an aberration in the development of abortion rights,” estimates Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “The trend for the past 25 years has been to make measures more flexible with recent progress in Mexico, Argentina and Benin.”

In addition, the Supreme Court’s decision, which will probably not be known until June, is still unknown. “The United States is in a retrograde phase, with more than 100 sanctions being adopted this year alone,” the expert said.

– never digest –

Compared to other Western democracies, the United States also stands out for its heated debate on abortion.

According to an Ipsos, 75% of Swedes, 65% of British, 64% of French, 61% of Italians and Spaniards … think abortion should be authorized, while only 42% of Americans share this opinion, according to an Ipsos According to the survey in 2021

And in these countries, which have made strong mobilizations when it comes to legalizing abortion, the debate has since weakened.

In the United States, however, the climate has worsened, especially after the 1973 ruling, when the Republican Party used the anti-abortion fight to mobilize voters from the more conservative and religious right.

Former President Donald Trump marks the climax of this strategy: In 1999, the billionaire declared himself in favor of women’s rights to “choose,” but his victory in the 2016 presidential election was partly against him by appointing judges. Because of the promise. abortion in supreme court

Throughout his term, Trump has managed to induct three conservative magistrates into the country’s highest judicial body, and that strategy is bearing fruit.

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