Photo: BRYAN R. SMITH / Getty Images
For: Publisher Updated 03 May 2022, 19: 45 pm EDT
This Monday, the site Politico.com published a draft decision of the majority of the judges of the Supreme Court. In it, the court annuls the constitutional right to abortion after almost 50 years, declaring its opinion of 1973 in “Roe vs. Wade,” erroneous and null. Five of the nine justices, all Republican appointees, support the decision, which is due to be published in June.
Leave the fate of women who ask to end their pregnancy in the hands of state governments.
Half of the states in the country already have, or are about to pass, laws that make abortion illegal, designed in such a way that they come into effective precisely as of the annulment of Roe v Wade.
Judge Samuel Alito, author of the draft, cites among his reasoning that Roe v Wade did not resolve the confrontation and hostility between the parties, denying the obvious reality: that the aggressions and attacks against abortion clinics and doctors throughout the country are the work of criminals opposed to women’s rights.
Alito’s conclusion that reversing Roe v Wade will calm things down in court is speculation at best.
The United States, as in the days of slavery, will be divided into states where abortion is legal and others where it is illegal.
The annulment of a woman’s constitutional right to abortion is a victory for a vocal and extremist minority, which has been preparing for this moment for decades. A minority, because the majority of the public consistently supported this right of women. The latest poll – from CNN, in January – shows that 80% opposes revoking it, including the 44% of Republicans.
It’s a victory for Republican-controlled legislatures, which have created hundreds of restrictive abortion laws, hoping the highest court will uphold them.
But it is a defeat for women and their rights, which had advanced very gradually in our country. A defeat for those who for decades demonstrated and fought for this goal.
Now, those hundreds of state laws that restrict access to abortion hurt Latino and African-American women and low-income women the most.
These have been the most likely to experience unwanted pregnancies, and abortion among them is more frequent. Unplanned pregnancies are associated with higher rates of maternal mortality, prematurity, and infant mortality.
In polls, most Latino voters support a woman’s right to make her own personal and private decision about abortion.
The fight is not over. We call to vote for candidates, at all levels, in all states, who respect the right of women to their own bodies.
Finally, the leak of the decision on Roe v. Wade and his publication by Politico is unprecedented by high court secrecy standards and is being investigated. Any guess as to who released the document to the press is nothing more than speculation. But its publication shows that the Supreme Court is mired in disorder and that the motivations of its members are just as political as in the other powers.2022