Abortion protest outside the US Supreme Court (File)
UPDATE, JUNE 27:
I joined Ireland’s RTE Radio 1 and BBC Radio Scotland on Monday to discuss the response — political, legal, and social — to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and challenge to women’s rights.
I discuss the efforts to help women who are in states outlawing or sharply restricting abortion, the prospect of bans on “morning after” pills, the place of abortion in November’s mid-term elections, and the damage of the Supreme Court’s decision.
What was so destructive was the Court going beyond the request of Mississippi officials for a 15-week limit on abortion. The conservatives, throwing out Roe v. Wade entirely, hands this over on a state-by-state basis.
Listen to RTE Radio 1 from 1:51.30
Up until this Supreme Court decision, most analyses said November’s elections would be hard running for the Democrats. Putting abortion at the top of the agenda could make it more difficult for the Republicans to make significant gains — if this mobilizes people who put a priority on women’s rights to vote for politicians who do the same.
Listen to BBC Radio Scotland from 1:13.03
UPDATE, JUNE 25:
I spoke further with BBC 5 Live on Saturday about the effects of the dismissal of the Roe v. Wade precedent by six conservative Supreme Court judges.
I review how a politicized Court went even beyond the request of the plaintiffs — a 15-week limit on abortion — to allow states to ban or sharply restrict the procedure.
Then I summarize the slim chance that the limitation of women’s rights can be checked, and what faces women in states that do not allow abortion.
If you are a woman who lives in southern Texas, if you live in New Orleans, you have to travel 700 or 800 miles to reach a state which *may* still allow abortion.
If you cannot afford that journey, if your circumstances do not allow it, you either carry the pregnancy to term — whatever the effect on you and your family — or you risk a “backstreet” abortion, which can be damaging and even deadly.
Listen to Discussion from 1:05.07
ORIGINAL ENTRY, JUNE 24: I joined China’s CGTN and the BBC on Friday to analyze how six conservative Supreme Court Justices overturned Roe vs. Wade and paved the way for states to deny women’s rights over abortion.
I explain the context for the reversal of a 49-year precedent, and how the Supreme Court — fulfilling the mission of Republican legislators to pack the bench with conservatives — became a political weapon in the guise of legal interpretation.
Perhaps most importantly, I discuss the position for 40 million women, in states which have already or are likely to ban or severely restrict abortion rights, who face a return to the pre-1973 lottery over their lives.
Watch CGTN
I can’t remember when abortion was not a hot-button issue.
What makes this different, what feeds the division is that about 20 years, we had settled this as the law of the land.
What changed this was the mission by conservatives to pack the Supreme Court with conservative justices. When the Supreme Court became a political instrument, this made it a vehicle to roll back social rights.
Listen to BBC Hereford and Worcester from 2:09.09
I think this not only overturns 50 years of precedent; it puts the US out of line with how most countries are approaching women’s and social rights today.
“It also fails to comprehend that in many cases, a woman will not know if she pregnant before the 6th/7th week of term.”
There are pills available that allow women to terminate a pregnancy in the first few weeks. The “morning after” pill has been used by women for decades if they have had unprotected sex or have been raped: https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/contraception/emergencies/emergency-contraception
Women have their periods roughly every 4 weeks, so even for late periods, there is an opportunity to get a termination if pregnancy is totally unwanted.
Varharan,
Yes, but some women may be in a position where birth control has failed and may not know this.
Perhaps more importantly, a series of states are considering bans on the morning after pill as well as on any procedures.
S.
Ireland’s abortion laws are more restrictive than what Florida is planning to do: https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/abortion/how-to-get/when/
“You can have an abortion if your pregnancy is no more than 12 weeks. After 12 weeks, you can only have an abortion in certain circumstances.”
In Florida, abortion will be permitted up to 15 weeks: https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/24/gov-ron-desantis-promises-expansion-of-floridas-laws-restricting-abortion-access/
In the UK, abortions can be carried out up till 24 weeks and in special circumstances after that.
Abortion will not be completely banned in many states. It will still be possible to get an abortion where the mother’s life is in danger, if the foetus has a fatal abnormality and in cases of rape and incest: https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-abortion-ruling-states-a767801145ad01617100e57410a0a21d
Abortion in the earliest period – before a heartbeat can be detected – will also be permitted. In some states, the restrictions will be even more liberal – allowing abortions up to 15 weeks (which is more than for Ireland).
Varharan,
This is not true. Some states are banning abortion entirely — in other words, from conception. And some states do *not* allow an exception for fetal abnormality or in cases of rape and incest.
S.
They seem to allow permit abortions up until the sixth week of pregnancy (heartbeat detection). They all allow for abortions to save the mother’s life. Some also allow abortions in cases of rape, incest or fetal abnormality: https://www.npr.org/2019/04/11/712455980/a-bill-banning-most-abortions-becomes-law-in-ohio?t=1656325394183
So if a woman has unprotected sex, or is raped, she can still get an abortion if she suspects she may have been impregnated if she acts immediately.
Varharan,
Sorry, this is flat-out wrong. A number of states have instituted full bans, save for the threat to a mother’s life and (in some but not cases) pregnancy from rape or incest.
https://www.insider.com/map-where-is-abortion-illegal-us-roe-v-wade-overturned-2022-6
It also fails to comprehend that in many cases, a woman will not know if she pregnant before the 6th/7th week of term.
S.