The question of abortion continues to unleash passions across the Atlantic. Tens of thousands of women demonstrated in the streets of America on Saturday to defend this right, targeted by an unprecedented conservative offensive.
Few protests have taken place so far since a Texas law came into effect on September 1, which bans virtually all abortions in this conservative state and has unleashed a veritable judicial guerrilla war and a counterattack in Congress. . But two days before the resumption of hearings at the Supreme Court of the United States, which will be the arbiter of the fight, nearly 200 organizations have finally called on abortion rights defenders to be heard across the country.
A conservative Supreme Court
The flagship event was held in Washington, where nearly 10,000 people gathered, during a new edition of the “March of Women”, to march to the Supreme Court which, almost 50 years later having recognized the right of American women to have an abortion in its landmark Roe v. Wade, seems ready to engage the reverse gear.
The jurisdiction, profoundly overhauled by former President Donald Trump, refused to intervene urgently to block Texan law and could take advantage of the review of a restrictive law in Mississippi to influence its jurisprudence. Gatherings were also organized in the capitals of these two states, Austin and Jackson, as well as in New York and in more than 600 cities of the country.
Battle in Congress
The organizers also asked Congress to include in federal law the right to abortion, in order to protect it from a possible reversal of the Supreme Court. A bill to this effect was adopted a week ago in the House of Representatives, in the hands of the Democrats, but has no chance of succeeding in the Senate where the Republicans have a blocking minority.
In 2017, a first “Women’s March” was organized just after the inauguration of Donald Trump and brought together millions of opponents of the Republican accused of sexism. Subsequent editions were less successful, in part due to internal dissension over accusations of anti-Semitism against an organization official. This page therefore seems to have been turned. “This year, we are united,” assures the organization, which brings together a large coalition including both small feminist associations, local or community, as the giant of family planning Planned Parenthood.
Galvanized by the entry into the Supreme Court of three magistrates chosen by Donald Trump, local conservative elected officials have embarked on a real anti-abortion offensive. Since January 1, 19 states have adopted 63 laws restricting access to abortions. In particular, if the Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, every state would be free to ban or allow abortions.