June 24: the day 50 years of progress in women's rights was lost

Friday June 24 was a terrible day for women's rights. The Supreme Court of the United States overturned the Roe vs. Wade judgment, which since 1973 has guaranteed the right to abortion for all American women. From now on, each State is free to authorize or prohibit abortion in its territory. And some states aren't wasting any time in doing so....

In a solemn address, US President Joe Biden lamented the decision saying "it's a sad day for the court and for the country." The President spoke about the how this decision will endanger the health and lives of all American women: "State laws banning abortion are automatically taking effect today, jeopardizing the health of millions of women, some without exceptions."

Biden also spoke about the importance of voting in the in the mid-term legislative elections which will take place next November in the hopes of changing this decision via Congress.

The President said, "This fall, we must elect more senators and representatives who will codify a woman’s right to choose into federal law once again, elect more state leaders to protect this right at the local level."

President Biden also urged Americans enraged with the Supreme Court's decision to keep the peace saying, "First, I call on everyone, no matter how deeply they care about this decision, to keep all protests peaceful.  Peaceful, peaceful, peaceful.  No intimidation.  Violence is never acceptable."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his amazement on Twitter: “The news coming from the United States is horrific. My heart goes out to the millions of American women who are now set to lose their legal right to an abortion. I can't imagine the fear and anger you are feeling right now."

Donald Trump on the other hand, could not hide his joy. When asked by Fox News, he felt that he played a part in the Supreme Court's decision Trump responded  "God made the decision." Trump went on to tell Fox News, "This brings everything back to the states where it has always belonged."

Things are moving quickly, in the US since the Supreme Court announced its decision regarding Roe vs. Wade. Conservative states like Missouri and South Dakota have already announced that abortion is banned. Other states like Texas or Alabama plan on making abortion illegal in the coming days.

The public first became aware of the Supreme Courts intention to overturn Roe vs. Wade on May 2. On that day Politico revealed, in an article that it had obtained a draft from a proposal in legislature from the Supreme Court that would let each state choose to authorize or prohibit the right to abortion.

This draft was signed by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, who currently sits on the United States Supreme Court. Written in February 2022, the document which is 98 pages long, was up for negotiation until June 30.

The right to abortion has been protected in the United States since 1973. That year, the Supreme Court prohibited states from banning abortion for women. Roe v. Wade thus protected women in every state of the United States.

No matter where they lived, American women had the option of voluntarily terminating their pregnancies if they wished. Legally, abortion was allowed until about 24 weeks of pregnancy. With the Supreme Court's decision, this is no longer the case.

The Supreme Court'ss draft claimed that Roe v. Wade was “egregiously wrong from the start.” Judge Samuel Alito (pictured) indicates that this judgment should be overturned, because, according to him: "the Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. The inescapable conclusion is that the right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the history and traditions of the nation."

Roe v. Wade guaranteed abortion throughout the United States, and Doe v. Bolton allowed states to add restrictions to this right. As a result, starting in September 2021, the law in Texas prohibits women from having an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. A period during which many women do not even know that they are pregnant. According to this law, anyone who reports an abortion receives a "reward" of 10,000 dollars.

The state of Idaho also passed an anti-abortion law. This law is inspired by the Texas law and allows the families of the unborn child to file a complaint against health professionals by promising 20,000 dollars to whistleblowers. In a context such as this in the United States, is the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade is hardly surprising.

To convince the most conservative voters of his party to support him, Donald Trump bet on the anti-abortion card during his presidential campaign in 2015. He thus promised to appoint to the Supreme Court judges opposed to Roe vs. Wade.

And that's just what he did when he got to the White House. The former president of the United States brought three conservative justices to the Supreme Court, thus consolidating a conservative majority. Today, six out of nine justices, including Speaker John G. Roberts (pictured), are considered conservatives. The other three, seen as progressives, were appointed by Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Given the number of conservatives sitting on the Supreme Court, the right to abortion was obviously in danger. These nine people finally decided to revoke the right to abortion for millions of American women.

There could still be another way for women to keep this right to abortion throughout the country: to pass a federal law on abortion. But it is unlikely option because the Democrats do not have a majority in the Senate. The senatorial elections scheduled for November 2022 will be crucial for the issue of abortion.

After the Supreme Court's announcement, thousands of protesters gathered in the streets of several cities, including New York. On social media, some are delighted with this announcement, while others are mobilizing against it. Reactions that testify to a real divide in the country.

Since the adoption of the Veil law in France in 1975, legalizing abortion, the question around this right has hardly raised any debate in the country today. Women hold similar freedoms regarding abortion in many other European countries and in Canada. But this is not at all the case everywhere. While some countries have just legalized this right, others rebuke it even more than before.

At present, abortion is completely prohibited in fifteen countries, including: Congo, Egypt, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Laos. In Europe, only three countries do not allow it: Andorra, Malta and the Vatican.

The prohibition of abortion was already in the Constitution of Honduras since 1982, the law against abortion has recently been toughened in this Central American country. Article 67, voted in December 2021 by a conservative majority in Parliament, stipulates that "the practice of any form of termination of the life of the unborn child, whose life must be respected at all times, is considered prohibited and illegal."

In countries that prohibit abortion, prison sentences for those who risk terminating their pregnancies can be very heavy. In El Salvador, for example, an abortion can get you up to 50 years in prison.

In other countries, abortion is allowed, but only under certain conditions. For example, abortion is only accessible in the event of danger to the mother's life in Lebanon, Guatemala, the Ivory Coast or even Iraq. In Europe, Poland is the country whose law today is the most restrictive on the question of abortion. Abortion is only authorized in Poland in cases of sexual violation or endangering the life of the mother.

Last February, Colombia passed a historic law for the predominantly Catholic country. The Colombian Constitutional Court has indeed authorized women to have abortions up to 24 weeks (about 6 months) of gestation, for any reason. Previously, abortion was only allowed in cases of sexual abuse or if the health of the mother was in danger. A great victory for Colombian women.