United States: protests across the country for the right to abortion

Published on : 02/10/2021 – 21:02

The battle for the right to abortion takes place on Saturday, October 2, in the streets of the United States, where hundreds of demonstrations are planned as part of a “Women’s March” intended to counter an unprecedented conservative offensive .

The entry into force of a Texas law on September 1, which bans virtually all abortions in this vast state, has sparked a veritable judicial guerrilla war and a counterattack in Congress, but few marches of protesters so far.

Two days before the resumption of hearings in 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.

The flagship event is set to be held in Washington, where thousands are expected to march to the high court which, nearly 50 years after recognizing the right of American women to have an abortion in its landmark Roe v. Wade, seems ready to engage the reverse gear.

The high court, profoundly overhauled by former President Donald Trump, has indeed refused to intervene urgently to block Texas law and could take advantage of the review of a restrictive Mississippi law to change its jurisprudence.

Anti-abortion offensive

Gatherings are also planned in the capitals of these two conservative states, Austin and Jackson, as well as in more than 600 cities across the country. According to the organizers, more than 240,000 people are expected across the United States.

“We are fighting so that abortion is not just legal, but also accessible, affordable and stigma-free,” they write in a statement, asking Congress to enshrine the right to abortion in federal law, 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 had gathered millions of opponents to the Republican billionaire accused of sexism.

Subsequent editions had been less successful, in part due to internal dissension over accusations of anti-Semitism against one of its officials.

This page seems 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.

“We’re going to take to the streets for the first time in the Biden era, because the change in the Oval Office hasn’t put an end to the politicized, perverse and patriarchal desire to control our bodies,” she adds. in reference to the election of Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 to the White House, which has not changed the dynamics at the state level.

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On the contrary, galvanized by the entry into the Supreme Court of three magistrates chosen by Donald Trump, local conservative elected officials have embarked on a veritable anti-abortion offensive: since January 1, 19 states have adopted 63 laws restricting the ‘access to abortions.

If the Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, every state would be free to ban or allow abortions. 36 million women in 26 states, or nearly half of American women of reproductive age, would likely lose the right to abort, according to a Planned Parenthood report released Friday.

With AFP