By rejecting a Texas law aimed at restricting women’s access to abortion, the US Supreme Court reaffirms the fundamental right to abortion.
It is a historic decision. In Texas, a state deeply rooted in conservative values, the right to abortion has just won a new battle. This Monday, with five judges against three, the Supreme Court of the United States has just rejected a Texas law aimed at limiting women’s access to voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion). Reaffirming the right to abortion, legalized more than thirty years ago in the country, the highest American judicial body recalls that the federal states cannot hinder, in any way whatsoever, this fundamental right. As reported by the AP agency (Associated Press), since the law was adopted, nearly twenty abortion centers have gone out of business.
Of the 51 US states (including Puerto Rico), 50 have legislation that somehow restricts the right to abortion.
Restrict access to abortion
Originally, a law enacted by the very conservative Rick Perry, Republican governor of Texas. Its text, adopted painfully in 2013, required that centers that performed abortions be equipped as in hospital and meet the same standards. Impossible for these centers, which do not have the means to comply with it. As adds The world, ” practitioners were also forced to obtain, for their patients, a right of admission to a local hospital in the event of a complication ”. And this establishment must have been within 50 km. In short, these measures only constrained the access of Texan women to abortion, making it almost inaccessible.
In 2015, Texas had only 19 abortion centers while the area of the state exceeds that of France. Extremely rare Texan clinics which significantly constrained women. For example, the inhabitants of the Texas city of El Paso had to travel more than 880 km before being able to perform an abortion, a journey even longer than to reach Paris from Marseille. Rural areas were and still are particularly affected by the restriction of access to abortion. Because even if ” the legal barriers are being lifted (…), women in developed countries still suffer from inequalities in terms of the quality of services and access, according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization ”, underlined in a press release. authors of an Australian study on abortion rights law in developed countries.
Last November, a study from the University of Texas revealed that at least 100,000 Texan women had tried to terminate their pregnancies alone, without medical support, and this because of the law restricting abortion. “As clinic care becomes more difficult to access in Texas, we can expect more women to realize that they have no choice but to take matters into their own hands,” said at the time the author of the study, Prof. Daniel Grossman, cited by West France.
A law deemed hypocritical
For the Republican state, this measure was intended to protect women’s health. A hypocrisy for the defense associations and the abortion centers themselves, which did not fail to denounce the Republicans’ wish to see them disappear. After a long battle, supporters of the right to abortion eventually won their case. Politicians, like Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz, did not fail to speak out.
“The court’s decision is a victory for all women in Texas and the United States. Safe abortion must be a right – and not just on paper, but in reality “, chants the Democratic candidate for the US presidential election Hillary Clinton on her twitter account.
SCOTUS’s decision is a victory for women in Texas and across America. Safe abortion should be a right — not just on paper, but in reality. -H
– Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 27, 2016
“We will not stop wanting to protect Texan women from an abortion industry, which favors profit over safety “, denounces Texas Senator Ted Cruz, in response to the court ruling.
Nor will we cease efforts to protect TX women from an abortion industry that prioritizes profits over safety, health https://t.co/P7RV5eGWlL
– Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 27, 2016
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