Is the US criminalising pregnancy? After the ruling on Friday that there is no constitutional right to abortion, experts warn of profound consequences that could destroy America.
America in chaos over abortion ruling
Is the US criminalising pregnancy? After the ruling on Friday that there is no constitutional right to abortion, experts warn of profound consequences that could destroy America.
In 1860, the USA was split down the middle. In all the states north of the Mason-Dixon lineThe line that separated free Pennsylvania and Delaware from the slave states of Maryland and Virginia before the American Civil War. It is still considered to be the rough boundary of the American South., slavery had been made illegal. To the south, the trade in humans continued.
Today, the states are divided on abortion. On Friday, the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v WadeA ruling of the Supreme Court in 1973 that determined that the right to have an abortion up to the third trimester was constitutionally protected and so could not be limited by any state., the 1973 legal ruling that protected abortion rights. As a result of trigger lawsBefore Roe v Wade was overturned, several states passed laws restricting abortion that would come into force the moment the Supreme Court overturned it., the procedure immediately became illegal in five states, in the next month it will become illegal in 11 more. By the end of the year, abortion will likely be criminalised in 23 of the 50 states.
Some point out that in effect, criminalising abortion means surveilling and punishing pregnancy. Anyone who suffers a stillbirth can be accused of abortion.
Some states are seeking to enshrine foetal personhoodThe principle that from the very moment of conception, an embryo has the full rights of a person. Critics argue that its effect is to strip pregnant people of many of their rights. in law. This would give pregnant people a legal duty to protect their foetus from harm. IUDsA kind of contraception that is placed in the womb to prevent pregnancy., emergency contraceptionA kind of contraception, usually in the form of a pill, that is taken immediately after unprotected sex. and abortion pills could be classified as weapons. It is an unprecedented intrusion on people's lives.
It is also a crisis for democracy. This is the first time the Supreme Court has ever removed a constitutionally-protected right from the American people. It has done so in defiance of the two thirds of Americans who are in favour of keeping Roe v Wade.
One Supreme Court Justice, Clarence ThomasOne of the more conservative members of the Supreme Court. His nomination to the Court was controversial, because he had been accused of sexual misconduct by Anita Hill, a former member of his staff., has suggested that they should reconsider other past rulings that allow same-sex marriage and protect access to contraception.
Americans now know that any of their rights could be invalidated by an unelected, unrepresentative court. Will they be able to maintain their faith in democracy?
The ruling is likely to cause conflict between states. During the slavery era, anti-slavery activists set up the Underground RailroadA network of secret routes and safe houses established throughout the USA in the decades before the Civil War, to help escaped slaves make it to the free northern states. to ferry fugitives from the South to the free North. Activists are looking to do the same for people in need of abortions.
Conservative states will fight to keep their citizens from travelling to have abortions.
Progressive states are doubling down. In Connecticut, a new law bans local agencies from cooperating with abortion prosecutions in other states. States might stop working with each other altogether. The USA would be like two countries.
In the end, the tensions over slavery led to the American Civil WarA war fought from 1861 to 1865 between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North, after the former seceded from the Union.. Now, some fear the consequences of the new dividing line may be equally severe.
Is the US criminalising pregnancy?
Yes: People have already been prosecuted simply for having miscarriages in some conservatives states. Pregnancy has become a potential crime and a punishment for hundreds of thousands.
No: Some of the new abortion laws still allow the procedure if necessary to preserve the life of the mother. The Supreme Court ruling has shocked many, but we cannot be too alarmist.
Or... The Supreme Court has not criminalised abortion; it has thrown the decision back to the states. In the majority of places pregnant people will keep all or most of their rights, but in a few loss of pregnancies will now be criminalised.
Keywords
Mason-Dixon Line - The line that separated free Pennsylvania and Delaware from the slave states of Maryland and Virginia before the American Civil War. It is still considered to be the rough boundary of the American South.
Roe v Wade - A ruling of the Supreme Court in 1973 that determined that the right to have an abortion up to the third trimester was constitutionally protected and so could not be limited by any state.
Trigger laws - Before Roe v Wade was overturned, several states passed laws restricting abortion that would come into force the moment the Supreme Court overturned it.
Foetal personhood - The principle that from the very moment of conception, an embryo has the full rights of a person. Critics argue that its effect is to strip pregnant people of many of their rights.
IUDs - A kind of contraception that is placed in the womb to prevent pregnancy.
Emergency contraception - A kind of contraception, usually in the form of a pill, that is taken immediately after unprotected sex.
Clarence Thomas - One of the more conservative members of the Supreme Court. His nomination to the Court was controversial, because he had been accused of sexual misconduct by Anita Hill, a former member of his staff.
Underground Railroad - A network of secret routes and safe houses established throughout the USA in the decades before the Civil War, to help escaped slaves make it to the free northern states.
American Civil War - A war fought from 1861 to 1865 between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North, after the former seceded from the Union.
America in chaos over abortion ruling
Glossary
Mason-Dixon Line - The line that separated free Pennsylvania and Delaware from the slave states of Maryland and Virginia before the American Civil War. It is still considered to be the rough boundary of the American South.
Roe v Wade - A ruling of the Supreme Court in 1973 that determined that the right to have an abortion up to the third trimester was constitutionally protected and so could not be limited by any state.
Trigger laws - Before Roe v Wade was overturned, several states passed laws restricting abortion that would come into force the moment the Supreme Court overturned it.
Foetal personhood - The principle that from the very moment of conception, an embryo has the full rights of a person. Critics argue that its effect is to strip pregnant people of many of their rights.
IUDs - A kind of contraception that is placed in the womb to prevent pregnancy.
Emergency contraception - A kind of contraception, usually in the form of a pill, that is taken immediately after unprotected sex.
Clarence Thomas - One of the more conservative members of the Supreme Court. His nomination to the Court was controversial, because he had been accused of sexual misconduct by Anita Hill, a former member of his staff.
Underground Railroad - A network of secret routes and safe houses established throughout the USA in the decades before the Civil War, to help escaped slaves make it to the free northern states.
American Civil War - A war fought from 1861 to 1865 between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North, after the former seceded from the Union.