The right to abortion torpedoed. In a historic about-face, the very conservative Supreme Court of the United States buried the right to abortion on Friday and a handful of states took the opportunity to immediately ban terminations of pregnancy on their soil. President Joe Biden has denounced a “tragic mistake” that “puts the health and lives of women at risk” and called on Americans to defend the right to abortion during the midterm elections in November. While clinics in Missouri, South Dakota or Georgia closed their doors one after the other, Democratic states, such as California or New York, have pledged to defend access to abortions on their soil.
In a tweet, French President Emmanuel Macron regretted the “questioning” by the United States Supreme Court of women’s freedoms, stressing that “abortion is a fundamental right for all women”. “We have to protect him. I express my solidarity with the women whose freedoms are today challenged by the Supreme Court of the United States of America,” he added.
Internationally, Canada and the United Kingdom, two of the closest allies of the United States, deplored the decision of the Supreme Court. “The news from the United States is horrible. My heart goes out to the millions of American women who will lose their legal right to abortion,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson lamented a “great step back”. During his speech, Joe Biden notably lamented that the United States was an “exception” in the world.
The cancellation of the right to abortion decided Friday by the United States Supreme Court “is a terrible blow to women’s human rights and gender equality”, said Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner of the United States. Human Rights and former President of Chile. “Access to safe, legal and effective abortion is firmly rooted in international human law and is central to women’s autonomy and ability to make their own choices,” she wrote in a statement. regretting a decision “which is a major setback”.
“A dark day for women’s rights”
The decision of the Supreme Court of the United States also made react many political leaders in France. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne lamented on Twitter “a dark day for women’s rights”. “Total solidarity with all women in the United States and around the world. We will not give up for our rights, ever,” she continued. “Great misfortune,” tweeted the leader of rebellious France, Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “Trump’s country is legalizing guns on the streets and banning abortion. Alert: we know the channels of contagion from the USA to France, ”he warned.
The former EELV presidential candidate, Yannick Jadot, regretted “an absolute regression for women’s rights in the United States” and “a terrible signal for the rest of the world”. “Complacency with the extreme right always has dramatic consequences. There like here,” he tweeted. “The consequences of Trump’s appointments, that’s the risk of the far right. A serious setback for women’s rights, a threat to women’s lives. Nothing is certain: never give up on the right to abortion and to freely dispose of your body, for all, ”tweeted the leader of the socialist deputies, Boris Vallaud.
“Nine judges have therefore decided on the lives of thousands of women who each year will no longer have access to a fundamental right”, regretted the head of LREM deputies in the National Assembly, Aurore Bergé. The boss of the communists Fabien Roussel denounced “a disaster and a terrible regression for women who will no longer be free to dispose of their bodies”. The LR mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi sees it as “a terrible step backwards, an attack on the freedoms and rights of women” and “an insult to the memory of those who fought for this right, like Simone Veil in France “.
A “dangerous signal”
In France, associations for the defense of the right to abortion believe that this revocation of the right to abortion by the Supreme Court of the United States is a “dangerous signal” and also threatens the rights of women “in the rest of the world. and even (in the country)”. This decision will have “disastrous” consequences for American women, but also sends “a dangerous signal which reinforces the supporters of anti-abortion movements” elsewhere in the world, thus judged the High Council for Equality in a press release.
“This fundamental right remains threatened by the reactionary currents, which deploy a constant work of lobby liberticide, including within the European Union”, continues the HCE. In Poland, abortion is virtually prohibited, and in France, many “disinformation sites (on the Internet) come close to the offense of obstruction”, he lamented. “To guard against any attempt to hinder women’s rights”, it is urgent “to include the right to abortion in our French Constitution”, as well as in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, has advocated the High Council, an independent consultative body reporting to the Prime Minister.
About fifty people gathered at the Place de la République in Paris to defend the right to abortion, late Friday afternoon. The main American family planning organization has promised to continue to “fight” to restore this right, and to preserve it as much as possible at the local level.