WASHINGTON, DC — The
US Supreme Court on
Friday ended the right to abortion in a seismic ruling that shreds half a
century of constitutional protections on one of the most divisive and bitterly
fought issues in American political life.
اضافة اعلان
The conservative-dominated court overturned the
landmark 1973 “Roe vs Wade” decision that enshrined a woman’s right to an
abortion and said individual states can permit or restrict the procedure
themselves.
“The Constitution does not confer a right to
abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion
is returned to the people and their elected representatives,” the court said.
Protesters were expected to pour onto streets across
the US on Saturday as anger flared over the court’s decision. Several
right-leaning states imposed immediate bans on abortion.
A somber
President Joe Biden called the ruling a
“tragic error” stemming from “extreme ideology”.
“The health and life of women in this nation are now
at risk,” Biden said, warning that other rights such as same-sex marriage and
contraception could be threatened next.
The Democratic president urged
Congress to restore
abortion protections as federal law and said Roe would be “on the ballot” in
November’s midterm elections.
Criticism of the Supreme Court decision also came
from abroad, including from US allies like Britain, whose
Prime Minister Boris Johnson called it “a big step backwards”.
Canada’s leader Justin Trudeau said it was
“horrific”, and French President Emmanuel Macron voiced his “solidarity with
women whose freedoms are today challenged”.
Acknowledging the international concerns, US Secretary
of State Antony Blinken insisted his department would “remain fully committed
to helping provide access to reproductive health services and advancing
reproductive rights around the world”.
‘You have failed us’
Hundreds of people — some
weeping for joy and others with grief — gathered outside the fenced-off Supreme
Court on Friday as the ruling came down.
“You have failed us,” read a sign held up by one
protester. “Shame,” said another.
But Gwen Charles, a 21-year-old opponent of
abortion, was jubilant.
“This is the day that we have been waiting for,”
Charles told AFP. “We get to usher in a new culture of life in the US.”
As of Friday evening, at least seven states had
already banned abortion — Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri,
Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
Many more are expected to follow suit or severely
restrict the procedure.
Protesters also marched in New York, Boston, and
other US cities as anger grew.
There were incidents at some demonstrations on
Friday, including one in the Iowa city of Cedar Rapids, where a pickup truck
drove through a group of protesters, running over at least one woman’s foot,
according to local media reports.
In Arizona, CNN reported that authorities used tear
gas to disperse protesters on Friday night after they “repeatedly pounded on
the glass doors of the State Senate Building,” according to Arizona Department
of Public Safety spokesperson Bart Graves.
‘Egregiously wrong’
In the majority opinion,
Justice Samuel Alito said Roe vs Wade was
“egregiously wrong”.
“Abortion presents a profound moral issue on which
Americans hold sharply conflicting views,” he said. “The constitution does not
prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion.”
The court tossed out the legal argument in Roe vs
Wade that women had the right to abortion based on the constitutional right to
privacy with regard to their own bodies.
While the ruling represents a victory for the
religious right, leaders of the Christian conservative movement said it does
not go far enough and they will push for a nationwide ban.
“While it’s a major step in the right direction,
overturning Roe does not end abortion,” said the group March for Life.
“God made the decision,” said former Republican
president Donald Trump while praising the ruling.
The decision was made possible by Trump’s nomination
to the court of three conservative justices — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh,
and Amy Coney Barrett.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, 13 states
have adopted so-called “trigger laws” that will ban abortion virtually
immediately.
Ten others have pre-1973 laws that could go into
force or legislation that would ban abortion after six weeks, before many women
know they are pregnant.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
