The Republican governor in the state of Oklahoma, in the American South, announced on Tuesday that he had signed a law banning abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy, one of the most restrictive from coast to coast in the United States, just as the Supreme Court, where conservatives now have an absolute majority, is preparing to abolish this right at the federal level.
«I represent all four million Oklahomans who overwhelmingly want unborn children protected,» Kevin Stitt said via Twitter, announcing that he signed the law, which was approved by the state legislature last Thursday.
The legislation has immediate effect. In large part, it is based on the one that went into effect in 2021 in neighboring Texas.
On Monday night, the leak to the press of a draft Supreme Court opinion revealed that the top body of the US judiciary is preparing to give the states the power to approve, or not, interventions of this nature, almost 50 years after they were legalized on a federal scale.
Thousands of people marched in New York City last night to voice their «outrage» at the US Supreme Court's intention to overturn the historic 1973 decision that made abortion a constitutional right.
It was the New York State Attorney General, Democratic elector Letitia James, who aggressively called for a general mobilization in front of thousands of women and men, mostly young people, gathered in a square in southern Manhattan, where the courthouse is located.
Faced with this sea of people, Ms James issued a «call to action».
The Supreme Court's draft decision «is an alarm signal» and «this is not the time to be silent», «our anger» must be expressed, said the prosecutor, for whom the right to abortion is «one of the biggest battles to be fought».
In the crowd, many young women held placards with slogans such as «my body, my choice», «abortion is a human right», «stop the war on women», «I will have fewer rights than my mother».
Earlier yesterday, the Democratic president also threw himself into the political battle to defend the right to abortion, an issue on which US citizens are deeply divided, following the explosive revelation about the Supreme Court's intent, which is becoming a major stake in the run-up to the November midterm elections.
On the day after the unprecedented leak of a draft decision by the top US judicial body that would destroy this right, guaranteed throughout the country since 1973, the president issued a statement calling on voters to «choose candidates who will defend it» in November.
The Supreme Court confirmed the authenticity of the draft reproduced by the news website Politico, stressing however that it is not a «final» decision.
Abortion rights in the US: vice-president Kamala Harris speaks of an «attack on freedom»
The US vice president, Democratic former prosecutor Kamala Harris, expressed the view yesterday (Tuesday) that Republicans intend to turn the issue into a political «weapon» ahead of the November midterm elections, speaking of an «attack» on women and «freedom», giving a preview of how the White House intends to use the issue to mobilise the electoral base.
«If the (Supreme) Court overturns the decision (in) Roe v. Wade, it will be an attack on freedom,» Ms. Harris said, addressing attendees at an event hosted by Emily's List, an organization that fights to elect pro-abortion Democratic politicians.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court confirmed the authenticity of the draft decision first revealed by the news website Politico, stressing however that it is not final.
Ms Harris's speech was scheduled before the draft decision of the top US judicial body was leaked - an unprecedented event - but her appearance took on a different dimension.
Mrs. Harris is for many the natural choice of the Biden administration to highlight the issue in the campaign.
Republicans want to regain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the November midterm elections. Democrats will likely try to put abortion rights at the center of the political battle to mobilize their voters. Currently, they have slim majorities in both houses of the US Congress.
An Ipsos poll for Reuters news agency showed that two-thirds of voters would support pro-abortion candidates.
The Vice President has been a strong advocate for years for efforts to improve women's health and especially their right to abortion. She has received awards from family planning organizations and was also a keynote speaker at the Emily's List event in 2015 when she ran for Senate.
Yesterday, he opined that the last 24 hours have shown what the Democratic and Republican positions are on the issue.
«Some Republican leaders are trying to weaponize the use of the law against women. How dare they. How dare they tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her own body. How dare they try to prevent her from determining her own future. How dare they try to deprive women of their rights and freedoms,» she said.
Experts estimate that one in four women in the US will have an abortion at least once in her lifetime. Of these, 75% have low income, 59% are already mothers, 55% have problems that prevent them from becoming mothers, for example losing their jobs, according to Caitlin Knowles Myers, an economics professor at Middlebury College who specializes in the impact of reproductive health policies.
