Abortion rights in the United States: a crucial hearing at the Supreme Court

The future of abortion rights in the United States is being played out on Wednesday before a Supreme Court deeply overhauled by Donald Trump, who could take advantage of the review of a Mississippi law to go back nearly 50 years. .

ByAfp|

The nine wise men, including six conservatives, will look from 10 a.m. local time on a law adopted in 2018 by this southern state, which prohibits abortions after fifteen weeks of pregnancy. She is expected to make her decision next spring.

The law, measured against other legislation passed in recent years, still violates the legal framework set by the Supreme Court. By agreeing to examine it, the High Court therefore sent the signal that it was ready to review its copy. This dates back to 1973: in its emblematic judgment Roe v. Wade, the Court held that the Constitution guaranteed a woman's right to an abortion and that states could not deprive them of it. In 1992, she clarified that it was valid as long as the fetus is not “viable” at around 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Acknowledging this case law, federal courts had blocked the Mississippi law before it came into effect. The leaders of this rural and religious state then turned to the Supreme Court.

When it accepted their appeal, although nothing obliged it to do so, the Court explained that it was ready to question the limit of “viability”. But Mississippi is now asking him to go further and simply cancel his 1973 judgment. "We are aware of the impact of our request," said the Attorney General of 'State, Lynn Fitch. “But, 49 years ago, the Court favored political intuition over sound legal reasoning to reach a constitutionally unfounded conclusion and it is time to correct that mistake. »

All levels of the Republican Party gave him their support, as well as the Catholic Church and numerous anti-abortion groups, some of which spent millions of dollars on advertising campaigns before the hearing. All these actors believe that their time has come after half a century of legal and political struggle.

Abortion opponents are galvanized by the arrival at the Supreme Court of three justices appointed by former President Donald Trump who have strengthened his conservative majority. Their influence was already felt on September 1, when the temple of American law refused, for procedural reasons, to block the entry into force of a Texas law which prohibits abortions from six weeks of pregnancy. . He has since reopened the case.

On the other side, defenders of women's right to abortion, "worried as ever", are closing ranks. Medical, feminist or civil rights associations have written to the Court asking it to invalidate the Mississippi law, as have hundreds of elected Democrats and 500 top athletes, including footballer Megan Rapinoe.

Everyone assures us that altering, even a little, the current case law will bring down the whole edifice. According to the powerful family planning organization, Planned Parenthood, 28 states would ban abortions at any stage of pregnancy, and 36 million women of childbearing age would be deprived of access to pregnancy terminations.