CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA
– Yes, there have been more calls and from all over the United States, says Randy James.
He is talking about the time after the US Supreme Court overturned the national right to abortion in the summer and some states banned abortions.
According to James, more and more callers are immigrant women.
James runs his wife in Charlottesville Evelyn’s with a home intended for pregnant women. Women in need come here from all over the United States, and some of them live in the house for several years.
A large number of them could not go anywhere else, says James. They are often homeless and do not have jobs or are forced to quit their jobs due to pregnancy.
US federal law does not recognize maternity leave, and overall safety nets are weak.
The only criteria for a woman moving into the house is that she is pregnant and wants to keep the child. The Jameses founded the house, in their own words, to save as many babies as possible.
The couple is strictly religious and it shows in the house as well. There are pictures on the walls of Jesus and bibles on the tables. James says that anyone is welcome, regardless of their outlook on life, and according to him, it is not necessary to participate in prayer circles.
The most important thing for the Jameses is to prevent abortions, and they are still praying that all abortion clinics will be closed. The Jameses hope that would also happen here in Virginia, where abortions are still allowed.
The decision of the Supreme Court started around the country at the state level a fight over what kind of abortion law each state will have in the future.
At the moment several states have a complete ban on abortion (you switch to another service) or abortions are strictly limited, for example to six weeks. Meanwhile, courts in several states have temporarily blocked tough restrictions from taking effect.
In some states, such as Michigan, the upcoming midterm elections will decide the future of the laws.
Midterm elections elect a new House of Representatives, a third of the Senate, the composition of state-level houses of representatives, and in most states a new governor.
In practice, in terms of rights, state-level congress and governors matter the most. State congresses now have legislative power over abortion rights, but the governor often has the power to block laws from taking effect.
in Virginia recently the new governor-elect wants the state’s abortion laws tightened. Governor Glenn Young has also proposed (switch to another service)that the state would ban abortions at 15 weeks of pregnancy.
On paper, Youngkin’s initiative is still partly looser than the Finnish law.
According to Finland’s abortion law, termination of pregnancy is possible with the consent of two doctors up to 12 weeks, but even after that, an abortion can be obtained for social reasons up to 20 weeks with the decision of the health licensing and control agency Valvira. The limit is 24 weeks in the case of a severe fetal development disorder.
In practice, abortions are widely available in Finland. The impact of laws on life is otherwise difficult to compare, because in Finland healthcare and various contraceptives are comprehensively available to everyone.
Also this week, a Republican senator from South Carolina Lindsay Graham took up Youngkin’s suggestion and proposed a 15-week ban for the whole country (you switch to another service). The proposal has received mixed reception.
On the one hand, the majority of abortions in the United States are typically done before the 13th week of pregnancy, but on the other hand, women’s rights defenders do not trust the Republicans to keep their word and settle for a 15-week ban
Democrats see Graham’s proposal primarily as a desperate attempt to contain the impact of fury over tight restrictions on the midterm elections.
And if the restrictions on all the so far lax laws were tightened to 15 weeks, it would have consequences for women living in states with full bans. It is already visible in Virginia.
One of Virginia still of the operating clinics is located in Richmond. Director of the clinic Jill Abbey has worked there since the beginning of the 1990s.
In the summer, he waited with dread for the Supreme Court’s decision.
– I knew to wait for the decision. But I’m an optimist, so I thought maybe it won’t happen. And then when the decision finally happened, it was like a punch in the stomach, Abbey describes her mood during the summer.
As soon as abortion bans went into effect in several states, the clinic began to get very busy. Currently, patients arrive in Richmond from very long distances, for example from Mississippi and Louisiana.
Abbey says that the number of late abortions in particular has increased.
– Women now need more time to navigate the new rules, so we see patients whose pregnancy is much further along than normal. Cases where the pregnancy is more than 18 weeks have increased significantly, says Abbey.
If Virginia’s abortion laws were tightened, many women would have to look elsewhere for abortion. That would mean traveling even further and possibly longer waiting times.
Abbey believes that may not be the case, however. According to him, voters have woken up to defend their rights.
Most abortions blocking affects women who are already in a vulnerable position. One example is the women who recently arrived in the country, from whom Randy James is now receiving even more calls.
Immigrants do not necessarily have the opportunity to get an e-pill prescription, an IUD or other safe and advanced contraceptives. It is more difficult for them to travel to other states for health care.
James would like to see more government support for pregnant women, especially for housing, which is currently very expensive.
Read more about the housing crisis:Magda Espinoza, 27, panicked when her rent went up by hundreds of dollars – rents in the US are rising at a wild rate
As long as the housing allowance is insufficient and homelessness increases, there will be enough people coming to the house maintained by the Jameses.
However, temporary help does not solve the structural problem.
After the Supreme Court overturned the national abortion right, some Republican politicians have made proposals to improve the status of women. Many of them have been criticized as cosmetic.
Senator from Florida Marco Rubio has, for example, proposed that some new parents should take three months of paid parental leave after the birth of a child. However, the salary should be paid back by partially giving up social security at retirement age.
All states with the strictest abortion laws have not expanded the Medicaid health care program for the indigent (you transfer to another service) thanks to the federally funded expansion, although some have taken advantage of the one intended for new mothers state-funded extension program (you switch to another service).
Federal law requires states to cover health care for new mothers for 60 days after giving birth if the Medicaid expansion has not been implemented.
With the Supreme Court’s abortion debate underway 154 economists wrote a comment to the judges (you go to another service), in which they highlighted the effects of free access to abortion on women’s economic opportunities in the United States. According to them, the restriction of the right to abortion directly affects the number of children growing up in poverty.
However, according to James, in the endgame, it is better for a child to grow up in poverty than for a woman to terminate her pregnancy.
It is also important for him in these elections who opposes abortions.
You can discuss the topic on 18.9. until 11 p.m.
Read more about the topic:
A significant victory for the defenders of abortion rights in the United States – the Republican state of Kansas decided to retain the right to abortion
Finnish experts were shocked by the US abortion decision: “A really big threat to human rights globally”