It’s a very moving ad. Sitting in her living room next to her husband, Amanda Zurawski takes out of a box a baby outfit, a blanket and various items that she has prepared for the birth of her little girl Willow, conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF). She never got to use them. This 37-year-old woman’s water broke at eighteen weeks of pregnancy, which put an end to her dream of motherhood. But doctors refused to perform an abortion because Texas prohibits it in almost all circumstances, unless the mother’s life is in danger. This was not her case, said the hospital which sent her home. Three days later, Amanda Zurawski ended up in the emergency room with sepsis and delivered a stillborn baby. She almost died and risks never having children again. “It was Trump who did this,” concludes the ad created by Joe Biden’s teams.
Democrats have made reproductive rights one of the central themes of their presidential campaign. The decision of the Supreme Court, almost two years ago, to remove the constitutional right to abortion and to leave it to the States to legislate has given rise to an avalanche of very restrictive laws. Today, 17 of them almost completely ban the procedure, even in cases of rape, incest and danger to the mother’s health, or ban it after six weeks of pregnancy, a period during which women are unaware often that they are pregnant.
These measures galvanized a part of public opinion which, since then, has expressed its hostility at the polls. Wherever abortion was the issue of a vote, the pro-abortionists won. Including in very conservative Alabama. Marilyn Lands, a Democratic candidate for local Congress, based her entire campaign on this subject, going so far as to recount her own termination of pregnancy. To everyone’s surprise, she won the seat by more than 25 points over her Republican opponent. “Reproductive rights are a growing issue for Democrats. It will play a key role in the November elections and could boost turnout,” says Joshua Wilson, professor of political science at the University of Denver.
“How far will we go?”
Because it’s not just abortion. In February, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos frozen during IVF should be considered “children.” Fertility clinics immediately stopped all treatment, for fear of being taken to court for murder if an embryo was accidentally destroyed. The Court’s decision raises many questions. For example, can we destroy an embryo once we have had children? Faced with the outcry, the Republicans rushed through a law to protect clinics and their patients from prosecution.
Democrats obviously exploited the affair to denounce conservative extremism. “They attacked the right to abortion and now IVF. What’s the next step? Contraception? How far will we go?” said Whitney Fox, a candidate from Florida, on X. Very far, if we are to believe the anti-abortion projects. They are fighting for the fetus to obtain the status of “person”, trying to prevent people from going to have an abortion in another state. And above all, they hope to ban the abortion pill, claiming that it is dangerous for health. The Supreme Court must rule by the end of June. If she does not agree with them, they want to bring back into force a law from 1873 which would make it possible to block its sending by post. Many women in fact receive the tablet by mail after a teleconsultation with a doctor in another State.
The nine Sages must consider another crucial case. Idaho allows abortion only when it is “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.” For the Biden administration, this is a violation of federal law, which requires hospitals to treat any medical emergency. At least six expectant mothers have already had to be transported by helicopter to other states following complications. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Idaho, “it’s the destruction of the medical system,” said Sara Rosenbaum, a health law specialist at George Washington University. Today, hospitals refuse to treat pregnancies. Tomorrow they may decide to no longer accept certain types of patients or illnesses.”
All these measures are already having dramatic consequences. A woman suffered a miscarriage in the emergency room of a Houston clinic because medical staff refused to treat her. In a recent report on Louisiana written by pro-abortion organizations, some doctors forced patients with non-viable fetuses to undergo cesarean sections to avoid performing an abortion and risking prosecution. “It’s very alarming. The entire south of the United States, a very poor region, is deprived of access to abortion, continues Professor Rosenbaum. Doctors are terrified at the idea of losing their license, have to pay fines or be imprisoned.” Many migrate to other states, where medical advice does not depend on a judge.
Democratic offensive
Like in Texas. Kate Cox is twenty weeks pregnant when she is told that her baby has Down syndrome, an anomaly that is most often fatal and can cause dangerous complications for the mother. Given the law, doctors refuse to perform therapeutic abortion. Kate Cox then filed a legal action which authorized the procedure. But the attorney general is appealing to the state Supreme Court, saying the decision “opens the floodgates” to all kinds of abuse. And wins his case. This mother of two finally leaves Texas to have an abortion.
“All of this is creating growing tensions between anti-abortionists and the Republican Party, which is facing a difficult situation,” explains Joshua Wilson. “As long as the Constitution protected the right to abortion, Republicans could pass extreme laws to please their basis since they had no chance of coming into force Since it is up to the States to legislate (cancellation of a federal judgment by the Supreme Court, June 24, 2022), the party is confronted with reality: these measures are very unpopular with the majority of Americans and cause them to lose the elections.” He therefore seeks at all costs to avoid the subject. Without success. Because activists are pushing for ever more drastic laws in Florida, Arizona… They are particularly working on a series of measures that Donald Trump could apply as soon as he comes to power, if he is re-elected.
He still has to listen to them! The ex-president boasts of having appointed the three justices to the Supreme Court who helped remove federal protection of the right to abortion, but he refused to come out in favor of a national ban. The anti-abortion lobby did not appreciate this. Marjorie Dannenfelser, the boss of the powerful Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America group, expressed “her deep disappointment”, while announcing that her organization would “work tirelessly to defeat” Joe Biden. No doubt hoping that once in the White House, Donald Trump will come around to their ideas.
In the meantime, the Democrats have launched a huge offensive. In addition to ads that tell the horrific stories of young women, they encourage the holding of referendums in South Dakota, Missouri and Arizona to protect abortion and increase attacks against Republicans. “There is an individual responsible for this nightmare, it is Donald Trump,” proclaimed Joe Biden. As for Amanda Zurawski, who dreamed of giving birth, she left her job after her traumatic experience and is campaigning in the Biden campaign. “I certainly didn’t expect my life to take this direction,” she admits.
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