Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated federal constitutional protection for access to abortion. Since then, more than a dozen states have removed this right and the issue is at the heart of the duel between Democrats and Republicans to win next November’s elections. Several doctors are running under the Democratic banner to defend the right to abortion, which is above all a right to care according to them.
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THE June 24, 2022, obstetrician-gynecologist Kristin Lyerly isn’t surprised by the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision. She had been feared for several months. But the reality of this caregiver from Wisconsin, a conservative state in the Midwest, then changes completely. “ As soon as the announcement came, the majority of centers have closed », remembers the one who then worked in one of the establishments practicing terminations of pregnancies.
She and her colleagues anticipated the worst, because the decision rehabilitates a state law dating from 1849 prohibiting abortion in all cases except a mortal risk to the mother. “ This provision was very poorly defined and this created a lot of confusion,” remembers Kristin Lyerly. Neither caregivers nor patients know what to expect. and many then fear prosecution or loss of their license.
Working as close as possible to rural populations affected by the abortion ban
Without fearing the physical threats that were then observed in Texas for example, the uncertainty pushed Kristin Lyerly to go and practice elsewhere, in neighboring Minnesota, “ seven hours away “. The objective is to reach out as closely as possible to rural populations, directly affected by the additional costs linked to the ban on abortion in their state. The doctor also publicly commits to denouncing the return of the law in court [l’affaire serait aujourd’hui en voie d’être portée devant la Cour suprême de l’État, NDLR].
For the mother, this legal battle foreshadows the fight she is now waging to restore the constitutional guarantee of the right to abortion at the federal level. “ The Christian nationalism that dictates how people should be treated in our country has spiraled out of control. believes the one who is running today for the Democratic Party in the United States House of Representatives.
The desire to have more doctors in the legislative body
Further south, in the state of Georgia, it is the “ House Bill 481 » [la loi 481, NDLR] which pushed Michelle Au to get involved. This text passed in the conservative state House in 2019 prohibits all abortions after approximately six weeks of gestation. As an anesthetist, it is painful for the young woman to follow debates on the ban on abortion. “led by people with so little expertise on the subject “. She then decided to run for the legislative elections under the Democratic banner and won the senatorial seat in 2020.
“ I won because I think we needed more doctors in the legislature », defends the one who was re-elected in 2022 as a deputy, and wants more than ever to set the table again after the Dobbs ruling. A hard decision to accept, “ as a doctor who takes care of patients and as a mother, whose daughter will have fewer rights », deplores Michelle Au, met in 2022 during mid-term elections already marked by the battle for the right to abortion.
Read alsoUnited States: two years later, the repeal of the right to abortion no longer has consensus among Republicans
The question of abortion at the heart of the Democratic camp’s campaign
In 2024, the Democratic camp has made the issue more than ever the heart of its campaign against the Republicans, to the point of being a fault line. “ It’s not easy to campaign, it’s become a partisan issue.”, recognizes Michelle Au whose vocation as a caregiver often clashes with the well-anchored convictions of her conservative neighbors. “ I think the best way to talk about it with them is to be very concrete and explain to them what the Republican project implies for my patients. », explains the young woman.
Among these consequences, more difficult access to care. “ The Supreme Court’s ruling has reinforced inequalities, since you have to go to another state to have an abortion; this represents a cost and wasted time when we cannot go to work », Confirms Isaac Maddow Zimmet, researcher at the Guttmacher Institute.
Wisconsin Democratic candidate Kristin Lyerly dreams of becoming the first woman gynecologist to serve in the US Congress. “ We have the opportunity to flip the House of Representatives, retain the Senate, and pass laws that will protect access to abortion in all states that currently ban it. » supports the one for whom the race has only just begun.
If the competition is likely to be fierce, a recent survey reinforces its battle: according to the Pew Research Center, 63% of Americans surveyed think that abortion should be legal in most cases.
Read alsoUnited States: two years after the Dobbs ruling, access to abortion remains at the center of the Biden-Trump duel