Exactly a year ago, the Supreme Court of the United States drew a line under half a century of constitutional right to abortion. The Dobbs judgment annulled the emblematic Roe versus Wade judgment which had legalized abortion in 1973 and left it to each American state to legislate on the question. Since then, most Republican states have revoked or restricted the right to abortion. This is the case in Florida where Governor Ron DeSantis is campaigning on the right of Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.
From our permanent correspondent in Florida,
“ My body, my choice “. This eternal pro-abortion slogan resonates more than ever in the streets of American cities, such as Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That day, a handful of demonstrators gathered in a park with megaphones and posters, against the virtual ban on abortion, just signed in April by Governor Ron DeSantis. “ It’s scary, it’s dangerous and it’s unfair “says Christiana. This 23-year-old student came to demonstrate with her friend Kaly, a 25-year-old teacher, convinced that women’s rights are being sacrificed in the name of the political ambitions of the governor of Florida, campaigning for the republican nomination against Donald Trump. “ It is one of the most restrictive laws in the country against abortion, thunders Kaly. It is a frontal attack on women’s rights. DeSantis is doing this to win the vote of religious extremists “.
In Florida, abortion banned after six weeks
Last June, the Supreme Court, largely dominated by conservative judges after the mandate of Donald Trump, annulled the Roe versus Wade case. Since the Dobbs decision, each state has the right to legislate as it sees fit on abortion. Democratic states have maintained this right. But, a year later, more than twentyconservative states banned it, totally or almost. The Florida parliament, where Republicans have had a super majority since the last legislative elections in November, voted to ban abortions after six weeks, that is to say when 80% of women do not know even though they are pregnant. That’s what happened to Faith, 23, last year. She got pregnant by accident. When she found out, she was already eight weeks pregnant. “ I got pregnant while taking the pill. It was not the right time for me. I had to make a tough decision, but it was the right thing to do. It’s very complicated emotionally. I am proud to have been able to make this choice. Today, people who become pregnant no longer have this possibility. If this had happened to me a year later, I could not have had an abortion. I should have quit my job, left my state, and traveled to that other state to get this health care that I couldn’t get in my own town. »
Growing anxiety among patients
In Florida, the fifteen-week abortion period is still authorized for a few days. The six-week ban law will come into effect on 1er July. Barbara Sharief is a Democratic activist and obstetrics nurse. In her hospital, she sees growing anxiety among her patients because of this new law. “ Now, patients are afraid that their access to contraceptives such as the pill or the morning after pill will be cut off, explains Barbara Sharief. Patients also wonder what could happen to them if they ever get pregnant unintentionally and don’t realize it in time. Many women have irregular periods. This is also my case. I already have three children. And, because of these irregular periods, I didn’t know I was pregnant until the twelfth week! What about women in my case? With this law, these women can no longer abort. They force women to have babies. It is very problematic. It really takes us back 50 years. »
” It also intimidates women »
This republican offensive against abortion prompted Barbara Sharief to run for Florida’s next senate. She is running in the next local elections with one objective: to fight against the project of Ron DeSantis who has decided to make Florida an ultra-conservative political laboratory. “ I believe Governor Ron DeSantis doesn’t really realize the effects of a six-week abortion ban, she says. He does not understand that it also intimidates women in access to health care. It complicates the task for us, the health workers, because we see women who end up in the emergency room, because they did not go to their doctor.. »
Donald Trump himself judges this abortion law in Florida “ too severe “. The former president is however the first person in charge the quashing of Roe v. Wade, after appointing three judges anti-abortion in the Supreme Court. But Donald Trump is a candidate for re-election and he knows that the majority of Americans remain largely in favor of the right to abortion.
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