Millions of women in the US lost their constitutional right to abortion in June after the Supreme Court overturned the 50-year-old “Roe vs Wade” decision.
The decision paved the way for individual states to ban abortion. Abortion clinics have begun to close in some states.
These states have become battlegrounds for maintaining or abolishing abortion services.
MAY HAVE TO EXCEED STATE LIMITS
Women in states where abortion is prohibited or restricted may have to cross state lines to reach areas where abortion is legal.
Google says it has taken steps to remove data from users’ location histories that could be used to prosecute people for visits to US abortion clinics.
WARNING FROM BIDEN
Speaking at a meeting with Democratic state governors via videoconference, Biden said some states may try to arrest women who cross state lines to gain access to abortion.
“People may not believe it, but it will happen,” Biden said.
Biden said the government will ensure access to abortion pills in states where abortion is prohibited.
A political scientist at Southern Methodist University, Dr. According to Matthew Wilson, interference from the federal government could lead to more legal problems that could go all the way to the Supreme Court. These problems will arise, Wilson said, especially if states believe the federal government is “actively working to override and weaken state laws.”
The overturning of the ‘Roe v Wade’ decision created a shock effect across the USA.
This decision gave pregnant women the right to have an abortion in the first three months of their pregnancy. For the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, legal restrictions and prohibitions came into play.
After this court decision, the right to access abortion was severely restricted or blocked in 13 states.
Biden said that only if the Democrats win in the midterm elections, Congress will have the authority to restore federal abortion rights.
GOOGLE WILL DELETE LOCATION INFORMATION
Peter Bowes, the BBC’s correspondent in Los Angeles, says there is concern that in states that limit abortion, police may try to access call logs and geolocation data on smartphones of people who are making plans to terminate a pregnancy.
With that in mind, Google has announced that in the coming weeks, its systems will begin deleting information when it detects a trip to an abortion clinic, counseling centre, domestic violence shelter, or other facility that offers “particularly personal” services.
Information in a user’s location history will be removed shortly after a visit to a place considered sensitive.