Anti-abortionists are forced to review their strategy in the United States where abortion figures have not decreased despite the annulment of the federal right to abortion by the Supreme Court a year ago. According to figures from the Guttmacher Institute published today, the number of abortions is even increasing in many states. Women who cannot have an abortion in their state are forced to travel to states where abortion is still legal, causing the numbers in those states to skyrocket.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Miami, David Thomson
The cancellation of the federal right to abortion in the United States did not put an end to abortions, quite the contrary. The latest figures from the Guttmacher Institute enrage the movement “ pro life » (“pro-life”, in French, that is to say anti-abortion). In 2020, this reference institute recorded 465,000 abortions throughout the United States. In 2023, it identifies 511,000 in the 36 states where abortion is still legal, or paradoxically 46,000 more.
Read alsoA year after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the right to abortion in danger in the United States
The explanation is simple: by overturning the decision “Roe v. Wade”, the Supreme Court left the choice to each state to legislate as it wishes. About twenty have completely or almost banned abortion, the others have retained it. The result is that women wanting to have an abortion and trapped in their state travel to one of the states where abortion is still legal.
In these states, the numbers are exploding. In Illinois for example, where all neighboring states have banned abortion, there are 69% more abortions. This explosion of similar figures is observed in other states surrounded by abolitionist neighbors. For their part, the anti-abortionists are counterattacking. They are campaigning for federal prohibition. In Texas, they are asking to ban the roads of people going to have an abortion in another state. They also want to criminalize anyone who helps another person cross into another state to have an abortion.