In the spotlight: the future of abortion rights in the United States before the Supreme Court

Abortion rights advocates protest outside the United States Supreme Court on Wednesday, December 1, 2021 in Washington.

© AP / Jose Luis Magana

Text by: Christophe Paget Follow

4 min

Advertising

Read more

In the United States, the Supreme Court could take advantage of the review of a Mississippi law to reverse its 1973 judgment guaranteeing the right of women to have an abortion. “ 

Abortion at a Crossroads in Supreme Court,

 ” headlines the 

Wall Street Journal

. A “

historic

 ”

discussion 

, headlines the 

Boston Globe

 above a photo taken this Tuesday evening, November 30, in front of the Court, where activists wrote in luminous letters: “ 

Abortion is freedom

 ”.

Second photo, front page of the

 newspaper's

website

 : a woman and another kind of sign, still in front of the Supreme Court: " 

Pray to ban abortion

 ".

In fact, recalls the newspaper " 

the file arrives before a court with a conservative majority, six against three, transformed by three appointments of Donald Trump, who wanted to put in place judges opposed to the right to abortion 

".

Women's health at risk 

The 

Washington Post

 examines the history of access to abortion in the state of Mississippi, the state at the center of the file. The first clinic to perform abortions opened in 1975, but in the early 1980s anti-abortion activists began bombing clinics and threatening doctors. In the early 1990s, only a handful still performed abortion in the state. Today, local newspaper

The Clarion Ledger

notes 

, there is only one clinic left.

“ 

Many of these obstacles to preventing women from having an abortion put their health at great risk,

 ” recalls a specialist.

And " 

Supreme Court ruling could have nationwide effect,

 "

USA Today

headlines 

.

Nine states had banned abortion before it was guaranteed in 1973. Eight have put in place bans that will take effect if the court reverses its 1973 decision. And at least fourteen have passed laws protecting the right to abortion.

In short, says USA Today, “ 

if the Supreme Court goes back on this right, it will create different levels of access in the country, depending on the state.

 " 

To read also: In the United States, crucial hearing for the right to abortion at the Supreme Court

100,000

people infected with AIDS in Haiti 

In the North, Cap-Haitien " 

celebrated the world day of the fight against

AIDS

 " last weekend, with a little advance - it is to be read today in 

Le National

. On the program, " 

awareness in certain schools, display of banners in the street, distribution of condoms

 ", organized by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Its director for Haiti notes " 

the pain of people who are stigmatized and discriminated against because of their HIV-positive status and excluded from access to the support, care and treatment services they desperately need

 ". The newspaper recalls that " 

Haiti has more than 100,000

infected people

 ". 

Le Nouvelliste,

 for its part, looks at " 

nearly 40 years of struggle by the NGO Zanmi Lasante against AIDS in Haiti

 ".

With two recent events that have hampered the fight against HIV: on the one hand, the terror of gangs in lower Artibonite, where three of the largest centers in the fight against AIDS are located and 70% of patients under treatment.

And on the other hand, " 

the coronavirus crisis, which has led to a drop in hospital attendance 

".

But Zanmi Lasante claims to have succeeded in “ 

curbing

 ” these negative impacts.

Repatriate Haitian literature 

“ 

Who owns Haitian literature?

 »,

Wonders

in One 

Ayibopost

. The newspaper is pleased: it " 

is in its golden age

 [...], 

publications, recognition, literary prizes have been raining in recent years

 " internationally. Problem: it is mainly French and Canadian publishers who " 

hold a large part of Haitian literary heritage

 ", due, in Haiti, to a lack of attractiveness of publishing houses, a low demand, 'a lack of resources for printers, booksellers, distributors ...

Ayibopost

deplores " 

a total absence of a policy around books and reading 

", but welcomes the fact that " 

publishing houses are fighting to repatriate Haitian literature by buying back rights or by promoting themselves through co-publishing projects.

 ".

A work which, for the newspaper, " 

must be accompanied by a sustained effort by the Haitian State

 ".

Newsletter

Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • Newspaper

  • United States

  • Haiti

  • AIDS