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Right to abortion: "For the first time, the Supreme Court takes away an established right"

Abortion rights activists Carrie McDonald (L) and Soraya Bata react to the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization decision which overturns the landmark abortion case Roe v.

Wade before the United States Supreme Court on June 24, 2022 in Washington, DC.

Getty Images via AFP - ANNA MONEYMAKER

Text by: Marie Normand Follow

3 mins

Major upheaval in women's rights in the United States, the right to abortion is no longer guaranteed.

Each state is free to decide its own legislation.

The Supreme Court made this decision in a case that pitted an abortion clinic against the state of Mississippi.

Kimberly Kelly is a sociologist and gender specialist at Mississippi State University.

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RFI: How do you react to this decision rendered by the Supreme Court?

Kimberly Kelly:

This is the first time in the history of our country that the Supreme Court has taken away an established right.

We are going to create a country in which it is clearly stated in law that women are not capable of making the best decision for themselves, their bodies, their families and that the state must tell them what to do .

A state, Mississippi, run by affluent white men who support a very conservative view of gender roles.

For them, it's easy: if their daughter, their wife, their girlfriend needs an abortion, they can afford the trip, everything will be fine.

The vast majority of women in Mississippi will not be so lucky.

It is a very religious, very conservative state.

Religion permeates all aspects of daily life.

In 2018, to satisfy their base,

these elected officials from Mississippi had passed a law prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

It is this law that has been attacked

and the case gradually moved up to the Supreme Court.

Today very politicized, the latter has decided to take up this case and make this decision.

Here we are: almost 50 years after the legalization of abortion in the United States, everything is falling apart from now on.

► To read also: United States: the Supreme Court revokes the right to abortion

What will be the consequences of the Supreme Court's decision in Mississippi?

Abortion will become inaccessible in much of the South and Midwest.

Mississippi had prepared a “trigger law” – a trigger law – which will automatically come into effect.

This law is even stricter than that which existed before

.

It authorizes abortion only when the life of the mother is in danger or in the event of rape, but only if the victim has lodged a complaint.

Incest is no exception.

This will be the toughest abortion law Mississippi has ever seen.

And we are in 2022!

And in this state, nothing is done to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Mississippi is a poor state, where child care is poorly developed, where access to health care is limited, where sex education is non-existent or limited to promoting abstinence.

What will happen to women in Mississippi who wish to have an abortion?

The closest state to abort will be Illinois or North Carolina,

Due to the cost of travel, fuel, local accommodation and the difficulty of childcare, this option will be inaccessible to the majority of women.

There will be economic consequences: more women will be forced out of the labor force because they cannot afford childcare costs.

The already high poverty rate will worsen, as will maternal and infant mortality rates.

In Mississippi, African-American women will be the first to be affected: they are already three times more likely today to die during pregnancy or in the year following the birth of the child.

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