Americas press review
In the spotlight: the consequences of the end of the constitutional right to abortion in the United States
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: Stefanie Schüler Follow
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The
Washington Post
raises this question this Thursday: women living in a state where abortion is now prohibited, will they be able to travel to another state for an abortion?
Nothing is less sure.
Since “
several anti-abortion groups are already drafting bills that could be adopted in states led by Republicans
”, warns the daily.
These texts “
are intended to prevent American women from crossing state lines to have an abortion
”.
Others would allow “
individuals to sue anyone who helps an American woman terminate a pregnancy
,” the newspaper reports.
In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on abortion, freedom of expression could also come under fire.
“
In states that prohibit abortion, will it still be possible to talk about it freely
?
asks the
New York Times.
“
In other words
: will women in these states have access to independent information allowing them to know the alternatives in states where abortion will always be accessible to them
?
".
The daily already anticipates the next legal battle: that to defend the first amendment on freedom of expression.
The
Boston Globe,
for its part, sees in vitro fertilization in danger: "
15% of couples in the United States cannot conceive children naturally
", underlines the newspaper.
But here it is: in vitro fertilization generates millions of embryos, the overwhelming majority of which are not implanted in the mother's body, but destroyed.
Louisiana law already declares that “
a viable human egg fertilized in vitro is a legal entity that must not be killed.
Kentucky prohibits public medical institutions from intentionally destroying embryos in the context of IVF
”.
Anti-abortionists have been fighting for decades for the status of person to be recognized for each embryo from its conception, recalls the
Boston Globe.
In Colombia, the government of President-elect Gustavo Petro begins to take shape
The first left-wing head of state in the country's history wants to "
transform the Colombian economy, based largely on oil and mining extractivism, into an economy of agricultural production and eco-responsible tourism
", recalls
El País.
In this context, the appointment of the Minister of Finance was eagerly awaited.
On Wednesday evening, Gustavo Petro entrusted this portfolio to Jose Antonio Ocampo "
former Minister of Finance and Agriculture under other Colombian governments, famous university professor and former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Development Agency for 'Latin America and the Caribbean
'.
Reactions in Colombia to this appointment have been glowing.
The prestige of José Antonio Ocampo is unanimous.
El Espectador
considers him "
one of the most experienced economists in the country, a centrist whose appointment should largely reassure the markets which feared a radical socialist turn under Gustavo Petro
".
In the columns of
El Tiempo
,
the finance minister of the outgoing Conservative government speaks of an “
excellent choice
”.
Just like the centrist senator, Humberto de la Calle, for whom the new minister “
is progressive enough for this period of social crisis and orthodox enough not to go crazy
”.
Another reassuring signal, sent by President-elect Petro: this meeting with the man who had hitherto been his sworn enemy, the former president of the hard right, Alvaro Uribe.
The photo of the two men sitting at the same table is on the front page of all the Colombian press.
"
Gustavo Petro seeks national unity to solve the country's problems
," notes
El Colombiano.
This approach is driven by the vision of this leftist who wants to put an end to the politics of hatred, but also by a certain pragmatism, since the new president does not have a majority in parliament.
For the local newspaper of the city of Cali,
El
País
,
this is a "
historic meeting
" which opened "
a direct channel between the new president and his predecessor, Alvaro Uribe
”, still very influential in the country.
The two men declared after this first tete-a-tete that they wanted to maintain the dialogue that had been started.
First storm of the hurricane season
: Central America on high alert
Central America is on high alert.
Bonnie, the name of the first storm of the hurricane season, is already causing heavy rains in Venezuela and northern Colombia.
According to forecasts from the
National Hurrican Center
in Florida, the storm is expected on the Caribbean coasts, particularly in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, where schools have been closed.
Bonnie is expected to turn into a hurricane once it lands over the Pacific.
Honduras and Panama could also be affected.
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