On June 24, abortion rights supporters protested on the streets of New York, USA. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
On June 24, local time, the U.S. Supreme Court officially made a judgment, overturning the landmark " Roe v. Wade case " (hereinafter referred to as the "Roe Case") on the issue of abortion rights in the United States. ).
The "Roe" decision was passed in 1973. However, nearly half a century later, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned this decision.
The Supreme Court devolves abortion rights to states
This ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court will not end the debate on abortion rights in American society, but it will intensify the struggle between American conservatives and liberals. Trump was very "lucky" to appoint three justices during his term, which changed the structure of the U.S. Supreme Court in one fell swoop. In the future, on core issues such as abortion, homosexuality, and gun rights, the U.S. Supreme Court will inevitably become conservative, and overturning Roe is just the beginning.
As soon as the U.S. Supreme Court's decision came out, Missouri took action and became the first state to ban abortion. Previously, 13 states passed "trigger bills," meaning that after the Roe case was overturned, the state automatically passed a bill banning abortion. Another analysis said that at least 26 states will ban or restrict abortion, which means more than half of the states in the United States will restrict or ban abortion.
Does this mean that American women have lost their right to abortion? Not necessarily so. What the U.S. Supreme Court overturned was the legal right to abortion at the federal level. In other words, how to regulate abortion has become a matter for each state. The biggest impact of this ruling is on poor women, because rich women can go to any safe place in the United States to get an abortion, but poor women are restricted by various factors and cannot.
In fact, behind the "Roe case" is not just about whether American women have the right to legal abortion, but also about the relationship between individual rights and federal power, and even about how to define "person". Therefore, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the "Roe case" decision, not only public opinion in the United States was boiling, but it also attracted widespread attention from the international community.
French President Macron said that abortion is a basic right of all women, and female abortion must be protected. At the same time, foreign dignitaries such as British Prime Minister Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau also expressed similar views on this.
Of course, in the United States, Biden , Obama and other Democratic presidents and former presidents have all stood up to express their opposition. In his speech on June 24, Biden said, "Today is a sad day for the Supreme Court and for the entire United States." "The health and life safety of American women are now threatened." Obama believes the U.S. Supreme Court has attacked the fundamental freedoms of millions of American women. There is no doubt that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision will affect the mid-term elections and even U.S. electoral politics for a long time to come.
Looking at this, the "Roe case" has been highly politicized and has become the focus of the struggle between conservatives and liberals. In the process, either party will exaggerate it. More importantly, both extreme conservatives and radical liberals are dissatisfied with the Roe case.
html On June 24, abortion rights supporters protested on the streets of New York, USA. Photo/Xinhua News Agency The "Roe Case" intensified social divisions in the United States
In 1973, the judgment written by Justice Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court mainly demonstrated women's right to abortion in three aspects: First, the fetus does not enjoy various civil rights stipulated in the Constitution. ; Second, abortion is an important part of the right to privacy; Third, a woman’s pregnancy is divided into three stages. In the first three months, women have full freedom to decide whether to have an abortion; in the middle three months, abortion should be carried out by the woman and her doctor. Negotiation; states can ban abortion in the final trimester.
This ruling means that women have the right to have abortions in the first six months of pregnancy. But for conservatives, a fetus is also a life, and life is sacred. George W. Bush believes that "embryos cannot speak yet and cannot act as their own spokesperson, so society must shoulder the responsibility of protecting them."
In the view of liberals, abortion is only part of a woman’s independent reproductive rights and cannot be interfered with or coerced by the government. The late liberal Justice Ginsburg viewed the Roe case from the perspective of equality rights rather than privacy rights. Why did women lose their right to abortion in the last three months?
The previous verdict of the "Roe Case" triggered a conservative movement in American society to overturn the "Roe Case". Since 1973, there have been many challenges to the Roe decision. Currently, 6 of the 9 justices on the U.S. Supreme Court are conservatives, 3 of whom were nominated by Trump. From this perspective, if the Roe case cannot be overturned this time, it may mean a major setback for the anti-Roe case movement.
Several core issues were involved in the "Roy case" judgment. The first is whether the fetus is protected by the U.S. Constitution, how to weigh the rights of women and the right to life of the fetus, how to weigh the rights of individuals and the public moral space of society, and how to view life if "person" is only defined as a person who is born. the origin?
Therefore, this issue is related to medical research. In order to extend the life of already born people or eliminate their pain, can embryos or clone human be researched? The U.S. Constitution does not clearly stipulate "persons" or "persons" protected by the Constitution. Conservatives believe that unborn fetuses are also people, and fetuses with heartbeats should be protected.
Secondly, the "right to privacy" is not stipulated or explained in the U.S. Constitution, but is derived from the constitutional amendments, especially the First Amendment, which involves religious issues.
Judging from the principle of separation of church and state , the government cannot interfere with abortion. Obama only accused the U.S. Supreme Court of overturning nearly 50 years of historical precedent, but did not give any other reasons, because as a top legal student, Obama also understood the complexity of the "Roe case".
Of course, the "Roe case" is not only the focus of the dispute between the two parties in the United States, but also a manifestation of the deepening divisions in American society. Overturning Roe does not mean that American women can no longer have abortions, but that this power is delegated to the states. It can be predicted that abortion rights will further change the political geography of the United States. Red states will restrict or ban abortion, while blue states will protect legal abortion rights.
In the final analysis, any society needs to strike a balance between conservatism and freedom. This is the basis of order. The "Roe Case" has been troubled for half a century. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturned the "Roe Case". However, considering the complex domestic situation in the United States, it may be difficult to turn the "Roe Case" into history. The greater social conflict has just begun. Written by
/ Sun Xingjie (Deputy Director and Professor of the Institute of International Relations, Jilin University)
Editor / Ma Xiaolong
Proofread / Wu Xingfa
