The mid-term elections in the United States are as crucial to Joe Biden’s political future as to that of his rival Donald Trump.
But the right to abortion was also on the table in five states – California, Vermont, Kentucky, Montana and Michigan – in referendums that mobilized large numbers of voters.
The Republican “red wave” that some had predicted was not consecrated in Congress, nor in the House of Representatives, where Democrats will lose the majority – but they will have to hand over fewer seats than expected -, nor in the Senate, where Democrats also seem to limit damage with very tight results.
But the question of the right to abortion, which at the end of the campaign took a back seat to the highest inflation of the last 40 years, may have mobilized at least some Democratic and even some Republican voters.
In traditionally blue Democratic states like California and Vermont, voters have approved the inclusion of the right to abortion in the state constitution.
The same thing happened in Michigan, a commuting and, therefore, not necessarily progressive state, where the Republicans hoped to reapply a law of the 1930s that totally prohibited abortion, except in cases of danger to the mother’s life. Also in this case, 53% of the voters voted in favor of the consecration of this right in the Constitution.
Surprise
More surprisingly, traditionally red and conservative states like Montana and Kentucky have also rejected such measures intended to limit access to abortion.
In addition to these referendums, outspoken pro-choice figures were elected as governors of Wisconsin and Michigan, two main states.
In family planning programs they are happy: in the end, the entire Midwest (the important region of the Midwest) he spoke out clearly in favor of the protection of abortion.
A strong election issue for the Democrats. Perhaps this is what mobilized their base, especially women, in these mid-term elections to a greater extent than expected.
Joe Biden’s promise
It should be remembered that President Joe Biden has promised, if he retains a majority in Congress, to pass a law transcribing the legacy of old Roe vs. Wave, which was quashed by the Supreme Court last June.
In short, it would mean legalizing the right to abortion throughout the country up to the fifth month of pregnancy. However, you need to be careful at this point. many divisions in the Senate among Democrats on the extent of this right to abortion. Also, the Republicans were about to get a majority in the House of Representatives.
The Roe vs Wade ruling
It is one of the most important decisions of the United States Supreme Court. This jurisprudence, which dates back to 1973, is the one that recognizes the right to abortion at the federal level, in the name of respect for privacy.
It is named after the case of “Jane Roe”, whose real name was Norma McCorvey, against Texas defense attorney Henry Wade. Pregnant for the third time at the age of 21, the young Texan wanted to have an abortion, but the laws of her state prohibited it.
He took his case to the highest court in the country, which ruled it the 14th amendment to the Constitution protects a woman’s right to control her own body.
After this decision, many states have tried to circumvent this jurisprudence with new laws. While they cannot directly prohibit abortion, they can require the consent of their spouse or parents in the case of minors. Or they can reduce the time during which the mother can have an abortion, as is currently the case in Texas.
the voice of women
For decades, the affluent Atlanta suburbs have been Republican strongholds. But some young white women voted in 2020 for Joe Biden, who won Georgia by just 12,000 votes.
Raquel Harris, who lives in Sandy Springs, again cast her vote for Democratic candidates: “I get chills when I think of what is at stake right now,” she told RFI special correspondent Stefanie Schuler.
“My ability as a woman to decide my body is at stake here in the United States. We live in a time of fear. We had the right to abortion and they took it away from us. This arouses strong emotions in me. I feel like we’re going back 100 years and that scares me. Who will be the next? Gay rights? We are like trapped in a hole. We are limiting personal freedoms “, she deplores.
For Raquel Harris, it is particularly ironic to hear Republicans devote themselves to calling for more freedom: “Taking our freedoms away is like putting a foot behind our neck. That’s why I think there should be an age limit for our representatives, which is the Senate. or the Presidency. But in the long run, these old politicians will eventually die. Younger voices will, I hope, be more progressive and more open to diversity, to dialogue, than the old ideology, “confident Harris.
Source: RFI
Source: Clarin
