With the 2024 US presidential election approaching and the moves of leading presidential candidates drawing attention, ‘abortion’ has emerged as a new issue in American society. Since the U.S. Supreme Court abolished the 1973 Roe v Wade decision last year that recognized abortion as a constitutional right, various rulings and decisions related to abortion have continued in each U.S. state until recently.
Even this month alone, foreign media in the US paid attention to abortion-related issues in each state in succession. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, a representative presidential contest, was reorganized into a progressive advantage structure through the Supreme Court election. A few days later, a federal court in Texas issued an order invalidating Mifepristone’s approval of the oral abortion drug (abortion pill) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The state of Florida is about to pass a final bill banning abortion after 6 weeks of gestation, strengthening existing legislation that prohibits abortion after 15 weeks of gestation.
According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 15th, the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are also at odds.
In the case of Democratic President Joe Biden, he criticized the Texas federal court’s decision to invalidate the approval of mifepristone, calling it “another unprecedented action that deprives women of basic freedom and puts their health at risk.”
However, before the 2020 presidential election, President Biden supported the ‘Hyde Amendment’ of the US Congress, which prohibits federal funding support related to abortion, except in exceptional cases such as rape and incest. Afterwards, it was withdrawn after controversy within the party.
Recently, the Biden administration has been making an active voice by mentioning ‘women’ and ‘freedom’ in relation to the abortion issue. On the 13th (local time), the White House also pointed out in a statement regarding the strengthening abortion ban in Florida that it “is in direct violation of fundamental freedoms and is not in line with the views of the people of Florida and the United States as a whole.”
The New York Times reported that former President Donald Trump is more responsible for the abortion issue than other Republicans. Former President Trump appointed three of the six Supreme Court Justices who overturned the ‘Roe v. Wade’ ruling during his tenure. The Texas judge who invalidated the approval of mifepristone was also appointed by former President Trump.
However, the NYT recently reported that former President Trump was reluctant to comment on this. After the decision to overturn the’Roe v. Wade’ ruling last year came out, former President Trump expressed concern that it could damage the Republican Party.
The NYT predicted that if former President Trump is elected again, he will be under tremendous pressure from conservatives to support abortion bans.
Florida Governor Ron Disantis, former President Trump’s leading rival in the Republican Party, is pushing for an abortion ban with the state legislature, NYT introduced. Previously, the Florida legislature passed a bill banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, and Gov. Disantis is about to sign it into law. The original bill prohibited abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Citing the results of a poll, the New York Times pointed out that most Americans, including Florida residents, oppose the ban on abortion after six weeks. At the same time, it was reported that it was a more aggressive stance than the announcement that it would not further strengthen the ban on abortion after 15 weeks when the governor was elected in November of last year.
Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, another Republican presidential hopeful, said she “didn’t want an unelected judge to make such personal decisions” regarding judicial decisions on abortion bans. It is not an absolute opposition to abortion.
Former Arkansas governor Assa Hutchinson, a Republican who announced her candidacy earlier this month, said only that she was “proud to stand firm against abortion.” He did not specify which federal bill he supported, the NYT reported.
Source: Donga