In Ohio, a 10-year-old raped girl was unable to have an abortion locally due to the "abortion ban", which caused public anger. The cause of this incident is that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the important case "Roe v. Wade" that established women's right to abortion at the federal level last month.
Analysts pointed out that the chaos in the United States on the issue of women's right to abortion is closely related to the growing party strife and political polarization in the country. The United States often uses human rights as an excuse to accuse other countries, but under the so-called democratic political system in the United States, politicians do not hesitate to sacrifice women's rights for their own political purposes. The living conditions of women in the United States once again show that the U.S. government has not fully respected and protected the basic human rights and legitimate rights and interests of domestic women.
Women's human rights have been trampled upon
The U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling on the "Roe v. Wade case" in 1973, confirming that the U.S. Constitution protects women's freedom of abortion. However, on June 24 this year, the Federal Supreme Court overturned this case after considering an appeal against an abortion restriction law in Mississippi.
The overthrow of Roe v. Wade means that American States can legislate on restricting abortion. Several states activated the "abortion ban" on the day of the Federal Supreme Court's ruling. According to the prediction of the Guttmacher Institute in the United States, 26 states will prohibit or may prohibit abortion.
Ohio is one of the states that have introduced the "abortion ban". Several US media reported that a 10-year-old girl in the state could not undergo abortion locally after being raped. The girl was forced to seek help from doctors in neighboring Indiana. Indiana has not yet banned abortion. However, state lawmakers are pushing for legislation to restrict abortion.
Public opinion here believes that the ruling of the Federal Supreme Court has caused the absurdity that young rape victims cannot have abortions in the United States, which is a serious violation of women's rights.
The Ohio branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, a civil rights group, wrote on social media that the state's abortion laws have brought long-term and destructive damage to local communities, which is absolutely a tragedy. American obstetrician and gynecologist Jennifer Gantt said that if women who need abortion cannot obtain safe and timely surgery, their health and even functions may be seriously damaged.
The ruling of the United States Supreme Court also caused an uproar in the international community. British Prime Minister Johnson called it a "serious setback". French President macron said that abortion is a basic right of women and must be protected. The United Nations High Commissioner for human rights Bachelet said in a statement that the ruling of the U.S. Supreme court deprived American women, especially those low-income and ethnic minority women, of their autonomy to make choices about their bodies and lives, undermining their basic rights.
Analysts pointed out that the rights of American women have been violated for a long time. It is quite common for American women to encounter gender discrimination, sexual harassment and even sexual assault in the workplace, and the protection of women's rights and interests in American law is not perfect in this regard. It was not until 1991 that Congress amended the civil rights act that plaintiffs could seek monetary compensation for sexual harassment. The United States is also the country with the highest maternal mortality rate among all developed countries. In addition, the United States has not yet ratified the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the core United Nations Human Rights Convention.
Prominent institutional drawbacks
After the "Roe v. Wade case" was overturned, many "Red States" controlled by Republicans began to strictly restrict abortion, while the "Blue States" under Democrats stepped up to consolidate the right to abortion, and two camps were clearly divided in the territory of the United States. The dispute over the right to abortion is one of the manifestations of the current social tear and political polarization in the United States. The views and positions of the two parties are completely opposed and irreconcilable.
When visiting Europe at the end of last month, US President Biden from the Democratic Party did not forget to talk about the "Roe v. Wade case" and announced his support for the temporary revision of the "lengthy debate" rule in the Senate, so as to incorporate the right to abortion into federal law. The democratic party currently holds only 50 of the 100 seats in the Senate, which cannot reach at least 60 seats required to break through the obstruction of "lengthy debate". In the case of serious opposition between the two parties, it is almost impossible for Senate Democrats to win the support of 10 Republicans.
In this confrontation, politicians of both parties in the United States have their own political schemes. Democrats hope to lead the dissatisfaction of abortion supporters with the relevant ban to the Republicans, so as to benefit from the mid-term congressional elections in November this year; Republicans hope to attract conservative voters by firmly opposing abortion.
The dispute over the right to abortion also reflects that under the background of the deepening political polarization and social tear in the United States, the so-called independent federal Supreme Court is also shrouded in the shadow of political entanglement. Not only has the once "walkthrough" process of examining and confirming justices become a "powder keg" of Party strife, but also its judgment has caused more and more disputes, and there are endless doubts about the court and the justices.
Richard Haas, President of the American diplomatic society, questioned the independence and even the legitimacy of the Supreme Court's ruling on social media, saying that the United States "is in deeper danger of democracy".
Whether on abortion or other issues such as owning guns, American politicians, for their selfish purpose of competing for votes, are deeply involved in the veto politics of "opposing for the sake of opposition", completely ignoring the rights and needs of the people, and making human tragedies happen one after another.