Topline
Leaders of the United Kingdom, Canada and other countries spoke out on Friday against the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a ruling that will restrict access to abortion in the United States as other countries broaden abortion rights.
Abortion-rights activists react after hearing the Supreme Court decision on abortion outside the … [+]
Key Facts
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Supreme Court’s decision is a “big step backwards,” adding that he’s “always believed in a woman’s right to choose.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the ruling an “attack on women’s freedom” and “quite frankly … an attack on everyone’s freedom.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez tweeted, “we cannot take any right for granted” and “women must be able to decide freely about their lives.”
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre called the decision “a serious step backwards for women’s rights” in a tweet translated to English.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo expressed concern with “the signal [the ruling] sends to the world,” and added, “Banning abortion never leads to fewer abortions, only to more unsafe abortions.”
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed solidarity with American women in a tweet that called abortion “a fundamental right for all women.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the decision “a huge setback” in a Facebook post, adding that her “heart cries for girls and women in the United States.”
Arturo Zaldívar—the president of Mexico’s Supreme Court—tweeted “few days have I felt as proud to be part of the Supreme Court of Mexico as today,” referring to the court’s decision to decriminalize abortion last September.
Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon called Friday “one of the darkest days for women’s rights in my lifetime” in a tweet.
Key Background
On Friday, a Supreme Court majority overturned Roe v. Wade, the 49-year-old ruling that gave women the constitutional right to an abortion, setting the stage for states to ban the procedure. Although many countries still outlaw abortion, there has been a worldwide trend toward giving women more reproductive freedom. At least 59 countries have expanded abortion access over the last three decades, Foreign Policy reported, includng Ireland, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia in the past few years. In February, France expanded abortion access from 12 weeks to 14 weeks, bringing its abortion rules in line with those of neighboring Spain, while Sweeden permits abortion for up to 18 weeks and the Netherlands allows the procedure for up to 24. In 2018, Ireland legalized abortion before 12 weeks, a major change for a country that previously had one of the strictest abortion bans. Meanwhile, Poland has some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe, only allowing women to terminate pregnancies in cases of rape or danger to the mother’s life, and Honduras has banned abortion for any reason since 1985.
Chief Critic
Some human rights advocates fear the Supreme Court’s ruling could have a negative impact on reproductive rights around the world. After a draft of the decision was leaked last month, Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard said in a statement overturning Roe could damage the U.S.’s global perception and “set a terrible example that other governments and anti-rights groups could seize upon around the world in a bid to deny the rights of women, girls and other people who can become pregnant.”
Tangent
Friday’s ruling will cause 13 states with “trigger bans ” to outlaw abortion within the next 30 days. Some states’ abortion bans will kick in almost immediately—including in South Dakota, Kentucky and Louisiana—while others will wait for their state governments to certify the ruling. Some states without trigger laws are likely to pass abortion bans or tighter restrictions within weeks or months of Roe being overturned.
Further Reading
World leaders react to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade (CBS)
Roe V. Wade Overturned: Supreme Court Overturns Landmark Abortion Decision, Lets States Ban Abortion (Forbes)
Europeans React on Roe v. Wade (Wall Street Journal)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/juliecoleman/2022/06/24/big-step-backwards-world-leaders-react-to-roe-v-wade-decision/