Two years ago, the US Supreme Court banned abortion and gave states the freedom to make their own changes in the law. Since then there has been a big change. Abortions are still available, but through home methods. Sometimes matters become so bad that the woman has to go to the hospital.
This came out in a recent survey. According to this, the number of women doing abortion on their own increased rapidly.
What does the survey say?
JAMA Network Open Journal, the magazine of the American Medical Association, published the results of a survey last Tuesday. Researchers talked to groups of 7 thousand women in the first six months of the survey, while after a year, they talked to a little more than 7 thousand women. In this, she admitted that after the decision of the Supreme Court, she is forced to undergo abortion herself at home. The research was done on a small group but the researchers believed that the number of such women could be in lakhs.
what happened two years ago
In June 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned a nearly five-decade-old decision approving abortion. Even before this, 13 states had made anti-abortion laws but not as strictly. Even if there was difficulty, women would go to hospitals in other states. But the decision taken two years ago changed everything. Declaring abortion morally and religiously wrong, the court gave the states the power to make anti-abortion laws as stringent as they wish.
As soon as the court’s decision became public, abortion clinics started being closed. Even planned abortions were cancelled. After this the situation continued to deteriorate. Now the situation is such that in case of unwanted pregnancy, women are forced to abort the pregnancy at home.
A large population believes that abortion is right in ‘special circumstances’
Abortion has been debated for a long time in the USA, which is called very modern. Most adults believe that this is a women’s right, and the court should not interfere in it, while 40 percent people believe that anti-abortion is right. According to a report by the Guardian, about 85 percent of the people considered abortion completely justified in certain circumstances.
Now this is also a big issue in the elections. Donald Trump has been advocating anti-abortion, while his party including Kamala Harris wants to remove this law. It is believed that the victory or defeat in November will also be decided by this.
Abortion after movement in the womb was forbidden
In the 19th century, abortion was allowed under common law in America. This was stopped only when movement was visible in the woman’s womb, that is, when the pregnancy reached the advanced stage. The Catholic Church also believed that before this there was no life in the fetus. Let us tell you that the Church played a big role in bringing the law against abortion.
Later, the church became the anti-abortion face. Even then it was allowed. Especially if there is any danger to the woman from pregnancy. After the church, a large number of male doctors also joined it. Oxford-educated Dr. Horatio Storer became the leader of this campaign.
Doctors had a different logic
Then refugees started coming to America. Anti-abortion advocates said American women should fill the country with their children so that there would be no room left for intruders. Despite these arguments, abortion clinics continued to operate. From 1950, this number kept increasing every year in the next 10 years and starting from 2 lakh, the figure reached 12 lakh.
Biggest decisions from 1970 to 2022
If we talk about the biggest decisions on abortion, they came only twice. In the year 1973, the Supreme Court said that abortion can be done in the first three months. Meanwhile, many states started implementing it more strictly, but every time the court intervened and allowed abortion. But in the year 2022, the court itself ruled against it, and also gave the states the right to impose more or less restrictions on it.
Soon after the court’s decision, most states banned abortion completely. At the same time, there is some relaxation in Alaska, California, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Vermont. In some places this exemption is for 6 weeks, when pregnancy is often not even detected. Whereas many states give scope for three months.
Why was anti-abortion law brought?
There were religious, political and social reasons behind this. Catholics consider it wrong under religious belief. At the same time, many anti-abortion activists see it as a right to life, and call it a conspiracy against the unborn child. Leaders of conservative parties in America were also involved in this.
Anti-abortion laws in only three countries of Europe
European countries, which consider America as their leader, are different from it in this matter. In most European countries, abortion is legal. But there are some countries where it is banned, or there are very strict restrictions. Malta, Poland and Andorra are the same countries. In Poland and Andorra, abortion is still legal if the mother’s life is in danger, but in Malta it is not allowed at all.