Hearing
How America politicised abortion
- A significant number of American women, estimated at one-quarter over a lifetime, face the prospect of seeking abortions in an environment where access has become exponentially more difficult.
- In Missouri, a pending trial regarding license renewal for the state's last clinic could result in the closure of all legal facilities, leaving nearly 1.4 million women without in-state access and forcing travel to bordering states like Illinois.
- Since 2017, 35 Republican states have implemented over 250 new regulations, including nine heartbeat bills that ban abortions after six or eight weeks, though these currently violate Roe v. Wade until tested in court.
- Legal experts anticipate a post-Roe world by June 2020, when the newly composed Supreme Court will hear its first abortion case, with indications that rights will be significantly scaled back and eventually overturned, returning authority to individual states.
- Political analysis attributes the current polarization to strategies initiated in 1979 by Paul Weyrich to mobilize the evangelical vote, a demographic that shifted from 29% of the population to voting 81% for Donald Trump in 2016.
- Under the Trump administration, Republican states have actively ramped up restrictions designed to challenge federal precedents, with the potential outcome of outright bans in Republican jurisdictions if Roe is overturned.
- Restrictions will likely necessitate that patients navigate a process taking at least a week or longer to accommodate travel, childcare, and time off work, increasing the risk of dangerous, illegal procedures that endanger fertility, health, and lives.
- Public opinion on the issue has remained constant since 1973, with a majority supporting legal access in certain cases, contrasting with the lack of legislative or democratic settlement seen in other nations where legalization has resolved the debate.