US Court Decision Overturning Right to Abortion Violates Woman’s Right To Choose

Published in Sinmai Shimbun
(Japan) on 3 July 2022
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by T Kagata. Edited by Gillian Palmer.
It violates women's fundamental rights and goes against the global trend.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against the right to abortion, overturning a 49-year-old decision that recognized it as a constitutional right, and calling the basis for the decision weak and wrong while leaving it to the states to whether or not the procedure is legal.

Abortion may now be severely restricted in about half of the states in the U.S. where conservatives form a majority.

The conflict over abortion has been fierce in the U.S. between advocates who emphasize a woman's right to choose and opponents of the procedure, who argue that the fetus has a life of its own.

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized abortion as a protected right of women in Roe v. Wade, a case that challenged the constitutionality of a Texas law banning abortion. Roe v. Wade held that states could not ban abortion prior to approximately 24 weeks of pregnancy.

This time, the court heard a challenge to the constitutionality of a Mississippi law prohibiting abortions later than 15 weeks. There is a conservative majority of six justices on the nine-justice court. Five voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, and one justice concurred that the Mississippi law was constitutional but argued that it was not necessary to overturn the decision. The three liberal justices dissented from the opinion.

Behind the scenes is the increasing conservatism of the judiciary under the previous Republican administration of President Donald Trump. Trump named three conservative justices to the bench, including one to fill a vacancy left by the death of a liberal justice, and these appointments were seen as laying the groundwork for the growing conservative posture of the court.

The Christian right, which forms the base of Republican Party support, has long cherished the idea of banning abortion. Conversely, Democratic President Joe Biden, who has called for the protection of abortion rights, called the decision “a tragic error.” [

Some states with large numbers of Democratic supporters are moving to strengthen laws and regulations protecting abortion rights, further deepening division in the United States.

Even if states regulate abortion, women will continue to seek abortions for a variety of reasons that have to do with such issues as poverty and sexual violence. It is also expensive to travel to another state for an abortion, and it is widely noted that an increasing number of women will try to get abortions on their own in more dangerous ways.

According to international abortion rights advocacy groups, nearly 50 countries have expanded abortion rights in recent decades. In most developed countries, abortion is widely accepted, at least in the early stages of pregnancy. The leaders of some countries have expressed concern that this decision will have a major global impact.

The Biden administration has called on Congress to legislate federal protection for abortion in response to the Supreme Court decision, and intends to make this an issue in the November midterm elections. Abortion is a fundamental issue that concerns the lives and rights of women and the unborn. It should be debated from a wide range of perspectives.


社説〉米司法中絶否定 女性の選択権を侵害する
2022/07/03 20:30
 女性の基本的な権利を侵害し、世界の潮流に逆らっている。
 米連邦最高裁が人工妊娠中絶の権利を認めない判断を示した。憲法上の権利として認めた49年前の判決を「根拠が簿弱で間違っていた」として覆し、州議会に中絶の是非を委ねた。
 全米50州のうち、保守派が優勢な約半数の州で中絶が厳しく制限される可能性がある。
 米国では中絶を巡り、女性の選択する権利を重視する擁護派と、胎児にも命があると訴える反対派が激しく対立してきた。
 連邦最高裁は1973年、中絶を禁止したテキサス州法の合憲性が争われた訴訟「ロー対ウェード」の判決で、中絶を女性の権利として認定。妊娠24週ごろより前の中絶を禁止できないとした。
 今回は、15週より後の中絶を原則禁じるミシシッピ州法の合憲性が争われた。判事9人の6人を占める保守派は、5人が73年の判決を覆すことに賛成。1人は州法の合憲性を認めつつ、判決を覆す必要はないとした。リベラル派3人は反対した。
 背景には、共和党のトランプ前政権下で司法の保守化が進んだことがある。リベラル派判事の病死などに伴い、保守派判事3人を就任させ下地をつくった。
 共和党の支持基盤であるキリスト教右派は、中絶の禁止が長年の悲願だ。逆に中絶の権利保護を訴えてきた民主党のバイデン大統領は今回の判断を「悲劇的な間違いだ」と指摘した。
 民主党支持者の多い州の一部は、中絶の権利を保護する法令強化に動いている。米国内の分断はさらに深まる。
 各州が州法で中絶を規制しても、貧困や性暴力被害などさまざまな事情で中絶を求める女性は存在し続けるだろう。他州に出掛けて中絶するには費用もかかる。危険な方法で自ら中絶を試みる女性が増えるとの指摘も根強い。
 中絶の権利擁護活動をする国際団体によると、この数十年間で50カ国近くが中絶の権利を拡大する法改正を実施した。先進国の大半では、少なくとも妊娠初期の中絶は広く認められている。
 各国首脳からは「今回の判断が世界に大きな影響を及ぼす」と懸念する声も出ている。
 バイデン政権は最高裁判断を受け、連邦議会で中絶の権利を法制化する必要があると訴えている。11月の中間選挙で争点にしていく方針だ。女性と胎児の命と権利に関わる根源的な問題だ。幅広い視点で議論を重ねるべきである。
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