United States President Joe Biden on Friday morning confirmed an executive order easing access to reproductive healthcare choices for terminating pregnancies nationwide. New Abortion orders soon to be in force. Pressurized by his party members Democrat, Biden took this decision.
The above action came two weeks aftermath of the recent Supreme Court decision which overturned it is near 50 years old Roe V Wade judgment of 1973. Biden has depreciated this decision to be “extreme” and wrong”.
Overturning this Judgement will now make Abortion illegal in the US. Thereafter, American females will be denied their constitutional right to abort.
BIDEN POINTS OUT AMERICAN WOMEN’S POWER
“I don’t think the court or for that matter, the Republicans who for decades have pushed this extreme agenda have a clue about the power of American women,” he said. “But they are about to find out”.
President Biden claimed that the way out of this issue is there and that he believes in the power of American women. He asserted that the solution to this problem is at the voting booth of November’s midterms and urged women of the US to exercise their political rights.
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VOTE BANK POLITICS
“We need two additional pro-choice senators and a pro-choice House to codify Roe as a federal law”, he said. He also conceded the present circumstances as “frustrating”. He asked women to come in large numbers for voting to know their political power and strength in any judgment.
Announcing that it’s the fastest way to resolve this problem. If Democrats win the majority, they will reverse the court’s decision. He asserted “Your vote can make that a reality”.
“This isn’t some imagined horror,” President said. Quoting about the 10-year-old girl who was a rape victim he said “It’s already happening. Just last week, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl was a rape victim – 10 years old – and she was forced to have to travel to Indiana to terminate the pregnancy and maybe her life”.
He wailed at her suffering as he repeated “Imagine being that little girl…I’m serious, just imagine being that little girl.”
“NEW ABORTION” ORDERS BY BIDEN
Although since the court’s judgment, several states have eliminated access to the procedure. Biden’s new orders are aimed to ease the Supreme Court’s decision and provide relief to these women.
The order seeks to redress the insecurities of patients, providers as well as clinic. Also encompasses directions to Justice Department to confirm that women can conveniently travel outside the state for abortion care.
Efforts should be made to shelter mobile clinics that have been established on the state borders to take care for out -of -state patients. It will also promise the safety of doctors involved in abortions in cases of medical emergencies by ameliorating the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
Talking to the reporters at the White House, Biden said that “What we’re witnessing wasn’t a constitutional judgment, it was an exercise in raw political power”. “We cannot allow an out-of-control Supreme Court, working in conjunction with extremist elements of the Republican party, to take away freedoms and our personal autonomy” he added.
However, it is still uncertain whether these new orders will provide some relief and to what extent seems blurry.
IMPORTANT FIRST STEPS
Abortion Rights Groups and progressive groups have embraced this decision by the government. Senator Elizabeth Warren called it “important first steps,” and that government should pass more orders to ease the abortion rights of women.
A REGRESSIVE STEP FOR A DEVELOPED COUNTRY LIKE UNITED STATES
With the US Supreme Court judgment of June 24, almost half a century of reproductive freedom granted came to an end.
The decision was already leaked by POLITICO in May, a month before Supreme Court’s Judgement on June 24. Thereafter, leading to a widespread protest by the people of the US.
Under this, there has been even no exception granted to unwanted pregnancies which include- rape victims or sexual assault survivors, early pregnancy problems, physically disabled women, or women in humanitarian disasters or settings.
Hence, if women in the US need to abort their children, they will not be able to do so. They will have to go outside the state for the procedure.
This step by the Supreme Court of the United States is seen as a regressive step for a developed country like the United States which is seen by countries of the world as their role models.
Even in our country India, there are relaxed laws for abortion that give rights to both married/unmarried women to abort their child under various circumstances. Also, these laws are regularly amended to keep up with time or circumstances. The latest one is MTP(Amendment)Act, 2021.
