I haven’t seen a thread yet? Supreme Court to overturn legal right to abortion in the US.

[AlternativePerspective]

Roe v Wade: US Supreme Court may overturn abortion law, leak suggests www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61302740

And if this is successful, how long before similar decisions are made over here and elsewhere where women still have the right to bodily autonomy.

They have already removed access to contraception for poor women, unemployed women and any woman whose employer decides they are against it. Access to contraception is tied to health insurance. So many women are left with the only option being to buy condoms (so the cost will go up). We all know the problems and complications there.

Huge step backwards for women (and men who may not want the child either) I am so angry about this. The government shouldn't be removing bodily autonomy from people be it abortion, sex work or pornography. I am outraged and this is a slippery slope we don't want to end up like Poland here.

So at the outset I defend women's rights to abortion this move sickens me. but specifically around contraception isn't this simply putting women back in the same state as men, for years on Mumsnet women have told men that when they consent to sex there is a risk of pregnancy and the only choice is for men to wear a condom. men have no access to a male coil or hormonal contraceptives. Whenever a woman gets pregnant and the man isn't happy (contraceptive failure) the response is a condescending diddums he shouldn't have had sex. Well isn't this the state women now find themselves in with access to contraceptives?

Feels like there is a war on women these days.

It's worth keeping a very sharp eye on what's happening in the UK

www.mumsnet.com/talk/feminism/4289660-Late-term-abortion-high-court?page=34&reply=115699067

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4539125-more-institutional-capture-pro-lifers-this-time

There is no appetite in UK politics to go down this route. Westminster has just had the vote on whether to continue with telemedication and decided yes. Whilst it was the opposition who carried it a significant number of Tories also supported it.

Of the Tories who didn't support it, there were several who did so because of concerns about the telemedication process, not abortion- e.g Andrea Leadsom who was a supporter of Stella Creasey's campaign about NI.

The two are not equivalent. An unwanted pregnancy for a man does not have any impact on his body or his health, he does not need to take time off work to give birth/breastfeed. It carries no risks to him.

So no, this doesn't in any way put men and women on an even footing.

This makes me so angry. These right wing bastards wanting to ban abortion don't either want to pay additional taxes to pay for all these additional children or provide freely accessible contraception or healthcare for women in poverty.

If I were a women of childbearing age in the US I would be organising a sex strike with as many other women as possible. No sex with a man until I get my fundamental reproductive rights back.

Men supporting these measures can literally go fuck themselves.

This decision is barbaric. But it is specific to America and their attacks on women's rights. Ireland and Argentina both recently liberalised their abortion laws, and there is no public appetite in this country to change the law. We should look to the rest of Europe who we share a political history with.

men have no access to a male coil or hormonal contraceptives
Men have access to all male coils and hormonal contraceptives that have been medically approved. The fact that there are none is what prevents these options from being used, not that someone is controlling men's access to them.

This is not the same at all as restricting access to a viable medical procedure.

I think it's more important for women to have access to highly effective birth control (i.e. something better than condoms) than men, because we're the ones at risk of pregnancy. A man's potential financial commitment to an unwanted child doesn't even begin to be comparable to the physical and psychological damage of an unwanted pregnancy (not to mention that women also get the financial cost, way more than child support payments). I don't think women's vs men's access to contraception can be meaningfully compared because of that basic difference that one carries the pregnancy and one doesn't.

I think that people need to remember that this is removing federal law and leaving it up to individual states to decide. States often then let the counties decide. In America some counties are still dry and alcohol is banned, in others weed is legalised. It’s not always the ones you’d think either, so for example Florida has two counties that are totally dry it is both illegal to sell or possess alcohol within their territory. There is eight dry I think in New York.

this change has not made abortion illegal across America, but it does mean some states, who are deeply religious may ban it or leave it to the individual county to decide their own law by public referendum.

is it a step back, yes, but it’s not like the uk and can never be compared as such and nor is it a blanket ban on abortion. It’s now going to be state and county specific sadly like booze or weed.

America is a unique country with its own particular set of societal problems and political divisions. I don’t think we can extrapolate it’s experience to ourselves or other countries. Thankfully.

Yes, I know it's making it up to certain states. Like Alabama, Texas, Tennessee who will probably jump at the chance to ban abortion outright as if they are fucking El Salvador or something. 😡

The US seems to be using The Handmaid's Tale not as a warning but as a cut-out-and-keep guide to women's rights.

It's horrific, like they've watched the Handmaid's Talk and thought it was an instruction manual. My heart breaks for the women of America.

This. I couldn’t believe what I was reading this morning. There’s not even any pretence that women aren’t second class citizens any more.

This tweet shows where things could turn next...

No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen
@NoLieWithBTC
NEW: The draft majority opinion overturning Roe v. Wade that just leaked also explicitly criticizes Lawrence v. Texas (which ended laws that banned gay sex) and Obergefell v. Hodges (which legalized same-sex marriage). Alito claims they are not “deeply rooted in history.”

I don't think countries should be allowed full membership of any international organisations such as the UN or the EU until they have abortion legal to at least 20 weeks and contraception and morning after pill available widely and free of charge, particularly large economies such as the US and Ireland.

Most of the EU /Europe sets it at 12 weeks, with the UK being one of the outliers.

That's actually shorter than some US States which have legislation on the books awaiting this decision which will set it at 15 weeks.

www.statista.com/statistics/1268439/legal-abortion-time-frames-in-europe/

This is Trump’s legacy. He managed to appoint three justices during his term.

Interesting to see that Amazon and some other employers have introduced schemes to pay employees up to $4,000 dollars travel expenses so they can obtain abortions and other treatment when it is not available locally.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61301911

Bizarre argument @Fishwishy - you're suggesting that women should have to use condoms because that's the only option available for men and so it's only fair??? You seem to be forgetting that it's ONLY the women that fall pregnant.

You say noone has sympathy for men if their OH gets pregnant unexpectedly but there was recently a women on here who admitted to not taking her pill to get pregnant earlier than her OH wanted. She was given very short shrift by almost everyone.

Two words.

Rape. Incest.

They're not going to be exempt

Exactly - they still have child brides as it's legal in many states
Why does the US have so many child brides?

Were as we've just raise it in England and Wales to 18 -( no longer 16 with parental agreement).
New law raises minimum marriage age to 18 in England and Wales

Though it's good to be aware - I really didn't think they'd bring the ID for voting thing over here but they are trying - I know house of Lords sent it back to commons:Requirement to show ID at polling stations:Changes proposed by the government

And the left are doing little to help the situation whilst going on about birthing bodies. The US is screwed. A right that wants to push this through and a left that is so deep into identity politics that it can't even mention the very thing that they should be defending.

I live in the US and I am incredibly sad, angry, upset, everything about this. Just how is it even possible? And some of the people saying about contraception are right, my husband (and therefore me too) get insurance through work. His employer is religious so will not offer certain contraception through their insurance so we have to pay for it ourselves. Abortion would also not be covered.