Speaking to the media on June 29, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that criminalizing abortion care would not end abortions, but would lead to “women and girls having unsafe abortions” which could lead to “complications”. , even death “. He added that if safe abortions become illegal, “then women will certainly resort to unsafe ways to do so, and that means it can cost them their lives.” “We did not really expect that from the United States,” he said, calling the country’s Supreme Court ruling “upside down,” while the U.S. government supports maternal health care programs – including reproductive health – in developing countries and elsewhere. “We really hoped the United States would take the lead.” The June 24 ruling in the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization upheld a Mississippi law banning abortions in the 15th week of pregnancy, overturning the rulings of Roe v Wade in 1973 and its affirmative ruling in Planned Parenthood v Casey in 1992. , ending half a century. protection for the right to abortion. The Conservative majority in the court ruled that individual states, not the US Constitution, should determine whether abortion care is protected by law. The ruling sparked a wave of anti-abortion laws that make abortions illegal and criminalize care in states that impose severe restrictions in the event of Roe ouster, and opened the door to more restrictive anti-abortion legislation. WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said such bans on abortion care would simply put women in the hands of people there to take advantage of the situation, causing unsafe abortions and very often resulting in enormous damage to their health and sometimes to death. ” Judges in Louisiana, Texas and Utah have temporarily blocked so-called “scandal” laws as lawsuits by abortion advocates and providers are played out in state courts. Lawsuits have been filed in Florida, Idaho, Kentucky and Mississippi seeking similar relief. Democrats in Congress and the administration of Joe Biden face tremendous pressure to fight for abortion rights despite months or years of warnings about the fragility of Roe’s decision, and to ensure that patients and providers have access to care and will not face criminal prosecution. Meanwhile, more than a dozen states and Washington have laws protecting abortion rights, including explicit provisions in state constitutions or laws that allow abortion up to a certain point in pregnancy or during pregnancy.
