Donald Trump's victory and abortion
What Donald Trump's 2024 victory means for abortion in USA?
"We are afraid": in Georgia, the critical situation of American women who want an abortion
Due to a restrictive law in this conservative state, a referendum on the right to abortion was not organized at the same time as the presidential election, unlike in ten other states.
After Donald Trump's unambiguous victory, many American women are worried about their right to abortion. More than two years after the Supreme Court struck down federal protection of this right, eight states have voted by referendum to expand access to abortion . Two others, Florida and Nebraska, have chosen to restrict it. These referendums were organized on Tuesday, November 5, at the same time as the presidential election, following petitions from citizens wishing to ensure reproductive rights. But in Georgia, a very conservative state, the law did not allow this referendum and the situation of pregnant women is critical.
In the aftermath of Donald Trump's election, many women in the center of the Democratic city of Atlanta are a little dazed. "We're actually scared. We're scared because he might take away women's rights," one of them said. " That's awful . "
But that's not the case for all women, like Reven, a young black woman, a declared and delighted Trump supporter. "I'm against abortion because it's murder ," she says. " It has to be done on a case-by-case basis. But if there's been rape or if the mother is really at risk of dying, we can allow it. But it shouldn't be used as a form of contraception."
"Women are dying because of their pregnancy"
Since the cancellation of federal protection in 2022, Georgia has had very restrictive abortion laws: it is only authorized during the first six weeks of pregnancy and, after that, only if the fetus's heart is no longer beating or if the mother is in serious danger. Another law, passed by the Republican state, is denounced by Democratic senator Helena Parents.
"Doctors here can be prosecuted for a crime if they perform an abortion, they are afraid. Georgia has a sad record of women dying because of their pregnancy ," the elected official laments. Officially, two pregnant women have died in the past two years because of a delay in care in this state of 11 million people.
Every Davies-Bell, a 34-year-old genetics researcher and mother of a young child, was 18 weeks pregnant when she miscarried. The baby she was carrying was no longer viable and she would have needed emergency surgery. "My doctors had to wait until my life was in danger and it was unequivocal ," she says. " And if I didn't die, it's because they were excellent. But they have to juggle obstacles that have nothing to do with medicine, or saving lives, and have to do with the law."
Added to this are the possible complications of these delays in intervention, which can lead to sterility. The conservative government of Georgia now wants to go further, by banning the morning-after pill.
