Historical if that’s right – VG
COPENHAGEN (VG) If the US Supreme Court crushes the abortion verdict from 1973, it will be a big step back for American women and their rights, according to Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labor).
“It will be a historic event, not just in the United States but far beyond, if this abortion order from 1973 is revoked,” the prime minister told VG.
He is in Copenhagen to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Nordic friends on Wednesday. He will also have his first own meeting with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
Støre has been in the Kristiansand area earlier Tuesday. But he has registered the leak from the Supreme Court of the United States, as according to the website Politics shall reveal that a majority in the Supreme Court will set aside the right to self-determined abortion.
This right has been in force in the United States since the Roe v. Wade case in 1973, which states that women have the right to self-determined abortion until the fetus is viable.
The top US official has confirmed that the leaked draft is genuine, but they deny that it is the final decision or that it represents the final position of any of the judges.
Can go that way
– That ruling has been important, both legally and symbolically, in many countries far beyond the United States, says the Prime Minister.
– Are you surprised?
– It has been suggested that it could go that way, with the attitudes to the new judges in the Supreme Court, the ones that former President Donald Trump was appointed.
– How will you react if the Roe vs Wade ruling now falls?
– If this were to be the result, then I would think that it is a big step backwards for a fundamental right that American women have had for many years. It could lead to great divisions in the United States, and it would lead to great variations in abortion laws between states. Some will almost ban abortion, with the consequences it will have for women in the US, says Støre.
– How can this happen in the US?
– It is on all polls and very solid majority for today’s legislation at the federal level. So what the Supreme Court may do to her will clearly be contrary to the majority. But many states have worked systematically to prepare for the decision that is now coming. There are states that have decisions ready if the US Supreme Court gives them yes. SO this can happen quite quickly, says Støre.
He explains:
– In American policies, the abortion issue is charged with very many and strong motives between different leisure activities. This is a major ethical issue, but in most democracies, stable legislation for women’s rights has been ensured. In the US, this is both a value marker between very polarized groups, and a societal issue, and that made the abortion case even more sensitive, he says.