Is terminating a pregnancy murder? Or is access to safe abortions a fundamental right every human being should enjoy? Few issues in the United States are as emotionally charged as abortion. Along with the economy and the rising cost of living, migration and health care, abortion rights is an issue that pulls many American voters to the ballot box.
The upcoming US election on November 5 is the first presidential election since the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling in 2022. Until then, the 1972 decision guaranteed every woman in the US the right to decide whether to continue or terminate a pregnancy. But in June 2022, a conservative majority of the nine-member Supreme Court voted to repeal this law.
Since then, each US state has devised its own abortion laws, some of which are very restrictive. In some Republican-ruled states such as Kentucky or Louisiana, abortions are completely illegal, even in cases of rape. In other states, abortions are only permitted until early in pregnancy, when many people do not yet realize they are pregnant.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party's candidate in 2024, appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices during his first term in office between 2017 and 2021 — all of whom voted to overturn the nationwide right to abortion.
Trump has expressed his pride in the decision, especially during a television debate against his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, in early September. "I did a great service in doing it," he said, adding that, "it........