CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP
In Florida, a 16-year-old woman was deemed “not mature enough” to have an abortion.
UNITED STATES – A ‘war on women’. With those words, this Wednesday, August 17, US elected officials condemned the election of a Florida appeals court that upheld a decision that a 16-year-old teenager whose parents died was “not mature enough” to have an abortion.
“In what world is a 16-year-old too immature for an abortion but mature enough to bear and raise a child? Polled Ohio Democrat-elect Joyce Beatty on Twitter, supported by her colleagues Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey and Katherine Clark of Massachusetts.
In what world is a 16 year old too immature for an abortion but mature enough to commit to carrying and raising… https://t.co/rT1SlwMvXR
— Rep. Joyce Beatty (@RepBeatty)
“This is a dangerous and terrifying example of Florida’s war on women,” said the Southeastern state’s Democrat-elect Lois Frankel, calling the decision “unacceptable” and calling for “health, safety and freedom.” of women to fight”. “.
This is a dangerous and horrifying example of Florida’s war on women. When a young girl is too immature to choose to have an abortion… https://t.co/Ar2ApjK1xE
— Rep. Lois Frankel (@RepLoisFrankel)
Many Internet users also underlined the apparent inconsistency of the verdict on social networks and expressed their anger, some picked up a hashtag that called for a boycott of Florida.
Abortion is still legal in Florida.
An appeals court on Monday upheld Escambia County Judge Jennifer Frydrychowicz’s decision to deny the abortion request of a 16-year-old woman known as “Jane Doe 22-B” on the pretext that she had not proved “that she was mature.” is enough to make the decision to have an abortion”.
This ruling comes less than two months after the historic U-turn of the US Supreme Court, which in late June upheld the constitutional guarantee of the right to abortion, which it ruled in 1973 in Roe v. Wade,” which leaves American states free to legislate on the matter.
A dozen states have already seized the opportunity to ban abortion, mostly without exception for cases of incest, rape or maternal ill health, and women’s rights groups fear that almost half of the states will eventually be affected.
In Florida, the deadline for an abortion was shortened in July. But this act remains legal up to 15 weeks after the last menstrual period (up from 24 before). “Jane Doe 22-B” was only ten weeks pregnant when she submitted her request for an abortion because she was unable to obtain the consent of at least one of her parents, both of whom were deceased, an essential condition for minors to have an abortion in want Florida.
Since the Supreme Court decision in June, many women in the United States have faced new obstacles to obtaining an abortion. Such is the case in Louisiana, where abortion is now banned. On Tuesday, local American television station WAFB9 reported the story of a Baton Rouge resident who had no choice but to carry her pregnancy to term when the child she is carrying suffers from a rare skull deformity. According to doctors, children with this malformation, called acrania, survive only a few hours or even minutes after birth.
Also see The HuffPost: A 12-year-old girl’s outrage at a public hearing on abortion in the United States
You cannot view this content because you have rejected the cookies associated with third-party content. If you want to view this content, you can change your choices.