After the recent ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States, which establishes that abortion is not a constitutional right, there have been numerous reactions aimed both at limiting access to abortion and at favoring it, depending on the state in question.
At least 22 states already have laws aimed at restricting abortion, of which 13 had legal provisions prepared to be automatically activated after the Supreme Court’s decision.
According to Financial Times, states controlled by Democrats have recently passed laws that seek to protect access to abortion until the 24th week of pregnancy. The latest states to do so are Colorado, New Jersey and Washington. So far 16 of them have enabled regulations that allow abortion even after the recent Supreme Court ruling. These are Some California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and the federal capital.
Some states, such as New York and Illinois, have made known their willingness to facilitate abortions for women who are unable to obtain them in their home states.
In addition, a marked increase in the demand for postcoital contraceptives has recently been reported due to the new obstacles to accessing abortion derived from the aforementioned ruling, which has caused some companies that supply these contraceptives to limit their dispensing to three units per woman and month.
Bioethical assessment
First of all, limiting access to abortion will undoubtedly save the lives of many people, which is excellent news.
Second, the massive sale of emergency contraceptives after the limitation of access to abortion can be interpreted as meaning that many women have turned abortion into a simple contraceptive method.
And, thirdly, the choice of emergency contraception by many women is not good news. First, because of its lower efficacy as a contraceptive, which will cause some of them to become pregnant and end up resorting to abortion. But also because, as we have previously published, the way in which these contraceptives act means that 85% of the times they prevent pregnancy they do so by an anti-implantation mechanism, that is, by terminating the life of the early embryo.
This means that the unacceptable loss of human life associated with abortion practices continues to be a drama with the use of emergency contraception.
