Several American companies such as Disney or Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced on Friday that they were committed to covering the travel costs of their employees who would be forced to travel to have an abortion, after the decision of the Supreme Court to overturn the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision that paved the way for the legalization of abortion in the United States.
The Court, where the conservatives sit in force, voted by five votes against four for the cancellation of the Roe judgment, the judges in favor of this revocation considering that this text authorizing voluntary termination of pregnancy at the federal level was a decision erroneous, because the Constitution of the United States makes no specific mention of the right to abortion.
Several states would restrict access to abortion, or prohibit it, after this decision, which would force women to travel to states where abortion is still permitted to terminate their pregnancies.
Care management
Disney has told its employees that it is committed to providing access to quality health care, which includes abortion, a company spokesperson said.
Travel costs for employees who need to travel to another state to access health care, including abortions, will be covered by the company, Disney said.
Meta has also pledged to reimburse travel costs for employees who need to travel to access reproductive health care, with the company “evaluating the best way to do this given the legal complexities involved”, according to a doorman. -word.
Companies that offer to reimburse travel costs for abortions could face lawsuits from anti-abortion groups and Republican states, and even criminal penalties.
“A Sad Day”
“It’s a sad day for the Supreme Court and the country,” reacted President Joe Biden, saying that the decision of the guarantor institution of the American Constitution brought the United States back 150 years.
Many reactions immediately welcomed the decision. A crowd of anti-abortion activists gathered for days outside the seat of the Supreme Court let their joy burst out.
“I’m thrilled,” said Emma Craig, an activist with Pro Life San Francisco. “Abortion is the greatest tragedy of our generation and fifty years from now we will look back in shame on fifty years under Roe vs Wade.”
Former Republican President Donald Trump, who promised during his 2016 campaign to appoint a majority of judges in favor of overturning Roe vs. Wade, hailed a decision “restoring rights to states where they would have always had to stay”.
In the Vatican, the Pontifical Academy for Life also welcomed the court’s decision. “The fact that a great country with a long democratic tradition has changed its position on this issue concerns the whole world,” she said.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the ‘Republican-controlled Supreme Court’ had achieved its ‘dark and extreme goal of wresting away women’s right to make reproductive health decisions for themselves’ .
Former President Barack Obama said the “intensely personal” decision to have an abortion was now subject “to the whims of politicians and ideologues, attacking the basic freedoms of millions of American women”.
Abroad, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that abortion, a “fundamental right”, must be “protected” and expressed his solidarity with American women. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lamented a “terrifying” decision and his British counterpart Boris Johnson regretted “a big step backwards”.
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed disappointment. “Women’s rights must be respected, I would have expected America to protect such rights,” he said.
A majority of Americans support abortion rights, polls show, but overturning the Roe ruling has been a stated goal of Christian conservatives and pro-life activists for decades , which hold annual marches in Washington.
