US abortion rights under threat: The spectre of a post-Roe America

Every morning, in front of the Tulsa Women's Clinic in Oklahoma, the same scene repeats itself: patients arrive to park in front of one of the few clinics that currently still perform abortions in this largely conservative state. Their cars are immediately wedged between anti-abortion demonstrators trying to dissuade them from having a termination, and volunteers from the clinic, like Susan Braselton. Wearing a rainbow vest, she comes out to welcome the women, protect them and reassure them.

Such a scene is not unusual in an America where the right to abortion, guaranteed since 1973 by the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling, is being seriously eroded in around half of the states. The governor of Oklahoma has already taken inspiration from a law passed last year in neighbouring Texas that bans abortion as soon as a heartbeat is detected – usually at around six weeks. He is now expected to sign another bill, passed by Oklahoma's legislators on May 19, that prohibits all abortions with few exceptions.

Six weeks into their pregnancy, many women are still unaware that they are pregnant and the recent restrictions create difficult situations. For wealthier women, or those who find a last-minute solution, it is still possible to travel to another state. But for the less privileged, who cannot travel, their only choice is between carrying the foetus to term or resorting to illegal and risky abortion methods.

The influence of evangelicals

This state of affairs, which is happening well before the final decision of the Supreme Court on the matter, is the result of a decades-long political and religious battle. Led mainly by evangelicals, the fight for a total ban on abortion has gained ground, supported by the Republican Party,