How can American women's human rights be guaranteed?

By John Lee

(ECNS) -- The case of a 10-year-old child rape victim in Ohio who was six weeks pregnant but ineligible for an abortion in her own state and forced to travel to Indiana for the procedure has shocked the U.S. and the world. The abortion ban does secondary harm to the girl.

How can American women's human rights be guaranteed when judicature act prevails over women's birth preference?

The U.S. Supreme Court officially reversed Roe v. Wade on June 24, putting an end to federal abortion rights. It immediately came into force in Ohio, which declares that women with a gestation age of six weeks are not allowed to abort.

The case of the 10-year-old girl has spotlit the shocking impact of the U.S. supreme court ruling on abortion, which states that the victim has to give birth against their will. It reveals the negligence of the U.S. government in protecting the human rights of women and children.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade deprives U.S. women of freedom and choice, forcing U.S. society to regress. The U.S. President Joe Biden also addressed the decision, saying it was a “tragic error” and the court is literally “taking the country back 150 years.”

The ruling, which openly violates the spirit of the American Constitution, has undoubtedly weakened its authority and challenged the vital principle of "safeguarding human rights" stipulated by the Constitution.

The U.S., who has long regarded itself as a "guardian of human rights”， has invaded women’s reproduction rights with such an abortion ban, turning it a compulsory obligation. CNN also criticized this decision, saying the move counters a global trend towards freer access to abortion and makes the U.S. an “outlier” in the West.

Michelle Bachelet Jeria, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, also criticized the ruling by the federal court. "Access to safe, legal and effective abortion is firmly rooted in international human right law and is at the core of women and girls' autonomy and ability to make their own choices about their bodies and lives, free of discrimination, violence and coercion," Jeria said in a media statement.

"This decision strips such autonomy from millions of women in the U.S., in particular those with low incomes and those belonging to racial and ethnic minorities, to the detriment of their fundamental rights," she added.

Besides, states dominated by the U.S. Democratic Party and Republican Party are divided on the abortion ban, which may lead to cross-states abortion. The resulting conflicts and disputes on human rights, ethics and government responsibilities will inevitably further intensify the contradiction between the state and the federal government, and further split the country.

However, the decision made by the federal court, protected by the country’s system of separation of powers, is hard to be overturned once again. As U.S.-style "democracy" is beset with a crisis, how can American women's human rights be guaranteed?