European leaders denounce US restriction on abortion rights

European leaders are expressing shock and outrage at the US Supreme Court decision depriving women of the legal right to abortion.

“Making abortions illegal is not pro-life. It is against the election”, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel tweeted. “It’s anti-women. She will not save lives. He will kill women. It is a social and economic injustice. And so, so bad. Reproductive rights are not just women’s rights. They are human rights. So let’s all defend them.”

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told POLITICO: “I have to tell you I think this is a big step backwards.”

Speaking at a news conference in Rwanda, where she was attending a Commonwealth meeting, Johnson said: “I have always believed in a woman’s right to choose and I stand by that view and that is why the UK has the laws what’s wrong with it. “

The US court ruling that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade, who had protected a woman’s right to have an abortion, is just the latest development to leave Europeans bewildered by the deep political polarization in the US.

Coupled with years of inaction in Washington in response to an epidemic of mass shootings, endemic racism, exorbitant costs and limited access to health care and few government-protected maternity benefits, the abortion decision has reinforced the feeling in Europe that the US is strangely out of sync with most modern, civilized democracies.

Despite this sense that the US is neglecting basic social protections for its citizens, the country remains a global political and cultural touchstone, and its domestic political turmoil still resonates across both oceans. that often keep American citizens relatively distant and disconnected from tribulations elsewhere.

“Very concerned about the implications of @US Supreme Court decision on #RoeVWade and the signal it sends to the world”, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo tweeted. “Banning abortion never leads to fewer abortions, only more unsafe abortions. Belgium will continue to work with other countries to promote #SRHR everywhere,” she wrote, using the hashtag for “sexual and reproductive health rights”.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has rarely hesitated to make clear when his views diverge from Washington, expressed his support for American women and accused the court of undermining their rights.

“Abortion is a fundamental right for all women”, Macron said. “It must be protected. I wish to express my solidarity with the women whose freedoms are being undermined by the Supreme Court of the United States.”

Last month, Macron expressed his “shock and pain” for a shooting at a Texas school in which 19 children and two teachers were killed.

Macron’s political party said it would now table a proposal to enshrine the protection of the right to abortion in the French constitution. Previously, his party had opposed similar legislative proposals put forward by leftist political rivals.

A initial report Per POLITICO last month that the US Supreme Court was poised to overturn the landmark ruling on abortion rights had sparked unease in many European political circles, serving as a reminder of the legacy of the former US president. Donald Trump, who was generally despised by European allies, and raising anxiety that Trump or someone like him could return to the White House. Many Europeans are also concerned about a possible standstill in transatlantic cooperation if the Republicans regain control of the US Congress in this year’s midterm elections.

However, Europe is not universally in favor of abortion rights. There is also a fierce and divisive debate over abortion in Poland, where the government has adopted a near total ban on abortion with limited exceptions in cases of rape, incest or danger to the life of the mother.

And the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola of Malta, faced some criticism before her election for her personal stance against abortion rights.

This month, a pregnant US citizen faced a life threatening situation in Malta, where abortion is illegal, when she was unable to get emergency medical care after she started miscarrying because doctors did not want to terminate her pregnancy. The woman, Andrea Prudente, was finally able to fly to Spain and receive treatment.

Esther Webber contributed reporting.