Grandstand. In 1973, in its emblematic judgment “Roe v. Wade”, the Supreme Court of the United States guaranteed the right of women to abort, and then specified that it applied as long as the fetus is not viable, that is to say around twenty-two weeks of pregnancy.
Since September 2021, and after several legal twists, an abortion law is once again in force in Texas. This ultra-restrictive law prohibits abortion once the embryo’s heartbeat is detected, around six weeks into pregnancy, when most women are unaware they are pregnant.
In recent years, laws comparable to that of Texas have been adopted by a dozen other conservative states and invalidated in court because they violated this jurisprudence. But in September 2021, for the first time in nearly half a century, the Supreme Court refused to block the entry into force of the Texas law which similarly contravenes “Roe v. Wade”.
A poverty trap
The high court justified its inaction by “new procedural questions”, the law of Texas comprising a unique device: it entrusts “exclusively” it is up to citizens to enforce the measure by encouraging them to lodge a complaint against the organizations or persons who help women to have illegal abortions.
In December 2021, the Supreme Court began reviewing a Mississippi law that prohibits abortions after fifteen weeks of pregnancy. The verdict is scheduled for June 2022. The validation of this law would lead to a reversal of the Supreme Court’s case law.
If the latter were to invalidate the “Roe v. Wade”, each state would be free to prohibit or authorize abortions. About 36 million women in 26 states, or nearly half of American women of childbearing age, would likely lose the right to abort, according to a Planned Parenthood report released in early October.
Teenage births negatively affect educational attainment and labor market outcomes for both mother and child. These effects can persist across generations, creating a poverty trap. Teenage pregnancy and birth rates in the United States have been declining since the 1990s. Despite this progress, rates in the United States remain significantly higher than those in the rest of the developed world.
Positive development
Moreover, income inequality and poverty persist in the United States despite rapid increases in the average standard of living during this same period. Teenage births contribute both directly and indirectly to these problems.
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