Democrats, Republicans gear up for long battle over abortion ruling

WASHINGTON • Elected leaders across the US political divide are rallying for a long fight on abortion - state by state and in Congress - with total bans in force or expected soon in half of the country.

Two days after the United States Supreme Court scrapped half-century constitutional protections for the procedure, abortion rights defenders kept up their mobilisation, with a candlelight vigil outside the high court in Washington on Sunday night.

Dozens of arrests and some instances of vandalism were reported during a weekend of mostly peaceful protests that turned disorderly in places, as the country grapples with a new level of division - between states where abortion is or will soon be illegal, and those that still allow it.

Conservative-led state legislatures have moved swiftly, with at least eight imposing immediate bans on abortion - many with exceptions only if a woman's life is in danger - and a similar number to follow suit within weeks.

In a first glimpse of the legal battles ahead, the country's largest abortion provider Planned Parenthood filed a suit in Utah seeking to block the state's ban.

And Democratic governors in Michigan and Wisconsin have stepped in to try to keep abortion legal in their Midwestern states.

Defending the ban now in effect in South Dakota, which makes no exception for victims of rape or incest, Republican Governor Kristi Noem called the Supreme Court's ruling "wonderful news in the defence of life".

She also voiced support for laws banning "telemedicine abortions" in which a doctor prescribes pills to end a pregnancy - set to become a key resource in many places where abortion is illegal.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson argued that "forcing someone to carry a child to term" in order to save an unborn baby was an "appropriate" use of government power.

States should focus on helping mothers and newborns by expanding services, including adoption, he said on NBC's Meet the Press. But the Republican opposed calls to go further with a federal abortion ban - an ultimate goal of many on the religious right - or restrictions on contraception, which he said is "not going to be touched" in Arkansas.

Fears that the Supreme Court's strong conservative majority - made possible by former president Donald Trump - will now seek to target other rights, such as same-sex marriage and contraception, have fuelled the nationwide mobilisation since last Friday.

President Joe Biden has condemned the Supreme Court's ruling as a "tragic error" but with power resting with often anti-abortion state legislatures, he has acknowledged his hands are tied.

His main hope is for voters to turn out in defence of abortion rights in November's mid-term elections and, in the meantime, Mr Biden's Democrats have vowed to defend women's reproductive rights in every way they can.

In Wisconsin, where an 1849 law banning abortion except to save the mother's life may take effect, Governor Tony Evers has vowed to offer clemency to doctors who face prosecution, according to local media. And Michigan's Governor Gretchen Whitmer promised to "fight like hell", saying a temporary injunction has been filed to keep abortion legal in her state.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned that nightmare scenarios may soon come true - as women are forced to continue with unwanted pregnancies, travel long distances to states where abortion remains legal, or undergo clandestine abortions.

"Forcing women to carry pregnancies against their will will kill them. It will kill them," she told NBC, urging Mr Biden to explore opening healthcare clinics in conservative states to help people access abortion services.

A CBS poll released on Sunday showed a solid majority - 59 per cent - of Americans, and 67 per cent of women disapproved of the court's ruling.

While thousands rallied peacefully through the weekend, there were isolated incidents of violence, as police fired tear gas on protesters in Arizona and a pickup truck drove through a group of protesters in Iowa.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE