Information Suppression in Idaho: Maternal Mortality Data in the Shadow of Recent US Supreme Court Judgements.

Abstract

On June 4th 2022 the United States Supreme Court overruled both Roe vs. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania vs. Casey (1992) and returned the legality of abortion to the states. The issue examined was whether the Constitution confers the right to obtain an abortion. The Court held that “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.” In Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court considered the standard that is used to decide whether the Fourteenth Amendment’s reference to “liberty” protects a particular right. The Constitution has no direct reference to abortion, but a number of Constitutional provisions are utilized to validate the constitutional right to abortion. Roe vs. Wade held that a woman’s right to abortion is a right to privacy that comes from the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments. The dissenting opinion in the Dobbs Judgement points out that if sex was non-consensual, or a planned pregnancy takes a tragic turn due to a serious foetal abnormality or maternal health complications, treatments may now be denied or delayed due to potential prosecution. During the Supreme Court process thirteen States in the US prepared so-called ‘trigger laws’ in expectation, ready to be implemented immediately if the challenge was successful (Jiménez, 2022). Since the abortion protections of Roe vs. Wade have been overturned, an increasing number of States have severely restricted access to abortion, even in cases of rape and incest (New York Times, 2023; Nash & Guarnieri, 2023). This legislation clearly represents an assault on women, denying them bodily autonomy (Hill et al., 2023).