Abortion is not a right in the United States

The CEU San Pablo University’s graduate hall hosted the seminar “USA: Abortion is not a right. The protagonists of change speak”, in which various members of American civil society participated, explaining how they have contributed to the change in public opinion regarding abortion from different spheres.

The event began with a presentation by the president of the ACdP and the San Pablo CEU University Foundation, Alfonso Bullón de Mendoza, who highlighted the social change that has taken place in the United States: “what has happened is relevant and can serve as an example for us“. In this sense, he thanked the various speakers for their participation and sent a message of hope that this trend that has emerged in the American content “will spread throughout the world.

Policy and civil society

The first panel approached this change from a political and civil society perspective. The president of the Iowa State Senate, Amy Sinclair, promoter of the fetal heartbeat law, began her presentation by stating that in the United States we have been witnessing “violence against children” for 50 years. The United States has been witnessing “violence against children” for 50 years, since it was in 1973 when the Supreme Court ruled in the Roe vs. Wade case decriminalizing abortion throughout the country. Faced with this situation, the President explained the steps that have been taken in many American states to protect life and emphasized that “we did not begin by prohibiting abortion, but by introducing the value of life”.

For her part, the president of Christian Freedom International and former president of Concerned Women for America, Wendy Wright, affirmed that “the problem we face is that many Americans do not know the harm that abortion causes to the unborn, their suffering, nor do they know the consequences it has on women.

During his speech, former Texas State Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. recalled the historic decision of the Supreme Court decreeing that abortion is not a constitutional right and expressed his satisfaction that the practice of abortion “is no longer a right in my country”. For his part, the director of Domestic Policy during the administration of Donald Trump, Joseph Grogan, highlighted the actions of the pro-life movement that have led to the success of the anti-abortion legal doctrine and pointed out that this movement has to work together at the international level because “what happens in the United States goes to Europe and vice versa”.

Legal influence

In the legal field, Jane Adolphe, professor of law and executive director of the International Catholic Jurist Forum, stressed the importance of creating groups of pro-life people who respect human dignity from conception to death. The legal expert in Americans United for Like, Clarke Forsythe, advocated the need to have laws that protect human life and assured that “abortion destroys everything and builds nothing” to which he added: “We have to educate women about the reality of abortion”.

For her part, law professor and president of the Judicial Crisis Network, Carrie Severino, celebrated the fact that “abortion is not in the American constitution” and assured that they need people “with courage, courage and determination to work in the defense of unpopular but correct issues” as has happened in the case of abortion.

The influence of the media

Finally, the role of the media and the international repercussion in changing opinion on abortion was addressed by the executive director of Tilma Strategies, Alejandro Bermúdez, the executive director of ACI Group and EWTN News, Kelsey Wicks, and the diplomatic negotiator with the United Nations, John M. Klink. All of them stressed the importance of generating messages in defense of life both in the media and in social networks.

The seminar was organized by CEFAS together with different institutions such as Familia y Dignidad Humana, Federación Europea One of Us, Federación Española de Asociaciones Provida, Asamblea por la Vida, Political Network for Values, Universidad CEU San Pablo and NEOS.