British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the measure “clearly has a massive impact on the thinking of people around the world”, and described it as “a very important decision”.
“I have to tell you that I think it’s a big step backwards,” Johnson said at a news conference during a Commonwealth leaders ’summit in Rwanda. “I have always believed in the right of women to choose and I stick with that vision, and that is why the UK has the laws it has.”
The US is already home to some of the most restrictive abortion laws among its democratic allies in the G7 and other international alliances.
“The news coming out of the United States is horrible,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday. “My heart goes out to the millions of American women who are now willing to lose their legal right to an abortion. I can’t imagine the fear and anger you’re feeling right now.”
“No government, politician or man should tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body. I want women in Canada to know that we will always stand up for your right to choose,” she added.
French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed “solidarity” with U.S. women and called abortion a “fundamental right for all women” shortly after his foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, called it quits. the “horrible” decision.
And Spanish leader Pedro Sánchez said in a tweet: “We cannot take for granted any rights. Social successes always run the risk of going backwards and their defense must be our day to day. Women must be able to decide freely about his life. “
Protests were taking place in front of the US embassy in London on Friday evening, with other protests scheduled throughout Europe over the weekend, including in Ireland, where the constitutional ban on abortion was lifted. home in 2018.
As of Friday, the U.S. was one of 56 countries where abortion was legal on demand, with no justification requirements, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In the future, abortion rights will be determined by U.S. states, unless Congress acts. Already almost half of the states have passed or will pass laws banning abortion, while others have enacted strict measures governing the procedure.
Prior to Friday’s decision, the United States was generally in the company of other Western nations, as few developed countries prohibit or severely restrict access to abortions.
Of the 36 countries that the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs defines as developed economies, all but two, Poland and Malta, allow abortion on demand or for health and socioeconomic reasons, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. . (CRR), which campaigns to improve access to abortion and oversees laws around the world.