Millions of US women lost their constitutional right to an abortion this week after the Supreme Court overturned its landmark Roe vs Wade ruling.
The reversal of the 50-year-old Supreme Court decision means that abortion will become illegal or highly restricted in half of US states, almost immediately in some. The healthcare organisation Planned Parenthood has warned that 36 million US women of reproductive age will be cut off from abortion access.
The controversial move goes against a global trend to expand reproductive freedom, as America joins Poland, El Salvador and Nicaragua as the only four nations in the world to have rolled back abortion rights over the past quarter century.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
In the UK, Westminster sleaze has reared its ugly head again after Boris Johnson’s deputy chief whip dramatically resigned from his role after groping two men in a private members’ club.
In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Chris Pincher said he had “drank far too much” and “embarrassed” himself and other people on a night out. “I apologise to you and to those concerned,” he added.
The Sun’s political reporter Noa Hoffman reported that Pincher is alleged to have “groped two fellow guests” at the Carlton Club in central London. Several “alarmed Conservative MPs” then got in contact with the Tory whips’ office to complain about his behaviour and demand that he be “booted out of government”, she reported.
“Amazingly, it was the second time that Pincher – who has been the MP for Tamworth since 2010 – had been forced to quit the whips’ office over sex allegations,” she added. In 2017 he was accused of “making a pass” at a former Olympic rower after inviting him to his home after a canvassing session at Conservative HQ.
The revelations could not come at a worse time for Johnson’s party, which has been rocked by no less than five “Pestminster” sleaze cases in three months. And there could be further trouble on the horizon for the Tory party, after the Privileges Committee issued a call for evidence as it begins its inquiry into whether the prime minister knowingly misled the House of Commons over Downing Street parties.
To find out how closely you’ve been paying attention to the latest developments in the news and other global events, put your knowledge to the test with our Quiz of The Week.
Need a reminder of some of the other headlines over the past seven days?
