What is happening in the United States, where the right to abortion has been abolished at the federal level, raises many questions. Maybe we take certain rights for granted and are by now established, maybe we think that this will not happen to us, but is it really so? Globally, more than 41% of women of childbearing age live in countries with restrictive abortion laws, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. According to the World Health Organization, about 73 million voluntary abortions occur worldwide every year, 25 million of them in conditions that are dangerous for women. Here are countries where abortion is still banned, those where it is severely restricted, and those (potentially all) where it is at risk.
Countries where abortion is illegal
There are still many countries in the world where IVG is completely illegal.. According to Center for Reproductive Rights 23: Andorra, Aruba, Congo (Brazzaville), Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Jamaica, Laos, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Philippines, Palau, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Suriname. , Tonga, Gaza Strip. In Nicaragua, even the ban was tightened in 2008, removing even a few exceptions in case of rape or threat to a woman’s life. Andorra and Malta remain the only countries in Europe to still ban IVH, so much so that last month 135 Maltese doctors filed an appeal against the ban.
Countries where the right to abortion is limited
In many countries, abortion is only allowed under certain circumstances. For example, again according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. 42 countries allow abortions only when the life of the pregnant woman is in danger. These include Afghanistan (although these exceptions may no longer apply with the arrival of the Taliban), Chile, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Venezuela, Yemen, and many others. Brazil is also part of this group, and has recently sparked outrage and protests in the country when President Jair Bolsonaro called it “unacceptable” that an 11-year-old girl legally terminated a pregnancy after she was the victim of rape. In the remaining 51 countries, abortion is permitted if it serves to preserve the physical and mental health of the pregnant woman (hence also in the case of rape and incest). Added to these restrictions are the time restrictions that are present in all countries that allow breastfeeding, and finally all the logistical, political and socio-cultural problems that, even in the presence of laws that allow abortion, often make it not very accessible in practice. This is the case, for example, in our country.
Countries of Hope
Even if the picture looks bleak, there is good news. Nearly 50 countries have liberalized abortion in the past two decades, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. San Marino in September 2021, Colombia in February 2022, Argentina in December 2020 made abortion legal, and last September the Mexican Supreme Court voted unanimously to decriminalize abortion in the state of Coahuila, setting an important precedent. There is progress, the problem, as always, is those who continue, no matter what.
Source: Elle