The CDC reported just over 1 million abortions in 1991 and 620,327 in 2020, looking at just the District of Columbia and the 47 states that reported figures in both years. For a more complete and detailed list of countries and their various legal stances on abortion, see the table further down the page. And what about in countries where abortions are prohibited altogether? More than 50 countries and regions permit abortions only when the womans health is at risk. Abortion Laws Around The World - Refinery29 Ministerial guidelines are not utilized in categorizing the legal status of abortion on the map unless they have the force of law. The U.S. is not alone in having a heated debate about abortion, and laws on the procedure differ in countries around the world. Abortion rates are lower where people, including adolescents have information about and can access modern contraceptive methods and where comprehensive sexuality education is available and there is access to safe and legal abortion on broad grounds. Rape Abortion is legal when the pregnancy is the result of rape. Republicans Are Using Exceptions to Sell Their Abortion Bans. It's a Scam. Press J to jump to the feed. But I felt like if I waited until my health got so bad that I could die, then it would be too late by then anyway. Instead, those laws correlate with more unintended pregnancies, which ultimately leads to an abortion rate comparable to what's observed in countries where the procedure is accessible. Other countries on this list include the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Haiti, Iraq, Madagascar, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Senegal and Suriname. Preventing women and girls from accessing an abortion does not mean they stop needing one. In some countries (particularly in Asia, where male children tend to be valued more than female children) gender-based abortion is legal. Six out of 10 of all unintended pregnancies end in an induced abortion. Sixty-six countries, home to just over a quarter of women of reproductive age, either prohibit abortion or allow it only if a womans life is danger, according to the centers data on national laws that have been formally adopted. The laws of countries in this category permit abortion on the basis of health or therapeutic grounds. In January 2021, a near-total ban on abortion was introduced in Poland, only allowing the procedure in cases of rape, incest, or when the mothers life is at risk. As of 2021, there are twenty-four countries in which abortion is illegal in any and all circumstances. Q&A: Access to Abortion is a Human Right | Human Rights Watch More than a year later in October 2019 neighboring Northern Ireland became the last nation in the U.K. to decriminalize abortion. In countries where abortion is broadly legal, use of contraception is quite high, Bearak and his team found. Both institutions support abortion rights for people worldwide. 25 of these countries explicitly permit abortion to preserve the woman's mental health, of reproductive age live in countries that allow abortion on health grounds, of reproductive age live in countries that allow abortion on broad social or economic grounds, of reproductive age live in countries that allow abortion on request, Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Download attachment: The World's Abortion Laws, Explanation of Categories of Abortion Laws, Accessibility, Acceptability, Availability and Quality Framework. Women will look for services, safe or unsafe, to terminate their pregnancy.". Abortion, the process of prematurely terminating a pregnancy through surgical means, has always been a controversial subject. Poland has virtually banned abortion, and the United States is also looking at tightening restrictions. The law changed in 2021 to make it illegal to terminate pregnancies with fetal defects, and it is now only possible to get an abortion to save the life of a woman, to preserve her health or in cases of rape or incest. Update: On June 24, 2022 the US Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, writing that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion.. But the percentage of those pregnancies ending in abortion is higher because abortions tend to accessible. For the purpose of the map, countries include independent states, and where populations exceed one million, semi-autonomous regions, territories, and jurisdictions of special status. Countries that have recently liberalized abortion laws include Ireland, which had mostly banned abortion but made it legal on request until 12 weeks in 2018, and South Korea, which decriminalized it. A large majority of people who say abortion should be illegal in . The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages viisted in an anonymous form. In March, U.K. lawmakers in Westminster began a legal process to compel their counterparts in the devolved nation to provide adequate state-run access. Beata Zawrzel / NurPhoto via Getty Images file, abortions have been convicted of homicide, allowed until up to the 12th week of pregnancy. More than 50 countries and regions allow abortions, but only on grounds of preserving a womans health. Our Abortion Law and Policy Guide showcases international and regional human rights norms, global medical standards, and comparative laws and policies on the following topics: The laws of the countries in this category do not permit abortion under any circumstances, including when the womans life or health is at risk. The laws of the countries in this category permit abortion on the basis of health or therapeutic grounds. Gestational age limits are serious barriers, she said. It is a basic healthcare need for millions of women, girls and others who can become pregnant. Restricting access to abortions does not reduce the number of abortions. The study also looks at the contexts that commonly result in women seeking unsafe abortions, including countries laws and policies on abortion, the financial cost of accessing safe abortion services, the availability of safe abortion services and trained health providers, and societal attitudes toward abortion and gender equality. Under international human rights law, everyone has a right to life, a right to health, and a right to be free from violence, discrimination, and torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Read More: The Enormous Consequences of Overturning Roe v. Wade. In some, it can be easier to obtain an abortion than in many parts of the U.S. Also, peer countries tend to have more abortion providers, and cover the costs of abortions. By contrast, in countries where abortions are heavily restricted, use of contraception tends to be low, his team found. 91 million (6%) women of reproductive age live in countries that prohibit abortion altogether. In many circumstances, those who have no choice but to resort to unsafe abortions also risk prosecution and punishment, including imprisonment, and can face cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and discrimination in, and exclusion from, vital post-abortion health care. The changes have inspired other pro-choice movements in the regiondubbed the green wave for the colors worn by campaigners. Countries With the Strictest Abortion Laws - Business Insider Abortion laws are categorized according to provisions in national statues, legal regulations, and court decisions. Provision of safe, legal abortion is essential to fulfilling the global commitment to the Sustainable Development Goal of universal access to sexual and reproductive health (target 3.7). The infographic below illustrates the change in countries abortion laws over the past 25 years, using the color rubric from the World Abortion Laws Map. Induced abortion is common in the United States and worldwide. The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. These instruments ground safe abortion in a constellation of rights, including the rights to life; liberty; privacy; equality and non-discrimination and freedom from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Also, abortions tend to be provided only in special clinics, often far from where women live. In a study published in 2019, Jurez and her colleagues interviewed women across Mexico about their experiences having abortions. 1y. Use of this site signifies agreement with our disclaimer and privacy policy. Abortion in Andorra is illegal in all cases - even when the mother's life is in danger. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. In Africa, 92% of women of reproductive age live under severely restrictive laws; in Latin America, 97% do. Read More: What the Supreme Courts Abortion Decision Means for Your State. But just one, misoprostol, an ulcer drug on the World Health Organizations list of essential medicines, causes a complete abortion in around 80 percent of cases or more, according to recent research. In other rich democracies, abortion is covered by public health insurance. On Abortion Law, the U.S. Is Unusual. "So we can certainly see early evidence in Texas that people are having trouble accessing abortions, which makes intuitive sense," Bearak says. (The National Health Service website says: The decision to have an abortion is yours alone.) In Bolivia, however, a woman must show a grave health risk from her pregnancy, or show it was a result of rape or incest. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. Nevertheless, this type of informal self-use of medication abortion that women have to resort to secretly does not meet WHOs safe abortion standards. There are more than 20 countries in the world where abortion is completely prohibited, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights, a global legal advocacy group. The most common gestational limit for countries in this category is 12 weeks. The rankings evaluate 85 countries across 26 rankings drawn from a survey of more than 17,000 global citizens, measuring 73 dimensions that have the potential to drive trade, travel and investment and directly affect national economies. "It's Your Decision, It's Your Life" - Human Rights Watch