Surveying the right to abortion across the world in 2019 – one step forward three steps back?
19.01.2020
Written by Julia Heres Garcia
Translated by Raphaëlle Ripoche
The stakes around abortion are universal: nowadays, all over the world, access to abortion is not definitively achieved or its right not fully effective, as reflected in many examples of the past years. 2019 was notably characterised by a set of twists on the matter – whether positive or negative. Here is a brief overview of the dynamics that lay the groundwork for the years to come
2019 was sadly not a year marking the affirmation of women’s right to freely have control over their own body. At the end of 2019, only 55 countries had legalised unconditional abortion – i.e. on women’s simple demand, meaning that 41 % of the women in the world were living in a place where access to abortion is restricted, if not completely forbidden or criminalised.
From Europe to the US: between progress and setbacks
One could argue that 2019 was off to a good start, especially in Europe where Ireland made abortion on request legal from January 1st onwards, after what appears as a momentous referendum.
That would be forgetting the rise of conservatism all around the world. It is notably the case in the US: according to the Guttmacher Institute, 25 legal provisions restricting the access to abortion were enacted in 12 federal states (mostly southern or central ones including, among others, Alabama, Georgia or Indiana). Those restrictions focused either on pregnancy stage, reasons considered as valid to have an abortion, or methods used to terminate a pregnancy. Besides, other strategies were put forward to limit access to abortion such as the introduction of new requirements imposed on abortion service providers. This includes informing patients on the reversibility of medical abortion, although not scientifically proven.
As a reaction to this step backwards, some courts of the North-East or of the West of the US have enacted provisions protecting the right to abortion while simultaneously expanding access to contraception services and sexual education, as it is the case for Illinois. Thus, 36 measures safeguarding the access to abortion were taken over the course of 2019.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Europe was by no means left behind. With the liberalisation of the right to abortion in the United Kingdom (triggered by the change of legislation in Northern Ireland) and in the Republic of Ireland, the number of EU countries with liberal abortion policies now adds up to 26. However, abortion is still totally banned in Malta, where law offenders (either women who had an abortion or practitioners) face up to three years’ imprisonment. Abortion is also very limited in Poland, where it is only allowed under four conditions : foetal malformation, danger to the life of the mother, rape or incest.
Beyond formal law : “Conscientious objection” both in the “global North and South”
Focusing on the European continent also requires to stress the existing gap between formal law, i.e. what is prescribed by legal provisions, and actual rights, i.e. what can actually by claimed by women.
In reality, access to abortion sometimes remains very limited in countries where it is conversely legal without specific conditions. One of the main reasons to this phenomenon lays in a provision that may be found in many pieces of legislation under the name of “conscientious objection”. It gives practitioners the discretion to withdraw from abortion protocols at any stage of the intervention, based on personal moral and/or religious beliefs. Levels of practitioners using this provision substantially varies from on country to the other, or from one region to the next, leading to a territorial breach in equality. Estimates show that up to 71% of Italian practitioners are “conscientious objectors”, a figure reaching close to 79% in the region of Roma. Similarly, in Ireland, only one in ten general practitioner carries out abortions, in spite of the recent legislation change. A final example was provided by the French NGO Médecins du Monde: in France and for the year 2018, 40% of the women were living in an environment where access to abortion is hindered, mostly owing to the closure of healthcare facilities that used to practice abortion.
“Conscientious objection” is not confined to Europe. It is also a common practice in Latin America, a region where countries and territories legalising abortion can be counted on the fingers of one hand (Cuba, Guyana, French Guyana, Puerto Rico and Uruguay). That way, access to abortion in Uruguay for instance, that was only gained in 2012, is nowadays jeopardised.
In the developing world : action is desperately needed in Latin America and Africa
In Latin America, women face very restrictive legal environments when it comes to abortion, in spite of mass mobilisations of the past years – this is particularly true in Argentina, Chile and Brazil. Despite the scale of the ongoing feminist resistance, there is only little hope for changes in the legal frameworks, notably in Brazil or Argentina in 2018. More recently, abortion’s depenalisation was rejected by members of the Parliament of Ecuador in 2019. Hence, in Latin American countries where abortion is illegal, dozens of women are sued for homicide and sentenced to prison after having an abortion, or sometimes even in case of miscarriage. In Salvador, where abortion is punishable by 2 to 8 years’ imprisonment, 16 women are still jailed to date, most of whom come from rural and poor backgrounds.
A similar and fairly alarming situation can be found in Africa : 93% of African women of reproductive age live in countries where legal frameworks forbid abortion. Abortion is totally illegal in 10 states (out of 54). One event of 2019 news provides with striking example: Hajar Raissouni – a Moroccan journalist, was sued by Rabat’s court for “illegal abortion” and “sexual relations out of marriage”. She was then pardoned by the King of Morocco in October 2019, after her lawsuit aroused national outrage as it resembled a smear campaign.
Finally, although restrictions to access abortions are looser in Asia than in the rest of the developing world and though one third of the continent’s countries allow it on women’s demand, abortion remains completely banned in the Philippines, and allowed under very specific conditions in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Such restrictive provisions also characterise the current situation in the Middle East.
In spite of those observations, hope is on the horizon. All across the world, hundreds of thousands of individuals continue to take the street to assemble for women’s right to have control over their own body. Those efforts are worthwhile: as 2019 comes to an end, Argentina has gained a new President in the person of Alberto Fernández, who positioned himself in favour of liberalising abortion in the country. Likewise, five women convicted for abortion in Salvador were released thanks to women’s mobilisation nationwide.
2020 shall thus be a decisive year, and the fight will go on from strength to strength until every women across the world is assured to have her sexual and reproductive rights respected.
Sources
France Info, “L’avortement, un accès toujours très inégal dans le monde”, 22.10.2019, available on : https://www.francetvinfo.fr/sante/grossesse/l-avortement-un-acces-toujours-tres-inegal-dans-le-monde_3670239.html
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To quote this article : Julia Heres Garcia, ”Surveying the right to abortion across the world in 2019 – one step forward three steps back?”, for the project ¡BASTA YA! – a militant documentary about the collective battle for abortion rights in Latin America. Check ¡BASTA YA!’s website, Instagram and Facebook.