International Repro-Round-Up: The Good, Bad & The Ugly

Abortion Rights Around the Globe

After a tumultuous 2020, many people were hopeful that 2021 would be calmer –– but JUST 21 days into 2021, there’s still no sign of slowing down.

Abortion laws vary wildly around the world, from on-request abortions to totals bans. The struggle is not over until everyone who needs an abortion can access it safely, legally and freely, no matter where in the world they are.

We’ve pulled together the good, bad and downright UGLY in reproductive news from around the world.

THE GOOD – A growing list of counties move to legalise abortion

Argentina legalises abortion in a landmark moment for women’s rights –– Argentina became one of only a handful of South American nations to legalise the process, following hours of heated debate in the Senate.

Resistance is beautiful! Images of mass pro-choice celebrations in Argentina were beamed across the globe, the streets heaving with people adorned with green scarves –– breathtaking scenes reminding us how vital reproductive choice it: it quite literally is a matter of life or death. Whilst Argentina has no official data on abortions, it is estimated that more than 400 women died in 2019 from unsafe abortion.

South Korea: Top court orders reform of abortion laws in a historic victory for women’s rights –– In 2019, South Korea’s constitutional court ordered the country’s decades-old abortion ban to be lifted in a landmark ruling. In 2020, the South Korean government announced new draft legislation that would permit abortion up to 14 weeks and, in some circumstances, up to 24 weeks, but fell short of full decriminalisation.

New Zealand decriminalised abortion in March 2020. Up til then, it was punishable with a 14-year prison term!

Thailand moves closer to legalising early abortion. The House of Representatives has approved the final reading of the bill that would allow abortion up to 12 weeks.

Jamaica: Punitive Abortion Laws –– The Colonial Legacy of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. Unsafe abortions were the third leading cause of maternal mortality among women in Jamaica. A bill by Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn of the Jamaica Labour Party, aims to decriminalise abortion by repealing sections of the law and replacing it with a new act which would allow for abortion in the case of rape or incest. Parliament this month hears final submissions from the public, then the Prime Minister’s office will decide next steps. Read more here.

THE BAD: Extreme Anti-Abortion Policies Put Women’s Lives at risk

MALTA:  Abortion is illegal in all circumstances in Malta, the only EU country that has a total ban on the procedure with no exceptions for rape, incest, foetal abnormality or the health of the pregnant woman. It is also highly taboo in the staunchly Catholic island nation. Read our EC member Liza Caruana-Finkel’s article, Barriers to efficient reproductive healthcare in Malta: the ectopic pregnancy case, here.

POLAND: Four years ago, Polish women went on strike over an abortion ban. The protests in Poland over the government’s plans to further tighten abortion restrictions began in October – they haven’t stopped since. It’s estimated that over 500 protesters have been arrested and 25% of the population has participated in protests.

Some are calling this movement the “cardboard revolution” in reference to the handmade placards that have become a feature of the protests. But what’s most exciting about this movement is the young age of its participants. Check out Abortion Without Borders for ways you can help.

The UGLY: Abortion bans – a war against the poor

Here’s the thing: criminalising abortion does not work. Research by the Guttmacher Institute finds that when abortion is banned, women don’t have fewer abortions – they just have riskier ones.

You cannot stop abortion from happening: abortion restrictions simply force those seeking abortions, especially those in poverty and who live in rural areas, away from the health system and into unsafe and unregulated settings.

According to the WHO, the rate of unsafe abortions is four times higher in countries with restrictive abortion laws than in countries where abortion is legal.

United Nations experts agree that refusing people access to abortion threatens their human rights and sometimes can even amount to torture, such as in cases of rape when women are forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy.

Honduras Moves To Reinforces Total Abortion Ban: The Proposed Reform of the Constitution (Article 67) on the “Absolute and Eternal Prohibition of Abortion”

PROPOSED CLAUSE Article 67 – “Regarding the one who is about to be born… The practice of any form of termination of the life of the unborn, whose life must be respected at all times, is prohibited and illegal. Any legal provisions that state otherwise shall be void and invalid. The provisions of this Article may only be reformed by a majority of three-quarters of the members of the Plenary of the National Congress, but its provisions shall not cease to be valid or enforced even if it is allegedly repealed or amended by another constitutional provision. If a new Constitution is adopted, these provisions shall be incorporated into it, unless otherwise established by a unanimous vote of the Constituent Assembly.”

Honduras already has a total ban on abortion with deadly consequences. Abortion is illegal in all circumstances, including rape and incest, when a pregnant woman’s life is in danger, and when the foetus can’t survive outside the womb. The government also bans emergency contraception, which is used to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex or a contraceptive failure. And now an alarming clause is being Proposed, as part the Constitutional reform, which would essentially make it impossible to legalise abortion in the future.

Honduras is among the most violent countries in the world. It is estimated that a woman is killed every 22 hours. 1 in 4 women in Honduras has been physically or sexually abused by a partner, according to a 2011-2012 government survey. At least 40% of pregnancies are unplanned or unwanted at the time they occur. Some unintended pregnancies are caused by rape.

US supreme court reinstates restrictions on abortion pill –– In a parting shot from the Trump administration, the Supreme Court released its first abortion-related ruling since Amy Coney Barrett joined the bench. It was decided that women will now have to pick up Mifepristone in person, even in the midst of a pandemic. Out of the 20,000+ FDA approved drugs, Mifepristone is the only one that must be collected in person. This is unsurprising, considering the Trump administration’s view on abortion.

This will affect those most vulnerable to the pandemic already, such as women of colour and low-income households.

Anti-choice lawmakers like to argue that the drug is not safe, but a study carried out by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine found it to have the same risk level as taking aspirin or ibuprofen.

This new ruling means that people seeking abortions will now have to face exposure to the Coronavirus, who may otherwise have been isolating themselves, or follow through with an unwanted pregnancy.

The incoming Biden administration will hopefully alleviate the effects of this specific ruling, but it cannot change the uncompromising position the Supreme Court clearly holds towards abortion.

THE HOPEFUL

President Biden is set to rescind the Global Gag Rule, but is simply rolling back Trump’s policy enough? Today the gag rule places restrictions on $8billion of US global health funding, and it’s had grave consequences for women worldwide. As a direct result of the policy’s design to cut funding to healthcare providers, it has led to a rise in maternal deaths and unsafe abortions, an uptick in HIV and AIDS, the breakdown of civil society coalitions and partnership that provide reproductive healthcare in poor and rural regions.

The world is watching.