A Look at Abortion Restrictions Around the World
The U.S. has been in a back-and-forth battle over abortion restrictions since Roe v. Wade passed in 1973. The June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned the 1973 ruling, allowing states to define their abortion laws.
As a result, reproductive rights and restrictions have been challenging to track and understand. A closer look at reproductive rights worldwide will shed light on where your human rights stand and what the future could hold for U.S. citizens who have the potential to get pregnant.
What Are the Restrictions in Other Countries?
People often compare other first-world countries to the U.S. to measure human rights and restrictions. These are a few on near equal standing with the U.S. and how they manage their abortion restrictions, if they have any limitations at all.
1. Canada
Although Canada has provinces like the U.S. has states, the country had a national ruling in 1988 that made abortions legal. Further rulings removed restrictions like allowing fathers to veto the pregnant person’s choice to abort. Canada has some of the most accessible and equal reproductive rights worldwide, including access to abortion.
Treating abortion like any other medical procedure makes patients safer. People can read well-funded studies on abortion and access numerous treatment plans that best suit their health needs when the procedure isn’t illegal.
Compare abortion access to people with other medical conditions, like swallowing impairment. They can freely talk with their doctors about treatment plans that 30% of rehab patients use, resulting in tailored treatment plans utilizing the most up-to-date science to resolve or treat the condition. Abortion patients can get the same high-quality care in countries where they aren’t afraid to speak with their doctors or research the procedure, like Canada.
2. Great Britain
Abortion became legal in most of the U.K. with the Abortion Act of 1967, which allowed for abortions in medical facilities with the approval of two doctors. Anti-choice organizations have attempted to enact restrictions numerous times since, but the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill is the only one that made it through. It restricted abortions to only the first 24 weeks.
Having a choice in your pregnancy is essential to making the best decision for yourself. People forced to become parents may also have to live with post-natal depression symptoms that deteriorate their quality of life for months or years after giving birth.
Abortion access is also lifesaving. A person’s first ultrasound might not catch any issues, while the second ultrasound toward the end of the first trimester could identify the pregnancy as ectopic. Given that one in 80 pregnant people in the U.K. has an ectopic pregnancy, medical services must be available to remove the nonviable fetus before it ruptures and kills the pregnant person.
3. Australia
Even when the U.K. legalized abortion with limited restrictions, Australia still mostly outlawed it based on 19th-century British law. A vote in 2008 passed the Abortion Law Reform Act, which removed the need for medical and psychological assessments, plus a judge’s approval required by previous rulings.
However, the states and territories could still pass local abortion laws. Australian citizens in today’s society may face more restrictions in some states or territories than others. A pregnant person in Queensland could receive an abortion up to 22 weeks gestation without disclosing any reason to their doctor. If that same person were pregnant in Western Australia, they could only get an abortion up to 20 weeks, per the Health Act of 1911.
Future changes are always possible, given the outcomes of local elections in Australia’s six states and two territories.
How Does the U.S. Compare?
Many states in the U.S. had trigger bans waiting for the fall of Roe v. Wade. Since the Dobbs decision, abortion is now illegal in 12 states and heavily restricted in 12 others. Additional state-level abortion restrictions will continue to pass, given the push for total abortion bans from anti-choice organizations and the 220 anti-choice lower-court judges appointed to state courts during the Trump administration.
The forced-birth positions of numerous judges and representatives mean the U.S. ranks much lower than other first-world countries regarding reproductive rights. The country may be competitive in other health care fields like providing dental care or funding innovative medical research studies, but every new abortion restriction or ban sets the country back.
What Could the Future Hold?
Individual opinions drive the progress of reproductive rights worldwide. Research shows that 61% of U.S. citizens want legal abortion in most cases, roughly matching the three in five people in global countries who believe the same thing.
There will always be anti-choice forces attempting to take away rights to bodily autonomy in the case of pregnancies. Anti-choice clinics masquerading as abortion clinics made $89 million in 2022, so many people stand to make money off restrictions.
However, it’s crucial to note that the numbers aren’t on their side. Researchers found that after Roe. v. Wade made abortion legal, maternal mortality dropped by 30% nationally. States with abortion restrictions in 2020 had 62% higher maternal mortality rates than states without restrictions.
Giving people time and resources to make informed decisions with their doctors creates better outcomes. The fight to protect abortion access may never end, but given the existing research and the fact that younger generations support abortion more than older generations, people won’t stop crusading for reproductive justice anytime soon.
Watch for Global Abortion Restrictions
It’s crucial to keep an eye on reproductive rights worldwide. Public support likely means global bans won’t return like in previous centuries. However, citizens must remember that even minimal restrictions delay and prevent people from accessing lifesaving, human-rights-supported health care that all countries should provide.
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Beth, the Managing Editor and content manager at Body+Mind, is well-respected in the mental health, nutrition and fitness spaces. In her spare time, Beth enjoys cooking and going for runs with her dog.
