ISSUES
: Abortion
Chapter 1: Abortion facts
15
so they impose restrictions, such
as waiting periods, to delay women,
along with onerous requirements
that cause abortion clinics to shut
down. Limited access to providers
can amount to a de facto ban on
abortion.
A law in Texas is a good case in
point. The law, now being debated
before the US Supreme Court, may
close half of all the state’s abortion
clinics. Before the law, which the
state’s
Republican
legislature
passed in 2013, Texas had 41 clinics.
Today, the number has dwindled to
20. If the law is fully upheld, only
nine or ten clinics will remain.
More than 5.4 million women of
reproductive age live in Texas. If
only a few abortion providers were
left, some researchers estimate
that nearly two million women
would live more than 50 miles from
the nearest abortion clinic. But
even with 20 abortion clinics up
and running, it is already nearly
impossible for many women to have
an abortion. In Dallas, Forth Worth
and Austin, women are waiting up
to 20 days to be seen by a doctor,
at which point the procedure
becomes more expensive.
The law is also confusing:
abortion providers and pro-choice
nonprofit-making
organisations
have reported getting phone calls
from many women wanting to know
if abortion is still legal in Texas.
And there is emerging evidence
that the law is dangerous. One
survey found that between 100,000
and 240,000 women in Texas have
tried to perform their own abortions
at home with pills or sharp objects.
Latin America
As the most secular and social
progressive nation in South
America, Uruguay has blazed
the
trail
towards
abortion
decriminalisation
in
this
predominantly Catholic continent.
After a 25-year campaign by
feminist groups, parliament gave
its approval in 2012 for terminations
of pregnancies up to 12 weeks
regardless of circumstances, and
up to 14 weeks in cases of alleged
rape.
The only restriction is that women
seeking such a procedure must first
discuss the matter with a panel of at
least three professionals, including
a gynaecologist, a mental health
professional and a social worker.
After they explain the risks and
alternatives, she must then wait for
a five-day ‘reflection period’ before
deciding whether to go ahead.
Almost one in ten chose to continue
their pregnancies, but abortions
are becoming more common. In
2014, 12 out of every 1,000 women
aged between 15 and 45 had an
abortion. This was about 20%
more than in the previous year.
This contrasts sharply with most
other nations in Latin America. In El
Salvador, anti-abortion laws are so
strict that some women have been
jailed for having a miscarriage.
In Paraguay, an 11-year-old girl
who was allegedly raped by her
stepfather was forced to give birth
against her wishes.
Women’s rights activists say
Uruguay has been able to
move ahead because of the
long separation of religion and
government.
“Uruguay has been a secular
state for over 100 years, since its
construction, and the idea of the
secular state is very well integrated
in society,” said Lilián Abracinskas,
the director of the pro-choice NGO
Mujer y Salud (Woman and Health).
“It is also part of the education
system. This is a big difference
in comparison with the other
countries in the region.”
Political activism and collaboration
has also been important. Verónica
Pérez, a political scientist at
the University of the Republic,
attributed the passage of the law to
the campaigns of feminist activists
and their close ties to the left-wing
parties that controlled parliament
and the presidency in 2012. Other
left-wing governments in the region
have not been as supportive of
women’s rights.
“The new Latin American left aren’t
necessarily secular and this is an
obstacle to decriminalisation,”
she
said.
“The
Uruguayan
process is matched only by the
decriminalisation of abortion in the
Federal District of Mexico in 2007,
where the same combination of
factors was present.”
Opposition led by Catholic groups
has faltered. In 2013, an attempt to
overturn decriminalisation through
a referendum secured the support
of only 9% of voters.
Pérez said free, legal abortion was
one of the reasons why Uruguay
had the lowest rate of maternal
death in Latin America.
Even before the law was changed,
the Government had relaxed
penalties to enable women to
initiate non-surgical abortions at
home using drugs. Before that,
there were an estimated 20,000
hospital admissions a year because
of hazardous, illegal abortions.
Rest of world
Abortion laws in Australia vary
depending on the state in which
a woman resides. There is a lack
of routinely collected national
abortion statistics.
Abortion is either prohibited
altogether or is legal only where a
woman’s life is in danger in many
parts of Africa.
The Center for Reproductive Rights
maintains a database of abortion
laws worldwide which can be
viewed at
.
com.
* This article was edited on 12
January 2016 to clarify the abortion
laws in the United States.
5 January 2016
Ö
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reprinted with kind permission
from
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