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Abortion in the United Kingdom is de facto available through the Abortion Act 1967 in Great Britain, and the Abortion (No.2) Regulations 2020. The Abortion Act 1967 provides a legal defence for doctors to perform abortions, though abortion also remains a criminal offence under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. Although a number of abortions did take place before the 1967 Act, there have been around 10 million abortions in the United Kingdom. Around 200,000 abortions are carried out in England and Wales each year and just under 14,000 in Scotland; the most common reason cited under the ICD-10 classification system for around 98% of all abortions is "risk to woman's mental health."
Late termination of pregnancy, also referred to as late-term abortion, describes the termination of pregnancy by induced abortion during a late stage of gestation. In this context, late is not precisely defined, and different medical publications use varying gestational age thresholds. As of 2015 in the United States, more than 90% of abortions occur before the 13th week, 1.3% of abortions in the United States took place after the 21st week, and less than 1% occur after 24 weeks.
Abortion laws vary widely among countries and territories, and have changed over time. Such laws range from abortion being freely available on request, to regulation or restrictions of various kinds, to outright prohibition in all circumstances. Many countries and territories that allow abortion have gestational limits for the procedure depending on the reason; with the majority being up to 12 weeks for abortion on request, up to 24 weeks for rape, incest, or socioeconomic reasons, and more for fetal impairment or risk to the woman's health or life. As of 2022, countries that legally allow abortion on request or for socioeconomic reasons comprise about 60% of the world's population.
Abortion in Australia is legal. It has been fully decriminalised in all jurisdictions, starting with Western Australia in 1998 and lastly in South Australia in 2022. Access to abortion varies between the states and territories: surgical abortions are readily available on request within the first 16 to 24 weeks of pregnancy, although with no limit on gestational term in the Australian Capital Territory. Later term abortions generally require the approval of two doctors, though are heavily restricted in Western Australia after 20 weeks.
Abortion in Germany is illegal, but not punishable during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy under the condition of mandatory counseling, and it is permitted later in pregnancy in cases that the pregnancy poses an important danger to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman. In the case that the abortion is because of rape it is legal in the first 12 weeks without mandatory counseling. Otherwise in the illegal, but not punishable case, the woman needs to receive counseling, called Schwangerschaftskonfliktberatung, at least three days prior to the abortion and must take place at a state-approved centre, which afterwards gives the applicant a Beratungsschein. Abortions that do not meet these conditions are punishable.
Abortion in Iran, as can be expected of many government policies, changed drastically between governments.
Abortion in Israel is permitted when determined by a termination committee, with the vast majority of cases being approved as of 2019. The rate of abortion in Israel has steadily declined since 1988, and compared to the rest of the world, abortion rates in Israel are moderate. According to government data, in Israel, abortion rates in 2016 dropped steadily to 9 per 1,000 women of childbearing age, lower than England (16.2) and the United States (13.2). 99% of abortions are carried out in the first trimester. Despite allegations of permitting abortion under limited circumstances, Haaretz noted in 2019 that this is not the case and abortion is almost always permitted in Israel.
Since 2021, abortion is no longer a crime in Mexico, although its legalisation varies by state. On 7 September 2021, the Mexican Supreme Court unanimously ruled that penalising abortion is unconstitutional, setting an important precedent across the whole country. Before 2019, abortion had been severely restricted outside of Mexico City, where it was legalized on-request in 2007. As of June 2022, abortion is available on request to any woman during the first twelve weeks of a pregnancy in Mexico City and the states of Oaxaca, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Coahuila, Colima, Baja California, Sinaloa, Guerrero, Baja California Sur and Quintana Roo. However, even in states where abortion is legal, there continue to be women in pre-trial detention for murder due to the spontaneous miscarriage of a pregnancy induced by rape.
Abortion in Norway is available on demand within the first twelve weeks of gestation, measured as 11 weeks and 6 days from the first day of the last menstrual period. After this 12-week time limit, a request must be submitted to a special medical assessment board that will determine whether an abortion will be granted.
This is a timeline of reproductive rights legislation, a chronological list of laws and legal decisions affecting human reproductive rights. Reproductive rights are a sub-set of human rights pertaining to issues of reproduction and reproductive health. These rights may include some or all of the following: the right to legal or safe abortion, the right to birth control, the right to access quality reproductive healthcare, and the right to education and access in order to make reproductive choices free from coercion, discrimination, and violence. Reproductive rights may also include the right to receive education about contraception and sexually transmitted infections, and freedom from coerced sterilization, abortion, and contraception, and protection from practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM).
Abortion in Guyana is legal during the first eight weeks of pregnancy, but it is illegal after eight weeks except in cases of endangering the maternal or fetal health. Throughout much of the 20th century, it was officially illegal but rarely were laws against abortion ever enforced. In 1995, legislation was passed which made abortion legal as long as it was done within the first 8 weeks of pregnancy and done with the consent of the pregnant woman and by a licensed medical practitioner.
Abortion is legally accepted in Hungary starting in 1953, with the most recent change to abortion laws being Act LXXIX of 1992 on the protection of fetal life. Under the current laws, abortions may be performed up to 12 weeks but may be extended up to 24 weeks in certain circumstances.
Abortion in Zimbabwe is available under limited circumstances. Zimbabwe's current abortion law, the Termination of Pregnancy Act, was enacted by Rhodesia's white minority government in 1977. The law permits abortion if the pregnancy endangers the life of the woman or threatens to permanently impair her physical health, if the child may be born with serious physical or mental defects, or if the fetus was conceived as a result of rape or incest. Nevertheless, an estimated 70,000+ illegal abortions are performed in Zimbabwe each year, resulting in around 20,000 maternal deaths.
The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1996 is the law governing abortion in South Africa. It allows abortion on demand up to the twelfth week of pregnancy, under broadly specified circumstances from the thirteenth to the twentieth week, and only for serious medical reasons after the twentieth week. The Act has been described by the Guttmacher Institute as "one of the most liberal abortion laws in the world".
Abortionin Croatia has been a regulated medical operation since 1952, subject to various restrictions. According to present law, abortion can be performed as an elective procedure until 10 weeks following conception, and in specific circumstances afterwards.
Abortion in Kazakhstan is legal as an elective procedure up to 12 weeks, and special circumstances afterwards. The relevant legislation is based on the laws inherited from the country's Soviet past, when abortion was legally permitted as a contraceptive.
Abortion in Thailand is legal and available on-request up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion has been legal up to at least 12 weeks of pregnancy since 7 February 2021. Following a 2020 ruling of the Constitutional Court which declared a portion of the abortion statutes unconstitutional, the Parliament removed first-term abortion from the criminal code. Once strict, over time laws have been relaxed to take into account high rates of teen pregnancy, women who lack the means or will to raise children, and the consequences of illegal abortion.
Abortion in South Korea was decriminalized, effective 1 January 2021, by a 2019 order of the Constitutional Court of Korea.
The Termination of Pregnancy Act is a law in Zimbabwe governing abortion. Enacted in 1977 by the Parliament of Rhodesia and effective starting 1 January 1978, it was retained after Zimbabwe's independence in 1980. The law expanded abortion access, permitting it under three circumstances: if the pregnancy endangers the life of the woman or threatens to permanently impair her physical health, if the child may be born with serious physical or mental defects, or if the fetus was conceived as a result of rape or incest.
Abortion in Singapore is legal and widely accessible. It was formally legalised in 1974, being one of the first countries in Asia to do so. It is available on request for Singaporean citizens, permanent residents, individuals with an issued student or work pass, individuals who have been a resident of Singapore for a minimum of four months as well as anyone married to a Singaporean citizen or a permanent resident. Foreigners may also obtain an abortion in Singapore if their lives are endangered.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Abortion policies : a global review. United Nations. Department of Economic and Social Development., United Nations. Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis. Population Division. New York: United Nations. 1992–1995. ISBN 9211513510. OCLC 26594264.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - 1 2 Menon, P.K. (July 1985). "The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1983 (Barbados)". The International and Comparative Law Quarterly. 34 (3): 630–636. doi:10.1093/iclqaj/34.3.630. PMID 11658725.
- 1 2 3 Miller, Billie (2017-09-28). "Why do politicians still force women through unwanted pregnancies? | Billie Miller". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
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