Where is Abortion Legal in The World?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
How does U.S. policy on abortion under Roe v Wade compare to other countries around the world?
If the Supreme Court ends up overturning Roe v Wade, abortion access will be diminished as states will be allowed to enforce their own abortion bans. But as of now, the U.S. currently has some of the more lenient restrictions on abortion compared to other countries. 76 total countries allow abortion on request, but with varying gestational limits. The U.S. joins Canada, China, Netherlands, North Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam as one of seven countries that allow on-demand abortions past the 20-week mark of pregnancy. Abortions are completely prohibited altogether in 24 countries across the globe, including many Latin American nations like the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
NBC News (Lean Left bias) accentuated data from the World Health Organization that found women "often resort to unsafe procedures" in countries with restrictive abortion laws. Axios (Center bias) highlighted how the U.S. could become the fourth country to roll back abortion rights since 1994. Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) emphasized how many of the countries that criticized the leaked decision to overturn Roe v Wade have "even more restrictions on abortion than those at issue in the arguments before the court."
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Only 3 countries have rolled back abortion rights since 1994If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade and paves the way for states to implement abortion bans, the U.S. would join only three countries — El Salvador, Nicaragua and Poland — that have rolled back abortion rights since 1994, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.
The big picture: Nearly 60 countries have liberalized their abortion laws — though some only incrementally — over the last 25 years.
- The rollback of abortion rights has come in countries "where democracies have eroded," says Margaret Harpin, a legal adviser at the Center for Reproductive ...
From the Left
Abortion laws worldwide: In what countries is abortion legal?Tensions and emotions are running high in the U.S. after the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion published by Politico suggested that Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established abortion rights nationwide, could be overturned this summer.
However, the U.S. is not alone in having a heated debate about abortion, and laws on the procedure differ in countries around the world. Regardless of the laws surrounding abortion, rates are similar in countries where abortion is restricted and those where the procedure is largely legal, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion...
From the Right
Countries that slammed leaked abortion decision have more restrictions than USWhile a number of world leaders lined up to criticize a leaked draft opinion that suggests the Supreme Court is considering overturning a landmark case that legalized abortion, some represent countries that have even more restrictions on abortion than those at issue in the arguments before the court.
The United States is an outlier in the permissibility of its abortion laws in some states.
Few countries allow abortion as late into pregnancy as the U.S. does, and many countries require a woman to produce a reason, such as financial hardship or mental distress, to obtain...
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March 27th, 2024
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