Articles for category: Comparative Legal Perspectives on Abortion

Small Country, Big Hurdles

Liechtenstein is far away from a comprehensive decriminalisation of abortion. The termination of pregnancy is still regulated by the Criminal Code and the person who performs the abortion will be prosecuted. Only the pregnant person acts legally when terminating an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. But it took until 2015 for pregnant persons to be granted a (limited) right to self-determination, and there is still a lack of sufficient legal, medical and social support. In a difficult and psychologically stressful situation, pregnant persons must seek treatment abroad – not because they want to, but because they have to.

16. Februar 2023

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Für eine Zeitenwende im Abtreibungsrecht

Am Ende des Symposiums wird sichtbar: Abtreibungen zu kriminalisieren bildet im Vergleich zu den ausgewählten Ländern nicht die Regel (I.). Das bedeutet allerdings nicht, dass eine Entkriminalisierung jegliche faktischen Zugangshürden aus dem Weg räumt. Der Blick ins Ausland lohnt sich deshalb auch unabhängig von der Frage der Entkriminalisierung, um potentielle Fallstricke für die Versorgungslage zu analysieren (II.). Die Entkriminalisierung des Schwangerschaftsabbruchs bereitet jedoch, so legt der Rechtsvergleich nahe, den Weg, um strukturelle Hindernisse abbauen zu können. Eine bedeutende Rolle können dabei aktivistische Bewegungen spielen (III.).

8. Februar 2023

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A Turning Point in Abortion Law

This blog post concludes the symposium “Comparative Legal Perspectives on Abortion”. The symposium traced the regulation of abortion and accompanying activist movements in Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Iceland, Northern Macedonia, Tunisia, South Africa, India, and South Korea. Now we want to turn our gaze from the outside back to the inside: What is to be gained for the German debate on abortion law?

8. Februar 2023

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From Population Control to Reproductive Justice

On 11 April 2019, South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled that the ban on abortion was unconstitutional. As a result, South Korea’s legislature had to revise its 66-year-old anti-abortion law by 31 December 2020. This historic decision was made possible in response to the advocacy of a number of feminist groups, doctors’ organizations, disability rights groups, youth activists, and religious groups in South Korea. Although the overall goal of reproductive justice movements was to change the law that threatened women’s health and lives through the criminalization of abortion, one of the main steps of the movements toward that goal was to challenge the previous framework of pro-choice versus pro-life.

7. Februar 2023

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Still a right?

Although abortion in Tunisia has been legal for 50 years and offered for free in government facilities, the revolution of 2011 and the following democratization process have paradoxically put into question the access to this service. The Islamists’ victory and the conservative turn of local society in the 2000s have led to a step backwards in the domain of women’s rights including sexual and reproductive rights. Together with Turkey, Tunisia is the only Islamic-majority country that authorizes abortion for social reasons.

6. Februar 2023

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Abortion in Canada: Always Legal, Not Always Accessible

In Canada, abortion is not a criminal offence. There are no legal restrictions on abortion, including no restrictions with respect to gestational age or on the reasons for which a pregnant person may choose to have an abortion. As lawful medical procedures, abortions fall under provincial jurisdiction over health and there is some regulatory variability between provinces. Information about abortion access is similarly affected by provincial jurisdiction over education. Prior to decriminalization, advocacy on abortion access was national in scope, but since 1988, most activism has been focused on access and funding and has been provincial or even local.

3. Februar 2023

A Global Milestone

In 2019, Iceland passed a new law on the termination of pregnancy. Passed with a solid majority and the support of a cross-political coalition, the new law provides pregnant people with the right to decide on a termination, without having to get prior permission from medical personnel, as had previously been the case. The law was a huge step forward to ensure the protection of sexual and reproductive rights in Iceland, but there still remains room for improvement, for example with regard to the rights of trans people and the access of uninsured people to the service. The success of the legislation was also remarkable for the cross-political support it enjoyed, largely based on women’s solidarity as 18 of 22 women in parliament, from nearly all parties, supported the law.

2. Februar 2023

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A Decade of Implementation

Uruguay gained international praise in 2012 when it passed one of the most liberal abortion laws on the continent. While the law undoubtedly represents a step in the right direction, ten years have passed, and the law and its implementation could not live up to the expectations. The Uruguayan abortion law over-medicalizes, paternalizes, and imposes a series of very burdensome requirements on people wishing to access abortion services, in violation of human rights law.

1. Februar 2023

The Long Road to Reproductive Justice

In North Macedonia, abortion law changes when the government does. The practices of the past years vividly demonstrate that abortion is not only a private matter but also a political issue. Depending on whether right or left-wing parties are in power, the law on abortion fluctuates between difficult-to-access and more liberal procedures.

31. Januar 2023

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The Force of Social Mobilization

On December 30th, 2020, the Argentinean Congress legalized abortion up to the 14th week. Its legalization in Argentina took place after the rising of the so-called green tide in 2018, which transformed the longstanding movement for abortion rights in the country into a mass phenomenon, and the abortion issue, which used to be a taboo, into a main topic of public discussion. The new law has been challenged through judicial actions without success so far, and it has changed the conditions for the implementation of lawful abortions throughout the country.

30. Januar 2023

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