The United States has another dispute over abortion rights, what are the regulations on abortion in other countries?

The Paper's reporter Wang Zhuoyi

Recently, the US Supreme Court debate on Roe v. Wade was leaked, suggesting that the current conservative-dominated U.S. Supreme Court may overturn this landmark precedent that legalizes abortion. On May 3, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the veracity of the leaked draft judgment in Rowe v. Wade. US President Joe Biden responded publicly to the matter for the first time on the same day, emphasizing that the right to abortion is a basic right of women.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to make a final ruling on women's abortion rights in late June and early July this year. If the U.S. Federal Constitution's guarantees of abortion rights end here, states will have the power to decide whether to prohibit or restrict women from having abortions.

Just as the United States may end the federal constitution's protection of abortion rights, the rest of the world has a variety of complex regulations on abortion. According to the British "Times" reported on May 4, there are currently 24 countries around the world that completely ban abortion, and about 90 million women of childbearing age live in these countries, accounting for 5% of women of childbearing age in the world. More than 50 countries and territories have mandated that abortion is permitted only when maternal health (physical health, or including mental health) is at risk. Other States provide for abortion in exceptional circumstances such as rape, incest or fetal malformations. In addition, 27 countries, including France and Germany, allow abortion within a certain pregnancy time limit (most commonly, 12 weeks).

On May 3, 2022, local time, in Washington, D.C., people who support and oppose abortion rights rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a statement on the 3rd saying that he has ordered an investigation into the leak of internal documents of the court. The WEBSITE OF THE US "POLITICS" newspaper published a draft majority opinion of the Supreme Court and related reports on the evening of the 2nd. The draft, written by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, argues that the precedents establishing women's right to abortion at the federal level are untenable and should be overturned. Xinhua News Agency Photo

Latin America: Many countries are moving in the direction of legalization

According to the Associated Press on May 4, it is unclear what effect the "Roe v. Wade" leak will trigger in countries outside the United States, but for activists in Latin America, who often "use the United States as a teacher", the change in the United States is frustrating.

Catalina Martinez Coral, a Colombian who is the Director of Latin America and the Caribbean at the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, believes that the Roe v. Wade leaks will be a "bad precedent" for Latin America and the world in the coming years.

In February, Colombia's Constitutional Court reportedly legalized abortion within 24 weeks of pregnancy, whereas previously, Colombian women could only have abortions in exceptional circumstances such as rape or knowing fetal malformations.

At the time, the Centre for Reproductive Rights was also one of the groups that filed abortion proceedings in colombia's Constitutional Court. Colombia's constitutional court ruling did not fulfill the demands of groups such as the Center for Reproductive Rights for the complete decriminalization of abortion, but Martinez Collor said it remained "the most progressive legal framework in Latin America."

In Latin America, where the Catholic faith is prevalent, in addition to Colombia, many countries have relaxed regulations on abortion in recent years. According to previous reports, in September 2021, Mexico's supreme court agreed to decriminalize abortion. This is a compelling step for the country with the second largest population of Catholics in the world.

However, abortion is easy to achieve in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, and in some states, but in most of Mexico's 32 states, there are still regulations banning abortion. Nongovernmentalized NGOs that have long pushed for the decriminalization of abortion are urging state legislatures to reform it.

In late 2020, Argentina passed "a groundbreaking law" allowing women up to 14 weeks pregnant to have abortions, according to a U.N. news website. Abortion has also been widely accepted in countries such as Cuba and Uruguay.

The Times said Chile, which will hold a referendum later this year, could become the first Latin American country to guarantee abortion rights at the constitutional level.

However, many Latin American countries still have strict restrictions on abortion. In Brazil, the most populous country in Latin America, abortion is only allowed in cases of rape, threats to maternal life, and abrasive fetal malformations. Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and other countries have banned abortion altogether, and courts in these countries sentence women to long prison terms on the charge of "aggravated homicide."

In March, thousands of Salvadoran women marched to relax the ban on abortions and allow abortions in cases where rape, fetal survival or women's lives are threatened, the Times reported.

Treatment of abortion in Asian countries is mixed

In Japan, abortions are only allowed for economic and health reasons and require the consent of a partner, but victims of sexual violence are excluded from these requirements, according to the Associated Press.

In addition, Japan has not yet approved the use of abortion drugs, but the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is processing a product application from a British company.

According to Al Jazeera, the Philippines' law banning abortion dates back to the Spanish colonial period and has a history of more than 100 years. About 1,000 Filipino women die each year from complications from underground abortions.

India legalized abortion in 1971 and women can terminate their pregnancy within 20 weeks of pregnancy, but must get advice from a doctor. The law changes in 2021, and in the event of exceptional circumstances such as rape or incest, a woman can terminate a pregnancy within 24 weeks of pregnancy with the approval of two doctors.

Since 1978, abortion has been widely accepted in Israeli society and is not much controversial. Israeli law allows abortions within 24 weeks of pregnancy with the approval of a hospital "termination committee" composed of at least one woman.

Iran banned abortion after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Europe: Most countries have been legalized

Most European countries have legalized abortion, including some with Catholicism as their predominant faith, the Associated Press said. According to the Times, in 2018, Ireland, where the Catholic faith is strong, voted to declare abortion legal under some conditions. In September 2021, San Marino, another Catholic country, also legalized abortion through a referendum.

In recent years, Poland, which has a strong atmosphere of faith, has become "reactionary" on the issue of abortion. In October 2020, Poland's Constitutional Court ruled that women should only have abortions if they had been raped, incested or were at risk to their health. In addition, even if the fetus is known to have a physical defect, the termination of the pregnancy constitutes unconstitutional. After the ruling was issued, large-scale protests broke out in Poland.

In January 2021, the Polish government officially implemented the decree, and since then thousands of Poles have taken to the streets to protest. After the implementation of the decree, a pregnant woman was suspected of dying as a result of the harsh abortion decree, which once again sparked a debate about abortion in Poland. In March, Polish prosecutors sued an activist who provided pregnant women with drugs to promote abortion, the first case since Poland imposed a harsh abortion decree, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.

In addition, abortion is still banned in European countries such as Andorra, Malta and the Vatican.

Allowing abortion in parts of Africa improves women's safety

According to the Associated Press, many African countries have also banned abortion altogether. In 2021, leaders of Al-Azhar University, Egypt's Islamic institution of higher learning, said abortion was not allowed even if the child might be seriously ill or disabled.

But in October 2021, Benin ruled that abortion was legal for women within 12 weeks of pregnancy in most cases. Previously, Benin had allowed abortion only in cases of rape or incest, endangering the life of the mother and severe fetal malformations.

This decision by the Benin court has greatly increased the safety of abortion for women in the country. According to the country's Minister of Health, nearly 200 women in Benin previously died each year from complications caused by underground abortions.

Meanwhile, Tunisia has allowed abortions within 12 weeks of pregnancy for decades.

Senior Editor of this issue Xing Tan