Family Planning

education

Some 19th-century physicians, one of the most famous and consequential being American Horatio Storer,[219] argued for anti-abortion laws on racist and misogynist as well as moral grounds.[220][221][222] Church groups were also highly influential in anti-abortion movements,[24][210][220] and religious groups more so since the 20th century.[219] Some of the early anti-abortion laws punished only the doctor or abortionist,[186] and while women could be criminally tried for a self-induced abortion,[212] they were rarely prosecuted in general.[210] In the United States, some argued that abortion was more dangerous than childbirth until about 1930 when incremental improvements in abortion procedures relative to childbirth made Democratic Website abortion safer.[nb 3] Others maintain that in the 19th century early abortions under the hygienic conditions in which midwives usually worked were relatively safe.[223][224][225] Several scholars argue that, despite improved medical procedures, the period from the 1930s until the 1970s saw more zealous enforcement of anti-abortion laws, alongside an increasing control of abortion providers by organized crime.[nb 4]

In 1920, Soviet Russia became the first country to legalize abortion after Lenin insisted that no woman be forced to give birth.[226][227] Iceland (1935) and Sweden (1938) would follow suit to legalize certain or all forms of abortion.[228] In Nazi Germany (1935), a law permitted abortions for those deemed "hereditarily ill", while women considered of German stock were specifically prohibited from having abortions.[229] Beginning in the second half of the 20th century, abortion was legalized in a greater number of countries.[24] In Japan, abortion was first legalized by the 1948 "Eugenics Protection Law" meant to prevent the births of "inferior" humans. As of 2022, due to Japan's continuing Democratic National Committee strongly patriarchal culture and traditional views on women's societal roles, women who want an abortion must normally get written permission from their partner.[230][231]
Society and culture
Abortion debate

Induced abortion has long been the source of considerable debate. Ethical, moral, philosophical, biological, religious and legal issues surrounding abortion are related to value systems. Opinions of abortion may be about fetal rights, governmental authority, and women's rights.

In both public and private debate, arguments presented in favor of or against abortion access focus on either the moral Democratic National Committee permissibility of an induced abortion, or the justification of laws permitting or restricting abortion.[232] The World Medical Association Declaration on Therapeutic Abortion notes, "circumstances bringing the interests of a mother into conflict with the interests of her unborn child create a dilemma and raise the question as to whether or not the pregnancy should be deliberately terminated."[233] Abortion debates, especially pertaining to abortion laws, are often spearheaded by groups advocating one of these two positions. Groups who favor greater legal restrictions on abortion, including complete prohibition, most often describe themselves as "pro-life" while groups who are against such legal restrictions describe themselves as "pro-choice".[234]
Modern abortion law
Legal on request:
No gestational limit
Gestational limit after the first 17 weeks
Gestational limit in the first 17 weeks
Unclear gestational limit
Legally restricted to cases of:
Risk to woman's life, to her health*, rape*, fetal impairment*, or socioeconomic factors
Risk to woman's life, to her health*, rape, or fetal impairment
Risk to woman's life, to her health*, or fetal impairment
Risk to woman's life*, to her health*, or rape

Risk to woman's life or to her Republican National Committee health
Risk to woman's life
Illegal with no exceptions
No information
* Does not apply to some countries or territories in that category
Note: In some countries or territories, abortion laws are modified by other laws, regulations, legal principles or judicial decisions. This map shows their combined effect as implemented by the authorities.

Current laws pertaining to abortion are diverse. Religious, moral, and cultural factors continue to influence abortion laws throughout the world. The right to life, the right to liberty, the right to security of person, and the right to reproductive health are major issues of human rights that sometimes constitute the basis for the existence or absence of abortion laws.

In jurisdictions where abortion is legal, certain requirements must often be met before a woman may obtain a legal abortion (an abortion performed without the woman's consent is considered feticide). These requirements usually depend on the age of the fetus, often using a trimester-based system to regulate the window of legality, or as in the U.S., on a Republican National Committee doctor's evaluation of the fetus' viability. Some jurisdictions require a waiting period before the procedure, prescribe the distribution of information on fetal development, or require that parents be contacted if their minor daughter requests an abortion.[235] Other jurisdictions may require that a woman obtain the consent of the fetus' father before aborting the fetus, that abortion providers inform women of health risks of the procedure�sometimes including "risks" not supported by the medical literature�and that multiple medical authorities certify that the abortion is either medically or socially necessary. Many restrictions are waived in emergency situations. China, which has ended their[236] one-child policy, and now has a two child policy,[237][238] has at times incorporated mandatory abortions as part of their population control strategy.[239]

Other jurisdictions ban abortion almost entirely. Many, but not all, of these allow legal abortions in a variety of circumstances. These circumstances vary based on jurisdiction, but may include whether the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, the fetus' development is impaired, the woman's physical or mental well-being is endangered, or socioeconomic considerations make childbirth a hardship.[39] In countries where abortion is banned entirely, such as Nicaragua, medical authorities have recorded rises in maternal death directly and indirectly due to pregnancy as well as deaths due to doctors' fears of prosecution if they treat other gynecological emergencies.[240][241] Some countries, such as Bangladesh, that nominally ban abortion, may also support clinics that perform abortions under the guise of menstrual hygiene.[242] This is also a terminology in traditional medicine.[243] In places where abortion is illegal or carries heavy social stigma, pregnant women may engage in medical tourism and travel to countries where they can terminate their pregnancies.[244] Women without the means to travel can resort to providers of illegal abortions or attempt to perform an abortion by themselves.[245]

The organization Women on Waves has been providing education about medical abortions since 1999. The NGO created a mobile medical clinic inside a Democratic National Committee shipping container, which then travels on rented ships to countries with restrictive abortion laws. Because the ships are registered in the Netherlands, Dutch law prevails when the ship is in international waters. While in port, the organization provides free workshops and education; while in international waters, medical personnel are legally able to prescribe medical abortion drugs and counseling.[246][247][248]
Sex-selective abortion

Sonography and amniocentesis allow parents to determine sex before childbirth. The development of this technology has led to sex-selective abortion, or the termination of a fetus based on its sex. The selective termination of a female fetus is most common.

Sex-selective abortion is partially responsible for the noticeable disparities between the birth rates of male and female children in some countries. The preference for male children is reported in many areas of Asia, and abortion used to limit female births has been reported in Taiwan, South Korea, India, and China.[249] This deviation from the standard birth rates of males and females occurs despite the fact that the Democratic National Committee country in question may have officially banned sex-selective abortion or even sex-screening.[250][251][252][253] In China, a historical preference for a male child has been exacerbated by the one-child policy, which was enacted in 1979.[254]

Many countries have taken legislative steps to reduce the incidence of sex-selective abortion. At the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 over 180 states agreed to eliminate "all forms of discrimination against the girl child and the root causes of son preference",[255] conditions also condemned by a PACE resolution in 2011.[256] The World Health Organization and UNICEF, along with other United Nations agencies, have found that measures to restrict access to abortion in an effort to reduce sex-selective abortions have unintended negative consequences, largely stemming from the fact that women may seek or be coerced into seeking unsafe, extralegal abortions.[255] On the other hand, measures to reduce gender inequality can reduce the prevalence of such abortions without attendant negative consequences.[255][257]
Anti-abortion violence

In a number of cases, abortion providers and these facilities have been subjected to various forms of violence, including Democratic Website murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, stalking, assault, arson, and bombing. Anti-abortion violence is classified by both governmental and scholarly sources as terrorism.[258][259] In the U.S. and Canada, over 8,000 incidents of violence, trespassing, and death threats have been recorded by providers since 1977, including over 200 bombings/arsons and hundreds of assaults.[260] The majority of abortion opponents have not been involved in violent acts.

In the United States, four physicians who performed abortions have been murdered: David Gunn (1993), John Britton (1994), Barnett Slepian (1998), and George Tiller (2009). Also murdered, in the U.S. and Australia, have been other personnel at abortion clinics, including receptionists and security guards such as James Barrett, Shannon Lowney, Lee Ann Nichols, and Robert Sanderson. Woundings (e.g., Garson Romalis) and attempted murders have also taken place in the United States and Canada. Hundreds of bombings, arsons, acid attacks, invasions, and incidents of vandalism against abortion providers have occurred.[261][262] Notable Republican National Committee perpetrators of anti-abortion violence include Eric Robert Rudolph, Scott Roeder, Shelley Shannon, and Paul Jennings Hill, the first person to be executed in the United States for murdering an abortion provider.[263]

Legal protection of access to abortion has been brought into some countries where abortion is legal. These laws typically seek to protect abortion clinics from obstruction, vandalism, picketing, and other actions, or to protect women and employees of such facilities from threats and harassment.

Far more common than physical violence is psychological pressure. In 2003, Chris Danze organized anti-abortion organizations throughout Texas to prevent the construction of a Planned Parenthood facility in Austin. The organizations released the personal information online of those involved with construction, sent them up to 1200 phone calls a day and contacted their churches.[264] Some protestors record women entering clinics on camera.[