The Myth That America’s Abortion Laws Are More Permissive Than Europe’s

By making a false comparison, GOP apparatchiks hope to cushion the political fallout of Roe’s demise.

By Adam Serwer, The Atlantic
JULY 22, 2022

Stripping millions of American women of their constitutional right to decide whether to bear a child has potentially serious consequences for the political party that made it happen. Hoping to blunt the possible repercussions, Republicans have been arguing that the Mississippi abortion ban at the center of the Supreme Court case that overturned Roe v. Wade is a moderate law, in line with global standards, and that it is abortion-rights advocates who are taking an extreme position.

Republican Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi made this assertion in 2021 ahead of oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson. “Mississippi will still have a law on the books in which 39 countries, 39 out of 42 in Europe, have more restrictive abortion laws than what I believe to be one of the most conservative states in the United States,” Reeves said on Meet the Press.

Continued: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/roe-overturned-europe-abortion-laws/670539/


Abortion is essential healthcare and women’s health must be prioritized over politics

International Safe Abortion Day
28 September 2021
United Nations Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner

On the International Safe Abortion Day, a group of UN experts* stress that abortion is essential health care and a human right. Denial of access to abortion services jeopardizes a person's physical and mental health and takes away their autonomy and agency. It unjustly denies them the freedom to live with dignity and on equal terms with other human beings while exposing them to various forms of violence and oppression.

Furthermore, and as Human Rights bodies have long acknowledged, the denial of abortion services through the criminalization of abortion or through barriers and delays in access to lawful services can in certain circumstances constitute cruel, degrading, and inhumane treatment, may amount to torture and could lead to arbitrary detention.

Continued: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=27549&LangID=E


Fourth state in Mexico legalizes abortion, up to 12 weeks

Mexico’s Gulf coast state of Veracruz has become the fourth of the country’s 32 states to legalize abortion Associated Press
20 July 2021

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico’s Gulf coast state of Veracruz became the fourth of the country’s 32 states to legalize abortion Tuesday.

The Veracruz state legislature voted 25-13 to allow abortions in the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/fourth-state-mexico-legalizes-abortion-12-weeks-78957910


Half of pregnancies during 2015-19 unintended, abortions highest in poor nations

Women in the poorest countries were nearly three times as likely to face unintended pregnancies as those in the wealthiest countries, revealing inequities in access to sexual and reproductive health care

23 Jul 2020
Neetu Chandra Sharma

NEW DELHI: Almost half of pregnancies between 2015 and 2019, worldwide, were unintended, according to a study published in the Lancet Global Health journal. Abortion rates were the highest in low-income countries with most legal restrictions to abortion care, the study pointed out.

The study was a collaboration of Guttmacher Institute and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNICEF, World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction.

Continued: https://www.livemint.com/science/health/half-of-pregnancies-during-2015-19-unintended-abortions-highest-in-poor-nations-11595505322628.html


USA – The high price of abortion restrictions

The high price of abortion restrictions

By Julie A. Burkhart, opinion contributor
12/25/19

Abortion access is a crucial component of women’s health care. Without the ability to choose if, when, and how to give birth, women face obstacles to economic success, educational achievement, and overall health and well-being.

Restricting access to reproductive health care — including safe and legal abortion — comes at the price of high maternal and infant mortality rates, a price that anti-choice organizations ignore when they push for the ever more punitive abortion restrictions.

Continued: https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/475852-the-high-price-of-abortion-restrictions


How abortion has changed since the Roe v. Wade ruling in the U.S.

How abortion has changed since the Roe v. Wade ruling in the U.S.

By David Crary and Carla K. Johnson
The Associated Press
May 26, 2019

A wave of state abortion bans has set off speculation: What would happen if Roe v. Wade, the ruling establishing abortion rights nationwide, were overturned?

Although far from a certainty, even with increased conservative clout on the Supreme Court, a reversal of Roe would mean abortion policy would revert to the states, and many would be eager to impose bans.

Continued: https://globalnews.ca/news/5318829/abortion-changes-roe-v-wade-1973/


It’s Not Just Roe: How the Future Supreme Court Could Gut Abortion Rights

It’s Not Just Roe: How the Future Supreme Court Could Gut Abortion Rights

By Talcott Camp, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project
July 10, 2018

Now that President Donald Trump has nominated Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, it will be up to the Senate to fully vet him so that the American people can determine whether he will uphold the basic civil rights and liberties relied on by everyone in this country. This is particularly true when it comes to abortion rights, where Kavanaugh’s prior opinions on the subject, coupled with the fact that Donald Trump vowed to only nominate justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, give rise to serious concern about women’s continued ability to access abortion if Kavanaugh is confirmed.

Continued: https://www.aclu.org/blog/reproductive-freedom/abortion/its-not-just-roe-how-future-supreme-court-could-gut-abortion


Amnesty International movement adopts new policy positions on abortion and drug control

Amnesty International movement adopts new policy positions on abortion and drug control

9 July 2018

Amnesty International has adopted new proposals to tackle the devastating human rights consequences of misguided attempts by countries to criminalise and restrict abortion and to punish people for using drugs.

Delegates from around the world gathered in Warsaw, Poland, over July 6-8, where they green-lit motions on the organisation’s positions on safe and legal abortion and how States control the production, sale and use of drugs.

Continued: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/07/amnesty-international-adopts-abortion-and-drug-control-stance/


USA – Bulwark Against an Abortion Ban? Medical Advances

Bulwark Against an Abortion Ban? Medical Advances

By Pam Belluck and Jan Hoffman
July 1, 2018

As partisans on both sides of the abortion divide contemplate a Supreme Court with two Trump appointees, one thing is certain: America even without legal abortion would be very different from America before abortion was legal.

The moment Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced his retirement, speculation swirled that Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion, would be overturned. Most legal experts say that day is years away, if it arrives at all. A more likely scenario, they predict, is that a rightward-shifting court would uphold efforts to restrict abortion, which would encourage some states to further limit access.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/01/science/abortion-supreme-court-trump.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news


USA – Limiting Abortion Access Contributes to Poor Maternal Health Outcomes

Limiting Abortion Access Contributes to Poor Maternal Health Outcomes
By Anusha Ravi
Posted on June 13, 2018

Access to abortion is a key component of women’s comprehensive health care. The ability to choose if, when, and how to give birth is linked to women’s economic success, educational attainment, and general health and well-being.

Anti-choice advocates, unfortunately, often use women’s health and maternal mortality as justifications for abortion restrictions. Although abortion has been proven to be one of the safest medical procedures, anti-choice policymakers at state and federal levels continue to use the guise of protecting women’s health to promote restrictions on abortion providers and procedures such as medication abortion; add requirements for women to fulfill in order to receive an abortion; and limit the procedure after an arbitrary number of weeks into a pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2018/06/13/451891/limiting-abortion-access-contributes-poor-maternal-health-outcomes/