As U.S. Faces a Rising Tide of Abortion Bans and Restrictions, France Enshrines Freedom of Access in the Constitution

The U.S. and France offer starkly different environments for women—but both countries share a strong feminist tradition. How do we explain their radically different abortion trajectories?

3/27/2024
by SHOSHANNA EHRLICH and LAURA FRADER, Ms. Magazine

In 2023, seeking “to avoid a U.S.-like scenario for women in France, as hard-right groups are gaining ground,” President Emmanuel Macron promised a constitutional amendment affirming women’s right to abortion and to control over their own bodies. The amendment subsequently passed by a crushing majority of 780 to 72 votes and was inserted ceremoniously into the French Constitution on March 8, 2024, International Women’s Day.

In celebration, the Eiffel Tower was lit up with the message “My Body, My Choice.” This global first came approximately 50 years after the French Parliament first voted to decriminalize abortion with the passage of the Veil Law, named for feminist minister of health Simone Veil, who championed the reform.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2024/03/27/france-abortion-usa-bans-constitution-right/

Frozen embryos are “children,” according to Alabama’s Supreme Court

IVF often produces more embryos than are needed or used.

BETH MOLE
2/20/2024

The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday ruled that frozen embryos are "children," entitled to full personhood rights, and anyone who destroys them could be liable in a wrongful death case.

…"Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God, who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself," Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote. "Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory."

Continued: https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/02/frozen-embryos-are-children-according-to-alabamas-supreme-court/

20.02.2024

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Catholic activists work to help Hispanic women reconcile abortion rights with their religious faith

Jan 28, 2024

In a corner of their Mexico City office, activists from Catholics for the Right to Decide keep an image of the Virgin Mary close to a green scarf that reads: “Mary was consulted to be mother of God.”

For these Catholic women, prayer does not conflict with their fight for abortion access nor does their devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe prevent them from supporting LGBTQ+ rights.

“You might think that one cannot be a feminist and a Catholic,” said activist Cinthya Ramírez. “But being women of faith does not mean that we oppose progressivity, human rights or sexual diversity.”

Continued: https://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/newswire/catholic-activists-work-help-hispanic-women-reconcile-abortion-rights-religious-faith/

Canadians’ Attitudes Toward Abortion

A review and synthesis of evidence based literature

Jessica Pratezina and Jessica Ball
January 12, 2024

In 1988, Canada became one of the few countries in the world without legal restrictions on abortion. There are no federal or provincial laws controlling abortion; it's considered a medical matter between a person and their healthcare provider. Abortion is seen as an essential medical service covered by the Canadian healthcare system.

… What do Canadians Think and Feel about Abortion?
Most Canadians (56%) want abortion to be safe and legal. At the same time, Canadians' attitudes towards abortion are more complicated than can be captured in opinion polls. These complex attitudes impact not only whether people are able to choose abortion, but also what their experience will be like if and when they do.

Continued: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/28ca3bb9e0ad45f28a68d677eda6baee

12.01.2024

Research

Canadian attitudes to abortion

Jessica Ball

Jessica Pratezina

religion and abortion

Canada

Health

Human Rights

What does a total abortion ban look like in Dominican Republic?

BY MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ
January 2, 2024

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The Dominican Republic is one of four Latin American nations that criminalizes abortion without exceptions. Women face up to 2 years in prison for having an abortion, while the penalties for doctors or midwives range from 5 to 20 years. Abortion rights activists argue that the country’s total abortion ban not only restricts women’s reproductive choices but also puts their lives in danger.

Here’s a look at the country’s ban.

Continued: https://apnews.com/article/dominican-republic-abortion-ban-women-catholic-church-5890252153c3b451b16b62b4aa3fe26d

A legal scholar sizes up the religious argument against abortion bans

ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL
JULY 9, 2023

(JTA) — The abortion debate is often portrayed as a clash between religious beliefs on the pro-life side and secular or humanist convictions on the pro-choice side. Indeed, lawmakers and activists have often invoked God in enacting state bans on abortion since the Supreme Court, in last year’s Dobbs decision, struck down a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy.

Some clergy and faith groups, however, including a number of Jews, are pushing back. In efforts to overturn these restrictions, they have been pressing a legal strategy claiming that abortion bans violate their religious liberty. In Kentucky, a case brought by three Jewish women argues that the state’s near-total abortion ban violates their religious beliefs about when life begins and protecting a mother’s life. In Indiana, a suit brought by Hoosier Jews for Choice and four women who represent a variety of faiths demands exemptions from the state’s abortion ban for people whose religions support abortion rights.

Continued: https://www.jta.org/2023/07/09/ideas/a-legal-scholar-sizes-up-the-religious-argument-against-abortion-bans

Support for legal abortion is widespread in many countries, especially in Europe

JUNE 20, 2023
BY JANELL FETTEROLF AND LAURA CLANCY

Majorities in most of the 24 nations surveyed by Pew Research Center this spring say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. But attitudes differ widely across countries – and often within them. Religiously unaffiliated adults, people on the ideological left and women are more likely to support legal abortion.

A median of 71% of adults across the 24 countries surveyed believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while a median of 27% believe it should be illegal.

Continued: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/20/support-for-legal-abortion-is-widespread-in-many-countries-especially-in-europe/

20.06.2023

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Jamaica – Buggery, abortion laws won’t be changed during constitutional reform process

Wednesday | June 7, 2023

Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte yesterday sought to allay fears among members of the religious community, disclosing that the Government did not intend to disturb any savings law clauses in the Constitution or repeal pre-existing laws that would go against fundamental beliefs held by the Church.

In her contribution to the Sectoral Debate in Parliament on Tuesday, Malahoo Forte “put to ease” concerns held by the Christian community regarding any changes that might be made to savings clauses in the Constitution.

Continued: https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20230607/buggery-abortion-laws-wont-be-changed-during-constitutional-reform

07.06.2023

News

Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms

Marlene Malahoo Forte

religion and abortion

USA – Meet the Religious Crusaders Fighting for Abortion Rights

Christian conservatives worked to topple Roe. Can members of different faiths save abortion access?

ABBY VESOULIS, Mother Jones
FEBRUARY 17, 2023

The Torah tells its followers to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth,” so that’s what Lisa Sobel, a devout Jewish woman from Louisville, Kentucky, set out to do.

It wasn’t easy. First, she endured three years of infertility. Then, she and her husband embarked on a $50,000 in vitro fertilization (IVF) journey, during which they had to discard four embryos before implantation because of genetic abnormalities. Finally, in April 2019, Sobel delivered a healthy baby girl. Immediately after, she began hemorrhaging and almost died.

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/02/religious-clergy-fighting-for-abortion-rights/

Jewish congregations mount legal challenges to state abortion bans

BY: ARIANA FIGUEROA
AUGUST 26, 2022

Thousands of years of Jewish scripture make it clear that access to abortion care is a requirement of Jewish law and practice, according to Rabbi Karen Bogard.

“We preserve life at all costs,” she said in an interview with States Newsroom. “But there is a difference between that which is living, and that which is not yet living.”

Continued: https://www.virginiamercury.com/2022/08/26/jewish-congregations-mount-legal-challenges-to-state-abortion-bans/