LEGAL ABORTION

Legal Abortion



Legal Abortion

Women's ability to access safe and legal abortions is restricted in law or in practice in most countries in the world. In fact, even where abortion is permitted by law, women often have severely limited access to safe abortion services because of lack of proper regulation, health services, or political will.

At the same time, only a very small minority of countries prohibit all abortion. In most countries and jurisdictions, abortion is allowed at least to save the pregnant woman's life, or where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

Abortion is a highly emotional subject and one that excites deeply held opinions. However, equitable access to safe abortion services is first and foremost a human right. Where abortion is safe and legal, no one is forced to have one. Where abortion is illegal and unsafe, women are forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term or suffer serious health consequences and even death. Approximately 13 percent of maternal deaths worldwide are attributable to unsafe abortion—between 68,000 and 78,000 deaths annually. (Henshaw 1990 103)

Women's organizations across the world have fought for the right to access safe and legal abortion for decades, and increasingly international human rights law supports their claims. In fact, international human rights legal instruments and authoritative interpretations of those instruments compel the conclusion that women have a right to decide independently in all matters related to reproduction, including the issue of abortion.

Legal abortions are essential in a free society that values women and their rights. Abortion is never an easy decision, but women have been making that decision for thousands of years. Whenever a society attempts to outlaw abortions, it ignores the same urgent reasons for safe, legal abortions that have always existed. (Sam 2003 5)

Choice is good for families. There are many programs such as family planning, sex education, and contraception which diminish the number of unwanted pregnancies before they occur. Even when precautions are taken, accidents can and do happen. For some families, this could be devestating. An unwanted pregnancy can increase tension, disrupt stability, and push people, particularily women and children, below the line of economic survival. A high percentage of teenage girls will become pregnant before their twentieth birthday. The penalty for lack of knowledge or a moment's carelessness should not be enforced pregnancy and childbearing. It should not hurt to be a child. If women are forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term, the result is unwanted and often neglected children. These children are among society's most tragic cases, often inloved, brutalized, and abandoned. When they grow up, these children are often seriously disadvantaged, and sometimes inclined toward brutal behaviour to others. This is not good for children, for families, or for society. Children need love and families who will care for them. Family planning is the answer and all options must be open. (Susan 1997 28)

Outlawing abortions is discriminatory. Anti-abortion laws discriminate against low-income women, who are driven to dangerous self induced or back-alley ...