Maltese women are completely denied access to abortion, even though their lives are in danger. It is the only EU member state to ban the procedure, and women who have abortions face up to three years in prison. Although abortion is legal in almost every country, at least under certain conditions, these conditions vary widely. According to a United Nations (UN) report with data collected up to 2019,[40] abortion is allowed in 98% of countries to save a woman`s life. Other generally accepted reasons include maintaining physical (72%) or mental (69%) health, rape or incest (61%) and fetal malformation (61%). The practice of abortion for economic or social reasons is accepted in 37% of countries. Performing an abortion solely on the basis of a woman`s request is allowed in 34% of countries, including Canada, most European countries and China. [40] Roe fell. The United States becomes one of only four countries to lift legal abortion protection in 25+ years.

Friday`s Supreme Court decision, Roe v. The abolition and abolition of the constitutional right to abortion has made the United States one of the few selected countries to have severely restricted access to the procedure in the 21st century. There are a few exceptions that are often found in abortion laws. Legal spaces that do not have abortions on demand often allow them when the mother`s health is at stake. “Maternal health” can mean something different in several areas: for example, before December 2018, the Republic of Ireland only allowed abortion to save the mother`s life, while abortion opponents in the United States argue that health exemptions are so broad that a ban becomes essentially meaningless.[542] And in Europe, Ireland attracted worldwide attention following a popular referendum in May 2018 that led to the legalization of abortion for up to 12 weeks and limited circumstances beyond. Before the change, thousands of Irish women typically travelled to neighbouring England each year for the procedure, according to the Belfast-based journalism project Detail Data. In 1993, the Federal Court of Justice repealed a parliamentary measure to fully liberalize the country`s abortion law, citing Article 218. However, the court ruled that women cannot be punished for abortion within the first 12 weeks if they receive state-mandated counseling. Laws allowing abortion in cases of rape or incest often differ. For example, before Roe v.

Wade, thirteen U.S. states allowed abortion for rape or incest, but only Mississippi allowed abortion of rape-based pregnancies, and no state allowed it solely for incest. [543] But even when abortions are protected by law, new political majorities can overturn these measures or challenge them in court. Ultimately, the international record shows that there is no foolproof way to protect abortion rights: they are regularly challenged in the legal and political spheres. The following table shows the general details of each country`s legal position on abortion. The case was brought to court by the Causa Justa movement, made up of human rights and civil society groups. The movement sought to decriminalize abortion in Colombia, where, before the verdict, it was only allowed in cases of rape, non-viable pregnancy, or when the life or health of the mother was in danger. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that there is little or no correlation between global abortion rates and the legality of abortion worldwide. Abortions can, want and do, whether they are legal or not. However, the safety of these abortions is affected by their legality. The illegal or “homemade” abortion decisions that women who do not have access to legal abortion regularly choose tend to be much riskier, riskier, and less successful than legal options made by qualified health professionals in a clinical setting. Access to safe abortion has been established as a human right by numerous international frameworks, the UN Human Rights Committee and regional human rights courts, including the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the African Commission on Human and Peoples` Rights.

At the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994, 179 governments signed a programme of action [PDF] that included a commitment to prevent unsafe abortion. The WHO first recognized unsafe abortion as a public health problem in 1967 and developed technical and policy guidelines in 2003 that include a recommendation that states enact abortion laws to protect women`s health. According to the United Nations Population Fund, addressing unmet needs for family planning could both dramatically reduce maternal mortality and reduce abortion by up to 70 percent in developing countries. Across Europe, abortion is generally legal on demand or for broad social reasons, at least during the first trimester, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. It is also widely allowed throughout pregnancy if necessary to protect the health or life of a pregnant person. In January 2021, an almost complete ban on abortion was introduced in Poland, allowing the procedure only in cases of rape, incest or when the mother`s life is in danger. The ban eliminated the exception for abortion in cases of severe and irreversible fetal abnormalities – the reasons why 98% of abortions were performed in Poland in 2019. In November 2021, mass protests erupted in Poland after a woman died of sepsis at 22 weeks` gestation after her family said life-saving treatment had been delayed due to the ban. This month, the first pro-choice activist charged under the new law was tried for providing pills to a pregnant woman to cause a miscarriage.

Although the legal status of abortion varies considerably from region to region, almost all countries allow abortion, at least under certain circumstances; In the world, only six countries completely ban abortion. Most industrialized countries allow the procedure without restriction. About 125 countries have restrictions that generally allow abortion only in limited situations, including for socioeconomic reasons, risks to the woman`s physical or mental health, or the presence of fetal abnormalities. Since the Casey decision, state laws governing abortion in the United States have varied considerably. A growing number of states have passed laws banning abortions after just six weeks or regulating abortion providers, resulting in the closure of more than 160 clinics, leaving six states with a single abortion provider. A law passed in Alabama in May would ban abortion in virtually all cases, with no exception for cases of rape or incest; If enacted, it would make the state one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world. * Roe v. The Wade decision, which established the constitutional right to abortion in the United States, was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24. However, the United States is not alone in being engaged in a heated debate over abortion, and the laws governing the procedure differ in countries around the world. Regardless of the laws surrounding abortion, rates are similar in countries where abortion is restricted and in countries where the procedure is largely legal, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. However, in most countries where abortion is legal, it is regulated by laws, including specific laws or as part of a broader health law.

Now, the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 allows abortion up to 12 weeks` gestation, or if there is a serious risk to the life or health of the mother or fetus. But the law still criminalizes those who help a pregnant person obtain an abortion outside its provisions, with a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. The Center for Reproductive Rights notes that a new penal code is set to go into effect in Haiti in July, decriminalizing abortions for up to 12 weeks in cases of rape, incest or “when women`s physical/mental health is at risk,” but critics say the code could be changed before it is implemented. Finances are another important variable. Abortion laws in some countries allow abortion if the pregnancy causes undue socioeconomic hardship to the mother. Studies have shown that women who are denied access to abortion are much more likely to fall into poverty because of the additional financial burden of caring for an additional child. In South Africa and Mozambique, abortion is allowed, but limited to the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. In many of these countries, activists and activists continue to fight for the easing of abortion restrictions. El Salvador`s sweeping laws, introduced in 1998 after campaigns by conservative sections of the Catholic Church, have resulted in dozens of women being convicted of “aggravated murder,” even in cases of miscarriage. In March, thousands of Salvadoran women marched to demand that the ban be relaxed to allow abortion in cases of rape when the fetus is not viable or when the woman`s life is in danger.