The following table lists, in chronological order, the Member States of the United Nations (UN) that have legalized abortion at the request of the woman or person with the ability to heal at least in the first part of pregnancy, or that have fully legalized it. Abortion, when performed with the help of a competent health professional and under hygienic conditions, is one of the safest medical procedures. But when it is limited or criminalized, people are forced to look for dangerous ways to end the pregnancy. ACCESS Reproductive Justice connects people who need this type of support with free or very low-cost reproductive health programs available to those who live in California, travel to California, or leave California to have an abortion in another state. Abortions cannot be performed at Department of Defense facilities, which include military hospitals, unless the pregnancy is life-threatening or the result of rape or incest. No. California law and the California Constitution prohibit private health insurance from discriminating against its policyholders because they have received any type of reproductive health care, including abortions. For example, private insurance cannot deny coverage because you had an abortion, or change the price of your insurance plan. 6. On request means that a woman can request an abortion and that it can be performed legally without doctors having to certify the existence of a specific reason. For this reason, laws generally prescribe time limits. In a small number of these countries, women may be required to declare that they are in distress because of their pregnancy.
New Zealand did not decriminalize abortion until 2020. And in Australia, New South Wales was the last state in the country to decriminalize abortion in 2019, repealing a law from 119 years ago. In the European Region, 41 out of 47 countries have legalized abortion on a social or social basis. California does not prohibit abortion until the viability limit has been exceeded, that is, when a physician determines in good faith on the basis of medical criteria that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the fetus could survive outside the womb without exceptional medical assistance. Abortions may be performed only when the viability limit has been exceeded, when the doctor determines, according to medico-credulous criteria, that the maintenance of the current pregnancy may endanger the life or health of the pregnant person. These types of decisions are individual and depend on each person and their particular situation. Demonstrations, placards, proclamations and information leaflets are permitted. However, no one should resort to physical violence, threaten or impede the passage of people who intend to enter a clinic where abortions are performed to interfere with their access. They may not block the entrance to the clinic or prevent a vehicle from entering their premises, prevent patients from entering or threaten access, or obstruct or threaten anyone entering or leaving the building. Intrusion into the room and any act of vandalism, harassment or violence against companions, clinic staff and patients, in addition to arson or the placement of explosives, is strictly prohibited. In 2019, several U.S. states passed laws that effectively ban abortion, and others took steps to severely restrict access to abortion.
Colombia legalized it until the 24th week of pregnancy, for whatever reason. Shortly thereafter, Chile decided on 16 March to incorporate the decriminalization of abortion into the draft new constitution. The legislators who impose these extreme restrictions on access to abortion do not represent the opinion of the majority of the American population. In February this year, Colombia`s Constitutional Court decriminalized abortion until the 24th week of pregnancy. A few months ago, in September 2021, Mexico`s Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to criminalize abortion. Alabama`s new law bans all abortions as long as „the woman is known to be pregnant,“ without exception. It is the strictest law. In Western Europe, the situation is more polarized, as there are countries that allow abortion in all cases, and others where there is simply no such possibility.
The first group includes Denmark, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden.