Journal Citation:
24(2) INTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING PERSPECTIVES, 56-64 (1998).
This article discusses how the legal status of induced abortion helps determine the availability of safe, affordable abortion services in a country, which in turn influences rates of maternal mortality and morbidity. It aims to inform people of both the current status of abortion laws worldwide and the extent to which those laws are changing. The article reviews abortion-related laws in 152 nations and dependent territories and documents the changes in laws since 1985. The authors conclude that a global trend toward liberalization of abortion laws observed before 1985 appears to have continued. Nevertheless, they note that women's ability to obtain abortion services is affected not just by the laws in force in a particular country, but also by the interpretation of these laws, how they are enforced and the medical community's attitude toward abortion. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Abortion, International]