29 März 2023
How EU Membership Transformed Ireland’s Socio-Legal Norms: The Case of Abortion
In 1973, Ireland joined what would become the European Union (EU) in the first ever enlargement of the project of European integration. To say that 50 years of EU membership have been transformative for Ireland is an understatement. By all benchmarks considered, Ireland is a radically different country today than it was when it joined the EU. Abortion provides the best example of this. Continue reading >>
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21 März 2023
The Janus Face of Fetal Citizenship: A Tool of Inclusion or a Threat to Abortion Rights?
Should citizenship status be conferred upon an unborn child? In a 2022 landmark decision, Pranav Srinivasan v. Union of India, the Madras High Court answered this question in the affirmative. Srinivasan had not been born yet when his parents, with his mother being in the third trimester of her pregnancy, gave up their Indian for Singaporean citizenship. Now an adult and ostensibly to avoid the mandatory conscription for Singaporean citizens, Srinivasan sought to avail himself of a statutory right to reclaim his Indian citizenship, pursuant to section 8(2) of the Citizenship Act 1955. While the Court's ruling in Srinivasan's favour should be applauded for its inclusionary ethos, it threatens to undermine India's progressive abortion jurisprudence. A provision of the 1956 Hindu Succession Act might provide a solution to this conflict. Continue reading >>
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16 Februar 2023
Small Country, Big Hurdles
Liechtenstein is far away from a comprehensive decriminalisation of abortion. The termination of pregnancy is still regulated by the Criminal Code and the person who performs the abortion will be prosecuted. Only the pregnant person acts legally when terminating an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. But it took until 2015 for pregnant persons to be granted a (limited) right to self-determination, and there is still a lack of sufficient legal, medical and social support. In a difficult and psychologically stressful situation, pregnant persons must seek treatment abroad – not because they want to, but because they have to. Continue reading >>
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08 Februar 2023
A Turning Point in Abortion Law
This blog post concludes the symposium “Comparative Legal Perspectives on Abortion”. The symposium traced the regulation of abortion and accompanying activist movements in Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Iceland, Northern Macedonia, Tunisia, South Africa, India, and South Korea. Now we want to turn our gaze from the outside back to the inside: What is to be gained for the German debate on abortion law? Continue reading >>
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07 Februar 2023
From Population Control to Reproductive Justice
On 11 April 2019, South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled that the ban on abortion was unconstitutional. As a result, South Korea’s legislature had to revise its 66-year-old anti-abortion law by 31 December 2020. This historic decision was made possible in response to the advocacy of a number of feminist groups, doctors’ organizations, disability rights groups, youth activists, and religious groups in South Korea. Although the overall goal of reproductive justice movements was to change the law that threatened women’s health and lives through the criminalization of abortion, one of the main steps of the movements toward that goal was to challenge the previous framework of pro-choice versus pro-life. Continue reading >>
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06 Februar 2023
Still a right?
Although abortion in Tunisia has been legal for 50 years and offered for free in government facilities, the revolution of 2011 and the following democratization process have paradoxically put into question the access to this service. The Islamists’ victory and the conservative turn of local society in the 2000s have led to a step backwards in the domain of women’s rights including sexual and reproductive rights. Together with Turkey, Tunisia is the only Islamic-majority country that authorizes abortion for social reasons. Continue reading >>
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02 Februar 2023
A Global Milestone
In 2019, Iceland passed a new law on the termination of pregnancy. Passed with a solid majority and the support of a cross-political coalition, the new law provides pregnant people with the right to decide on a termination, without having to get prior permission from medical personnel, as had previously been the case. The law was a huge step forward to ensure the protection of sexual and reproductive rights in Iceland, but there still remains room for improvement, for example with regard to the rights of trans people and the access of uninsured people to the service. The success of the legislation was also remarkable for the cross-political support it enjoyed, largely based on women’s solidarity as 18 of 22 women in parliament, from nearly all parties, supported the law. Continue reading >>
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30 Januar 2023
The Force of Social Mobilization
On December 30th, 2020, the Argentinean Congress legalized abortion up to the 14th week. Its legalization in Argentina took place after the rising of the so-called green tide in 2018, which transformed the longstanding movement for abortion rights in the country into a mass phenomenon, and the abortion issue, which used to be a taboo, into a main topic of public discussion. The new law has been challenged through judicial actions without success so far, and it has changed the conditions for the implementation of lawful abortions throughout the country. Continue reading >>
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27 Januar 2023
A Promising Future?
The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996 (Choice Act) provides the legislative framework that regulates access to abortion in South Africa. It is noted for its liberal stance on abortion and for this reason South Africa ‘serves as a global role model of reform in the area of abortion laws’. Despite its celebrated reproductive rights affirming approach, there are several on-ground issues that undermine the aims of the Act and the reproductive rights and health of those seeking abortion care. In this blog, I position the Choice Act within its historical and contemporary context which provides the necessary backdrop to demonstrate why the Act offers a ground-breaking approach to legislative regulation of abortion care. Thereafter, I explore some of the barriers to access and consider some key state efforts to overcome these issues, thus demonstrating a commitment to ensuring access to abortion care as part of the continuum of sexual and reproductive health care. Continue reading >>
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26 Januar 2023
Constitutional but Criminal
In the last two years, India has witnessed significant changes in the legal regulation of abortion. In 2021, Parliament comprehensively amended the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (“MTP” Act) to ensure “access of women to safe and legal abortion without compromising on the safety and quality of care,” along with securing “dignity, autonomy, confidentiality and justice for women who need to terminate pregnancy.” Additionally, in September 2022, the Supreme Court of India delivered a path-breaking judgment on abortion, locating access to safe abortion within the fundamental rights to dignity, autonomy, privacy, and health. Despite these changes, the law and practice of abortion continue to deny pregnant persons access to safe and comprehensive abortion care. Continue reading >>
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