Abortion Laws Sample Clauses

Abortion Laws. The Center for Reproductive Rights (2020) categorizes abortion laws into five groups - Prohibited Altogether, To Save a Woman’s Life, To Preserve Health, Broad Social or Economic Grounds, and On Request (Gestational Limits Vary). While most countries allow abortion to some degree, twenty-six countries prohibit abortion altogether, impacting an estimated 90 million women of reproductive age (Center for Reproductive Rights, 2020). On the other hand, sixty-seven countries, and 590 million women of reproductive age, fall into the most liberal category, which allows abortion “on request” (Center for Reproductive Rights, 2020). However, many of these countries put gestational limits in place and only allow abortion up to that point. Gestational limits range from 8 to 24 weeks, with the average being 12 weeks (Center for Reproductive Rights, 2020). After this point, abortion may still be available in some cases, such as to save a woman’s life or to preserve health (Center for Reproductive Rights, 2020). Despite a plethora of state level restrictions on abortion, the United States falls into the “on request category” (CRR, 2020). In 1973, companion supreme court cases, ▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇ and ▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇ legalized abortion in the United States by protecting a woman’s right to privacy (▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇, 1973; ▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇, 1973). Doe ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇ (1973) challenged the state of Georgia’s strict abortion policies that made it incredibly difficult to access abortion: abortions were required to be performed only in accredited hospitals, three physicians were required to approve an abortion request, and only Georgia residents could undergo the procedure in the state. The suit claimed that these restrictions were discriminatory, as they made it much harder for poor, non-White women to access abortion services (Doe ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇, 1973). Similar to recent restrictions which disproportionately affect people of color and the poor (▇▇▇▇▇, 2008; ▇▇▇▇▇▇, 2019). Ultimately, the Doe case removed the restrictions in Georgia and legalized abortion by a licensed physician when: pregnancy would endanger the life of the mother or would seriously and permanently affect her health, the fetus would be born with a “grave, permanent, and irremediable mental or physical defect”, or in cases where the pregnancy resulted from rape (▇▇▇