Abortion Laws Around the Globe in a Post-Roe v. Wade World
By: Skylar Blumenauer
On June 24, 2022, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court ruling struck down the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion. Dobbs found that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion and returned the authority to regulate abortion to the states. In the time since, twenty-one states have moved to ban abortion or restrict the procedure to an earlier standard than that established by Roe. Abortion remains legal in twenty-seven states, twenty-one of the states having established new protections since Dobbs. Abortion bans were blocked and remain legal for now in an additional three states.
In their dissenting opinion to Dobbs, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan noted that “In light of that worldwide liberalization of abortion laws, it is American States that will become international outliers today." The United States joined Poland, El Salvador, and Nicaragua as one of the four states to revoke abortion protections in the last twenty-five years, in comparison to the more than sixty countries and territories that have liberalized abortion laws. The Dobbs decision, while only applicable within U.S. borders, has already had wide-reaching consequences for international human rights.
Just days after the ruling, a Nigerian governor revoked pregnancy termination guidelines and cited Dobbs as justification. Additionally, Kenya used Roe to support a law protecting the right to abortion in May 2022. When Dobbs was decided a month later, the Kenyan Court of Appeals halted the rule. The Dobbs decision has also nurtured a worldwide stigma of abortion-related services. Rwandan women are facing prison time for abortion-related convictions. In Italy, gynecologists faced harassment for offering abortion services.
However, some countries responded to Dobbs by further cementing laws that protect women’s health and reproductive rights. France enshrined abortion rights into their constitution in early March 2024 in response to the rollback of reproductive rights in the U.S. Latin America is currently experiencing what has been dubbed a “green wave” of abortion rights across the region. Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico have all recently begun to decriminalize abortion.
Dobbs was met with worldwide outrage, from women and global leaders alike. The United Nations condemned the ruling, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also asserted that “Access to safe, legal and effective abortion is firmly rooted in international human rights law and is at the core of women and girls' autonomy and ability to make their own choices about their bodies and lives, free of discrimination, violence and coercion. This decision strips such autonomy from millions of women in the U.S., in particular those with low incomes and those belonging to racial and ethnic minorities, to the detriment of their fundamental rights.” The United Kingdom's Prime Minister and Norway’s Prime Minister said the ruling was a step backward. Canada’s Prime Minister asserted that “No government, politician, or man should tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body.” Scotland’s First Minister said the ruling was “one of the darkest days for women’s rights.” France’s President tweeted that abortion is a fundamental right that must be protected, and the French Foreign Affairs Minister called the ruling “appalling.”
In a world where women’s rights are once again at the forefront of the fight for human rights, it is essential that world leaders continue to protect abortion as a fundamental right. For once, the United States is not the leading advocate for social change. Other countries must step in to prevent authoritarian regimes from continuing to follow the precedent established in Dobbs.
Sources:
https://www.oyez.org/cases/2021/19-1392
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/us/abortion-laws-roe-v-wade.html
https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/roes-repeal-inspires-abortion-rollbacks-other-countries
https://fosfeminista.org/publications/dobbs-factsheet/
https://www.cfr.org/article/abortion-law-global-comparisons
Image Source: https://www.msichoices.org/latest/modern-us-abortion-law-its-impact-on-the-world/