ABSTRACT

The global survey we have undertaken of abortion laws across the world indicates that, according to current statistics, only Chile and El Salvador have an absolute prohibition on abortion, in that it is not permitted in those countries under any circumstances. A survey of the literature on abortion and a reading of the various websites on it give the impression that abortion is now perceived as an accepted medical procedure in many countries, provided it is performed under clear legislative conditions, with the sanction of the State and in many countries, for the welfare and well being of the woman. The sheer number of deaths of women from botched abortions (from ‘backstreet’, non-official abortions), and the victimisation of women, are strongly emphasised as major justifications for legalising or liberalising abortion law. In the USA, the 1973 case of Roe v Wade (1973) 410 US 113 remains the landmark case which established that a woman in the USA had a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy within the parameters of the judgment and as a result of the right to privacy under the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, although subsequent cases have begun to erode this right. In the late 1980s, legal terminations were controlled by hospital abortion committees and the saga of Morgentaler comes to mind, where the Canadian Supreme Court held that their criminal code statute (s 251) violated the security and liberty of the pregnant woman.