What Shapes Abortion Law? – A Global Perspective
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12208 |
| Date | 01 November 2015 |
| Published date | 01 November 2015 |
| Author | Achim Hildebrandt |
What Shapes Abortion Law? –A Global
Perspective
Achim Hildebrandt
University of Stuttgart
Abstract
This article analyses a correlate of abortion law that has not been addressed in previous research: the effects of past or
present communist rule. As communists reject any moral standards that were based on religious beliefs, they liberal-
ized abortion law after they gained power. A quantitative analysis of 170 nations shows that countries with a com-
munist past or present have more liberal abortion laws.
Moreover, abortion law tends to be more liberal, the more modern and globalized a country is and the more women
are represented in the workforce and in parliament. A larger percentage of Catholics in the population, in contrast, cor-
relates with more restrictive legislation. Some countries do not fit this general pattern and the article discusses the rea-
sons. Based on the empirical results it goes on to present the implications of the findings for public policy: in many
countries strong and persistent socioeconomic and cultural forces stand in the way of further abortion law liberaliza-
tion. Under these conditions, proponents of liberalization have greater chances of success if they take a moderate
stance and focus on women’s health instead of women’s rights.
Policy Implications
•Above all, guarantee access to reliable and affordable contraceptives to decrease the number of unwanted preg-
nancies.
•As a last resort, provide access to legal and safe abortion to reduce the number of serious complications that
millions of women suffer from as a result of clandestine abortions. Together, both measures should reduce the
number of abortions as well as the risks associated with them.
•Advocacy groups campaigning for the liberalization of abortion laws should focus on women’s health rather than
on women’s rights, as this argument is more compatible with attitudes in more conservative societies whose legis-
lation on termination of pregnancy is still restrictive.
•Arguing from a public health perspective facilitates national and international NGOs’efforts to garner support from
international organisations such as the United Nations or the EU to increase pressure on reluctant governments.
Legislation on abortion is frequently the subject of
heated political disputes about first principles, which
leave only little room for compromise: calls for women’s
self-determination clash with religious beliefs and prohi-
bitions. While for decades these controversies were
national issues (McBride Stetson, 2001b), abortion law is
now discussed on an international and increasingly on a
global level. Reproductive rights have become the sub-
ject of international conferences and international non-
governmental groups try to shape national legislation to
reflect their values (Bob, 2012).
Abortion law has attracted attention among scholars,
focusing on comparative case studies (Blofield, 2006; Blo-
field, 2008; Yishai, 1993) and comparative analyses of
western industrialized countries (Minkenberg, 2002; Gin-
dulis, 2003). During the past 40 years, regular overviews
of the development of abortion laws have determined a
trend towards liberalization, albeit with some notable
exceptions (Cook and Dickens, 1978, 1988; Rahman et al.,
1998; Cook et al., 1999; Boland and Katzive, 2008); in the
last two decades, four large-N quantitative studies ana-
lyzed the correlates of this liberalization or of the factors
standing in its way (Asal et al., 2008; Pillai and Wang,
1999a, 1999b; Ramirez and McEneaney, 1997). While Pillai
and Wang analyze 101 developing nations, Asal et al.
and Ramirez and McEneaney try to provide a global per-
spective, but succeed only partly due to insufficient data
for some countries. Ramirez and McEneaney include 155
nations in their analyses, Asal et al. only 112. These four
studies unanimously identify some correlates of abortion
law: abortion law tends to be more liberal, the greater
the proportion of women in parliament is, the more
women participate in the labour market (Asal et al.,
2008; Ramirez and McEneaney, 1997), and the more
©2015 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Global Policy (2015) 6:4 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12208
Global Policy Volume 6 . Issue 4 . November 2015
418
Research Article
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