1. Theme: Culture &
9694 THINKING SKILLS Ethics
Unit: Abortion

2. OVERVIEW ON CONTENTIOUS NATURE OF
SUBJECT
Although abortion is commonly
practised throughout most of the world
and has been practised since long
before the beginning of recorded history,
it is a subject that arouses passion and
controversy.

3. ABORTION RAISES FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS:
When does life begin?
Does a woman have control over their bodies?
What is the State’s duty to protect the unborn?
Where should the divide be drawn between secular
and religious views?
Also central to the subject of abortion is one of the
most highly controversial social issues of all,
sexuality.

4. Module 36
THE BATTLE OVER ABORTION
FROM A U.S. STANDPOINT
█ Understanding the Issue
– In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court granted
women the right to terminate pregnancies
– Pro-choice groups believe women have the
right to make decisions about their bodies
– Pro-life believe life begins at the moment of
conception, so abortion is an act of murder

5. Module 36
THE BATTLE OVER ABORTION
FROM A U.S. STANDPOINT
█ Understanding the Issue
– Debate following Roe v. Wade
revolves around prohibiting abortion
– Parental notification and
consent especially sensitive issues
– In U.S., people appear to support right
to legal abortion, but with reservations

6. Module 36
THE BATTLE OVER ABORTION
FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
█ Initiating Policy
– Supreme Court continues to hear cases
– Most European nations liberalized abortion
laws beginning in the 1970s
– Throughout 1980s and 1990s, Congress
often blocked aid to countries that
might use funds to encourage abortion
• 40% of abortions worldwide
are performed illegally

7. Module 36
FIGURE 35-4: RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLIC FUNDING FOR
ABORTION

8. Module 35
FIGURE 35-5: THE GLOBAL DIVIDE ON ABORTION

9. MAJOR DIMENSIONS OF ABORTION
POLICY: PRACTICAL CHALLENGES
The major organizations that compile
international abortion statistics:
the Guttmacher Institute, an
organization that supports a woman's
right to choose abortion,
The World Health Organization (WHO) of
the United Nations (UN).

10. POLITICAL CHALLENGES CONT.
In countries where abortion is illegal or severely
restricted, it is impossible to know how many women
get private abortions or how many miscarriages were
actually induced abortions through a home method.
Also, many countries where abortion is legal do not
keep complete medical records.
The abortion and health data that is available for
other countries is often not as current at that for the
United States. (“Abortion Around the World”)

11. CHALLENGES – LEGAL SYSTEMS
Abortion law, like most law in the countries of the
world, is governed by widely differing legal systems.
These systems are based on varying sets of
principles which can be generally divided into three
separate systems:
Civil law, including what was once denominated
“socialist law,”
Common law
Islamic law.

12. CIVIL LAW
Civil law, originally from Roman law
More recently from the Napoleonic Code
enacted by the Government of France at the
beginning of the nineteenth century
System based primarily on codified laws,
such as civil codes, penal codes, family codes
and commercial codes, each devoted to a
specific topic.

13. BRANCH OF CIVIL LAW: SOCIALIST LAW
Enacted in the twentieth century, after the First and Second
World Wars, by the newly created Marxist States in Eastern
Europe and parts of Asia.
Like civil law, socialist law is based on codification, but largely
of Marxist and socialist principles, and allows judges little
room for interpretation of laws, except to conform to those
principles.
Emphasizes primarily the good of society as a whole, not the
rights of individuals, and establishes a sort of guide for
conduct.
Differs from the civil law model in that it was initially imposed
as a means of radically transforming the economic and social
bases of society, as well as the behaviour and attitudes of its
people.

14. COMMON LAW
Has its origins not in codes, but in court determinations
made by judges within the lands governed by the English
crown.
Law was viewed not primarily as a guide for conduct, but as
a means of resolving disputes by individuals.
Emphasized principles of self-reliance and individual rights
such as property rights and freedom of contract more than
the order and welfare of society.
Law changes and progresses not primarily by means of
enactment by the Government, but through the development
of a body of court decisions containing the changing
interpretations of judges as social conditions change.

15. COMMON LAW CONT.
Thus, judges are given much greater
leeway than under the civil law system to
interpret these statutes in novel ways.
Also, law is more fluid and less static
than under the civil law system

16. ISLAMIC LAW
Islamic law, known as Shariah, can be viewed as an
example of a larger category of religious law, differs in
important ways from both civil law and common law.
Primary difference: its conception of law as inseparable
from religion, so that no distinctions exist between the
secular and the religious, as there are under the civil and
common law systems.
Law under Islam is based primarily on the text of the Quran,
the holy book of Islam and the sunnah, the collection of
acts and statements made by the prophet Mohammed

17. ISLAMIC LAW CONT.
Thus, Islamic law is for the most part fixed
and viewed as unchanging
In cases where situation is not specifically
mentioned, Islamic jurists engage in
interpretation and employ deductive or
analogical reasoning leading to consensus.

18. CULTURAL & RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
Religions play or have played an important role in shaping
legislation in a number of countries, particularly law relating
to personal relationships, such as marriage, family
interactions, children, and inheritance.
For example, although not accepted as official law, canon law
as developed by the Roman Catholic Church has been a
significant force in countries with large Catholic populations
such as Portugal, Spain and the countries of Latin America,
as have Shintoism and Buddhism in Japan.

19. CULTURAL & RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS CONT.
Local customary law, as practised by
indigenous populations before the advent of
European colonialism, has played a similar
role in many developing countries of Africa.
Family law, especially is based on the
traditions of various ethnic groups.

20. INTEGRATION OF LEGAL SYSTEMS
WITH TRADITIONS
Countries have tried different strategies to solve the complex
problem of legal systems and cultural/religious tradition.
Some have preserved religious and customary law within the
sphere of personal relationships while relying on colonial-
based law in other areas of life.
Some, such as Indonesia, have tried to blend the two to form
a unique national system.
Some, including Turkey and Japan, have almost entirely
adopted Western models similar to those of France, Germany
and Switzerland.
Most recently, some countries, such as Afghanistan, Iran,
Sudan and, increasingly, Pakistan, have moved to Islamic
models.

21. ABORTION LAWS WITHIN LEGAL
SYSTEMS
 Most common law countries, other than the United States, have abortion
laws that are based on various English laws and court decisions.
 Some take as their model the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861.
 Under this Act it was prohibited “unlawfully” to use any means to procure
an abortion.
 Other countries follow the English court decision, Rex v. Bourne, in which
it was held that abortions performed for serious physical or mental health
reasons would not be considered “unlawful” under the 1861 Act.

22. ABORTION LAWS CONT.
Still other countries have looked to the British Abortion Act of
1967, which sets forth broad health, fetal impairment, and
socio-economic indications for abortions, in general until the
twenty-fourth week of pregnancy.
Many civil law countries are based on the abortion provisions
of the French Napoleonic Code of 1810, the 1939 French
version of that Code or the 1979 abortion law of France.
Any person who by any means procured the abortion of a
pregnant woman was punished with imprisonment, although it
was understood that an abortion could be performed when
necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman.

23. ABORTION LAWS CONT.
To the provisions of the 1810 Code, the 1939 French Penal
Code added language specifically allowing an abortion to be
performed to save the life of the pregnant woman.
The 1979 Law allows a woman who is in a state of distress to
have an abortion performed on request during the first ten
weeks of pregnancy after she undergoes counselling and
waits a week, and later in pregnancy on other serious
grounds.
In contrast to the common law system, court interpretations
of these laws play a minor role.

24. ABORTION LAWS UNDER ISLAMIC LAW
No single abortion text or court case serves as a model
The Quran and the sunnah, do not deal specifically with
abortion.
 Moreover, until recently, Islamic criminal laws were not
always codified.
Consequently, Islamic law adopts a number of approaches
towards abortion.
In general, the attitude towards abortion is dependent upon
whether the abortion is performed before ensoulment, the
time at which a fetus gains a soul.
Most often viewed as occurring 120 days into a pregnancy,
but is also interpreted as occurring at 40 days.

25. ABORTION LAWS UNDER ISLAMIC LAW CONT.
Some schools permit abortion for justifiable reasons
before ensoulment, while others generally prohibit it
at all points of pregnancy.
All schools, however, allow abortion at any time
during pregnancy in order to save the life of the
pregnant woman.
The punishment for abortion under classic Islamic
law is payment of a sum of money to the relatives of
the fetus

26. ABORTION LAW STATISTICS
The Center for Reproductive Rights, which supports
a woman's right to choose, reports in "The World's
Abortion Laws" :
61% of people live in countries where abortion is
permitted for a wide range of reasons or without
restriction.
About one-fourth (26%) of the world's population,
however, live in countries that generally forbid
abortion.
 May 2007, http://www.reproductiverights.org/pub_fac_abortion_laws.html

27. ABORTION STATISTIC
PERMISSIVENESS
69 countries (25.9% of the world's population):
Prohibited altogether or permitted only to save the
woman's life
34 countries (9.4% of the world's population): To
preserve the woman's physical health (and to save
her life).
Sometimes require that the potential injury be either
serious or permanent.
23 countries (4.2%): To preserve the woman's
mental health (and to preserve her physical health
and save her life)

28. ABORTION STATISTIC
PERMISSIVENESS
14 countries (21.3%): Socioeconomic grounds (also
to save the woman's life and physical and mental
health
But consider a woman's economic resources, her
age, whether she is married, and the number of
children she already has. These laws are usually
interpreted liberally.
56 countries (39.3% of the world's women): Without
restriction as to reason

30. UNSAFE ABORTION STATISTICS
The WHO reports in Unsafe Abortion: Global and
Regional Estimates of the Incidence of Unsafe
Abortion and Associated Mortality in 2000 :
An estimated nineteen million unsafe abortions
were performed around the world
Nearly sixty-eight thousand women died because of
these unsafe abortions.
 2004, http://www.who.int/reproductive-
health/publications/unsafe_abortion_estimates_04/estimates.pdf

31. LIMITATIONS EVEN IN LIBERAL
COUNTRIES
The laws usually mandate certain conditions for allowing the
abortion.
The Center for Reproductive Rights indicates in Crafting an Abortion
Law That Respects Women's Rights: Issues to Consider that these
countries may impose:
Gestational limits
Consent, counseling, and waiting-period requirements
Fetal-age restrictions
Limitations on advertising abortion services; and limitations on the
place of abortion and the person performing the procedure.
*Get citation

32. EXAMPLES OF LIMITATIONS
A woman in Turkey needs her husband's permission
In Germany a woman is required to receive
counseling that is intended to discourage her from
having the abortion
In Belgium the waiting period is six days.
Most countries set fetal age limits of seeking an
abortion with the least restrictions at an upper limit
of twelve to fourteen weeks.

33. AMBIGUITIES
Owing to the different treatments of abortion in these three legal
systems, a number of ambiguities arise:
For example the health indication for abortion.
A number of countries use the term “health” in their abortion laws
without specifying what it encompasses.
Thus it is unclear whether they intend abortions to be allowed in
cases of threat to mental and physical health or only physical
health.
If one follows the definition of health accepted by the World Health
Organization, health is a very broad term—“a state of complete
physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence
of disease or infirmity,” then abortion for health reasons would be
very common (WHO, 1994b).

34. COUNTRIES IN FOCUS: IRELAND
The only west European country that still bans abortion except in
cases where the mother's life is threatened.
In 1983 the Irish constitution was amended to ban abortion.
In 1992 the Irish Supreme Court ruled that a woman could legally
obtain an abortion in another country if there was a threat to her
life, including the threat of suicide. In 1992 and 1995 other laws
and measures were passed to allow women information but only
on foreign abortion clinics.
A 1997 poll found that 77% of respondents believed abortion
should be allowed.
In recent years about six thousand Irish women have received
legal abortions annually at clinics in England, where the practice
was legalized in 1967.
 World abortion laws, May 2S007
 "Main Parties Unwilling to Grab Nettle of Abortion" (Irish Times, May 10, 2007),

35. COUNTRIES IN FOCUS: INDIA
 Despite efforts to control population growth, mainly family planning
services India has seen its population more than double between 1960
 Thus, in 1971 India legalized abortion with the enactment of the Medical
Termination of Pregnancy Act to help control its population growth.
 Abortion is permitted for a wide range of reasons and no spousal consent
is required.
 However, abortions must be performed within the first twenty weeks of
pregnancy and must be performed by a medical practitioner who has
been trained at a government-approved training facility to perform
abortions.
 There are other technical constraints as well, including the types of
facilities at which abortions may be legally performed.
 Therefore, abortions are legal in India, but safe legal abortions are difficult
to obtain.

36. COUNTRIES IN FOCUS: INDIA CONT.
Up to 90 percent of the six million induced abortions
estimated to occur annually in India are
While some of these illegal abortions are safe, many
are unsafe and result in morbidity or mortality.
Approximately twenty thousand Indian women die
each year from unsafe abortions.
 Batya Elul et al. note in Unwanted Pregnancy and Induced Abortion in Rajasthan, India: A
Qualitative Exploration (2004, http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/SAReport.pdf)
 Suneeta Mittal of the Consortium on National Consensus for Medical Abortion in India
(February 10, 2005,
http://www.aiims.edu/aiims/events/Gynaewebsite/ma_finalsite/introduction.html)

37. COUNTRIES IN FOCUS: INDIA
 Strong preference for sons in India, as in China.
 This preference is strongly influenced by the custom of providing a
suitable dowry, which puts a great financial burden on the bride's
parents.
 In addition, sons customarily live with their parents after marriage,
providing both financial and emotional support to them.
 Medical advances have made sex-selective abortions easier.
 Prenatal testing has become routine among educated middle- and
upper-class women, who often terminate their pregnancies if they are
carrying a daughter.
 Thus, Indian parents are increasingly using new genetic techniques
available to choose either the X or the Y chromosome in a potential
father's sperm to determine the sex of their child before conception.
 Modern technology has even reached some rural areas, where vans with
ultrasound machines enable expectant mothers to determine the sex of
their fetuses.
 Maxwell Pereira reports in "New Technology to Fan Female Foeticide" (August
31, 2006, http://www.indiaenews.com/pdf/20516.pdf)

38. COUNTRIES IN FOCUS: INDIA
“An estimated 7,000 fewer girls are born every day"
“In 80 percent of India's districts, a higher proportion of boys
are born every year than a decade ago."
The enactment of laws in 1996 forbidding sex selection has
not deterred selective abortion practices.
After the 2001 census found that there were 927 females for
every 1,000 males younger than age six, the Indian Supreme
Court ruled in September 2003 that federal and state
governments must begin enforcing the ban on sex selection.
In 2007 the Indian government set up a committee to
develop ways to strengthen the PNDT and to eliminate
loopholes in the law.
 "Sex-Selection Abortions Rising in India, UN Says" (International Herald Tribune, December
13, 2006), Amelia Gentleman

39.  Slide 1 - Bakersfield College
 www2.bakersfieldcollege.edu/.../PowerPoint/B1/Schaefer_ppt_
ch11.... 27 Jun 2012
 Abortion around the World. (2008). In S. M. Alters, Information Plus
Reference Series. Abortion (2008 ed.). Detroit: Gale. 28 Jun 2012.