Anti-Abortion Laws: Effective In Reducing Abortion Numbers?

Abortion laws vary across the world, with some countries and states having total bans on abortion, and others having more relaxed laws. While these laws are often justified as a means to reduce the number of abortions, evidence suggests that this is not the case. In fact, restrictive abortion laws do not correlate with lower abortion rates. Instead, they lead to more unintended pregnancies, which ultimately result in abortion rates comparable to those observed in countries where the procedure is accessible. Furthermore, restrictive abortion laws have been found to disproportionately impact marginalised communities, who already face barriers to accessing healthcare services.

Restrictive abortion laws do not reduce the number of abortions

In countries where abortion is broadly legal, there are between 36 and 47 abortions performed annually per 1,000 women aged 15 to 49. In countries where abortions are prohibited, there are between 31 and 51 abortions per 1,000 women on average. The rates are similar across the two groups, suggesting that restrictive abortion laws do not lead to fewer abortions.

In countries where abortion is legal, the use of contraception is generally higher, as these countries tend to have stronger health-care systems and provide universal access to sexual reproductive health care. As a result, the rate of unintended pregnancies is lower. However, the percentage of those pregnancies ending in abortion is higher because abortions are more accessible.

On the other hand, in countries with restrictive abortion laws, the use of contraception tends to be lower, and the rate of unintended pregnancies is higher. The percentage of those pregnancies ending in abortion is lower, likely because abortions are not easily accessible. Ultimately, restrictive abortion laws do not lead to fewer abortions but rather more unintended pregnancies, which still lead to comparable abortion rates.

Additionally, restrictive abortion laws can have negative economic consequences. Complications from unsafe abortions cost health systems in developing countries millions of dollars annually, and households experience significant income loss due to long-term disabilities related to unsafe abortions. Restrictive abortion laws also affect women's education, labour market participation, and contribution to GDP growth.

Anti-abortion laws increase the number of unsafe abortions

Anti-abortion laws do not reduce the number of abortions. In fact, they increase the number of unsafe abortions.

In countries where abortion is broadly legal, there are between 36 and 47 abortions per 1,000 women, per year. In countries where abortion is prohibited, there are between 31 and 51 abortions per 1,000 women, per year. The rate of abortions is similar across both groups of countries. However, in countries where abortion is illegal, the rate of unsafe abortions is much higher.

In places where abortion is restricted, the use of contraception is also low, leading to a high rate of unintended pregnancies. When people with unintended pregnancies face barriers to safe abortions, they often resort to unsafe methods. Globally, around 45% of abortions are unsafe. In developing nations, this figure rises to 55%.

Unsafe abortions are a leading cause of maternal mortality. They can also cause long-term health complications, including infertility, and internal organ damage. Every year, 68,000 women die from unsafe abortions, and 5 million women are hospitalized for treatment of abortion-related complications.

Restrictive abortion laws are associated with a higher rate of unsafe abortions. Data shows that in countries with the most restrictive abortion laws, the median rate of unsafe abortions is up to 23 per 1,000 women, compared to 2 per 1,000 in nations with less restrictive laws.

Changing laws to allow abortions is a necessary step to reducing the rate of unsafe abortions. However, it is not enough on its own. It is also essential to ensure access to safe abortions, with trained practitioners and the necessary medicines and equipment.

The criminalisation of abortion disproportionately impacts marginalised communities

In countries where abortion is illegal, it can be difficult to obtain a safe abortion – that is, an abortion where the risk of severe complications is extremely low. In these countries, people with unintended pregnancies face barriers to attaining safe, timely, affordable, geographically reachable, respectful, and non-discriminatory abortion care. They often resort to unsafe abortions, which can lead to physical and mental health complications and social and financial burdens for individuals, communities, and health systems.

In places where abortion is criminalised, stigmatised, or restricted, people are forced to resort to unsafe abortions. It is estimated that 25 million unsafe abortions take place every year, the vast majority of them in developing countries, and can lead to fatal consequences such as maternal deaths and disabilities.

The criminalisation of abortion also has a compounding impact on those who are already marginalised. For example, in Morocco, abortion is criminalised in almost all circumstances, and clandestine abortions are unaffordable for women living in poverty. In some countries, such as Equatorial Guinea and Zambia, those who seek an abortion can face life imprisonment.

The criminalisation of abortion creates barriers to accessing safe and dignified abortion care, including high costs, stigma, and the refusal of health workers to provide abortions based on personal conscience or religious belief. Restrictive laws and requirements that are not medically justified further impede access.

The criminalisation of abortion is associated with negative health outcomes, negative impacts on health systems, and the enjoyment of human rights. It results in the provision of poor-quality healthcare goods and services and is associated with a lack of registration and the unavailability of essential medicines. Criminalisation obstructs the provision of abortion information and training for abortion provision and is associated with delayed and unsafe abortions.

The criminalisation of abortion does not achieve its apparent aims of protecting abortion seekers from unsafe abortions or preventing abortions. Instead, it contributes to negative health outcomes, increased costs for health systems, and violations of human rights.

The social stigma of abortion

Abortion stigma is a set of attitudes and beliefs that abortion is "bad, shameful, or wrong". It creates discomfort around the topic, which contributes to misinformation and a lack of knowledge. This stigma is weaponised to create barriers to abortions, such as laws that restrict access, institutions that limit knowledge, and popular media that perpetuates misleading representations.

Abortion stigma is about the "transgression of a gendered norm", with gendered norms referring to the social expectations imposed on women, people assigned female at birth, and people with feminine gender expressions. These norms include the expectation of sexual purity, or sexuality reserved for reproduction, and the expectation of motherhood and nurturing. Having an abortion shows that someone had sex and did not become a parent. Abortion marks their rejection of specific gendered norms about sex, gender, and parenting.

Anti-abortion messages contribute to abortion stigma, and it's very common, even among supporters of abortion, to feel uncomfortable or uncertain about when, why, and at what point in pregnancy it is okay to have an abortion. This discomfort is internalised abortion stigma.

Abortion stigma has important implications for the quality of abortion care. It can lead to poor treatment of those seeking abortions, such as judgement and insensitivity from providers, which can result in people seeking unsafe abortions. It can also lead to gatekeeping, where providers actively discourage or obstruct access to abortions, and avoiding disclosure, where people seeking abortions take actions to prevent their abortion from becoming known.

Abortion stigma also affects the mental health of those who have had abortions, with higher levels of perceived abortion stigma being associated with psychological distress years later.

Restrictive abortion laws violate human rights

The criminalisation of abortion has a particularly detrimental impact on those from marginalised communities, including people on low incomes, refugees, migrants, LGBTI+ people, and racialised and Indigenous people. These groups often face greater barriers to accessing healthcare and, therefore, safe abortions.

The denial of abortion care is a violation of women's and girls' fundamental human rights. Restrictive abortion laws and lack of access to safe abortion services infringe on a range of human rights, including the right to life, the right to health, the right to benefit from scientific progress, the right to privacy, and the right to freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that lack of access to safe, affordable, timely, and respectful abortion care, as well as the stigma associated with abortion, poses risks to the physical and mental well-being of those seeking abortions. Restrictive abortion laws and policies push pregnant people seeking abortions, especially those living in poverty or rural areas, out of the healthcare system and into unsafe, unregulated settings.

Furthermore, restrictive abortion laws do not reduce the number of abortions. Research has shown that when abortion is banned or restricted, the number of abortions remains the same, but abortions become less safe. The rate of unsafe abortions is nearly 45 times higher in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws than in countries where abortion is legal and unrestricted.

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