Introduction
Abortion has been and remains a highly controversial issue worldwide, sharply dividing the population along partisan, ideological, and spiritual lines. The demand for abortions has been maintained throughout the years and represents a primary healthcare need for women and girls. According to the Amnesty International report, one in every four pregnancies around the world ends in abortion (2018).
Even though the need for abortion is widespread, accessing safe and legal services is not always guaranteed for individuals, especially those from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. Besides, the opposition to legal abortion, which includes predominantly religious communities, has argued that legal abortion encourages a culture in which life is considered “disposable” (Amnesty International, 2018). Despite the controversy, the reasons for abortion may vary for each person, and the choice of ending one’s pregnancy is a personal choice that safe and affordable healthcare services should support.
Public Opinion
Research into the legalization of abortion starts with assessing the opinions of the public on the issue. According to the latest available data from Pew Research Center, 61% of American adults think that abortion should be legalized in all or the majority of cases. In comparison, 37% say that it should be illegal in all cases (Hartig, 2022). The same study illustrated a significant disagreement both between and within political parties over the legalization of abortion.
Notably, Democrats and Democrat-leaning individuals are thirty percentage points more likely to support the legalization of abortion in a majority of cases than their Republican counterparts, with 72% and 38% reported rates, respectively (Hartig, 2022). Such a wide gap is possibly a result of the steady increase in legal abortion support among Democrats throughout the years. In contrast to the absolutist perspective on abortion restrictions in the United States, the United Kingdom population has a predominantly situation-based approach, which means that it depends on the circumstances in which abortions can be performed (Clements & Field, 2018).
Abortions for traumatic reasons have been widely accepted since the passing of the Abortion Act of 1967 (Clements & Field, 2018). Abortions done for social reasons initially were divided by opinion, but they became more acceptable over time, with very few Britons rejecting abortions in all circumstances (Clements & Field, 2018). As to specific statistics, 65% of the UK population supports abortion being available to women for up to fourteen weeks, while 39% support the procedure being legal for up to twenty weeks (Right to Life, 2022). The findings of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) illustrate a higher level of support for abortion, with 71% of responders agreeing that if a person does not want to continue their pregnancy, they should have an abortion (Langford, 2021).
Finally, as opposed to a larger gap between political parties inherent to the US approach, the trend for supporting abortion is consistent across the political spectrum. Around 70% of Conservatives and 77% of Labor voters favor the procedure, with their percentage of opposition being the same – 9% (Langford, 2021). Overall, the environment for abortions from the public perspective is more favorable in the UK than in the US, even though both countries provide the service to the population.
As evidenced by statistics for the US, the Western perspective on abortion supports the right of women to choose. Still, in countries such as Poland, which is a part of the EU and is a Catholic state, abortion has been banned almost completely, which caused significant public outrage. The country’s government has recently made all abortions illegal except pregnancies that resulted from criminal acts or instances when women’s health is in danger (Benhold & Pronczuk, 2022).
The ban will inevitably lead to adverse health and social implications for women who will likely be seeking help in other countries or getting access to illegal and unsafe services. Thus, Poland is an example of what the US can become if abortions become illegal or highly restricted in many states. The case of Poland warrants more attention within the current discussion, as two years have already passed since the near-total prohibition of legal abortion in the country. Even though 75% of Poles had shown support for the right of women to abortion, the tribunal decided that the procedure was to be deemed illegal unless the pregnancy was threatening a mother’s life or health (Tayler, 2022).
Moreover, even in cases of rape or incest that led to pregnancy, the authorities require showing proof to obtain an abortion, which is nearly impossible for the survivors of rape. This resulted in further sociopolitical tensions for the general population as well as people fleeing the war in Ukraine to Poland. Women who were raped by armed groups of the enemy could not get access to abortion in Poland because of the severe restrictions (Tayler, 2022). For Polish women, the only solution is traveling to neighboring countries to get the service, which can be costly. In terms of medical professionals, they often fear legal repercussions when dealing with women seeking abortions.
Non-profits, such as Abortion Without Borders, reported that when access to abortions in the country was significantly restricted, they consistently received around 800 calls per month with questions regarding assistance (Human Rights Watch, 2021). Relevant stakeholders who support abortions in Poland agreed that the country’s law restricting and criminalizing the procedure did not eliminate it. Instead, it drove people who sought an abortion to look for methods to obtain one. Such approaches could lead to mental and physical health risks and diminish their dignity and authority. According to the provisions made by the Human Rights Committee (2018), it is part of the government’s obligation to protect pregnant people’s rights, which means that they should not introduce criminal sanctions against those seeking or undergoing the procedure.
Healthcare Perspective
Healthcare professionals view abortions as common health interventions that individuals need to improve their quality of life and avoid unwanted outcomes. According to the study by de Londres et al. (2022), healthcare providers think that restrictions on abortion are inconsistent with the WHO’s support for optimizing various health workers’ roles and do not reflect the EBP determinations of who can provide abortion. The World Health Organization defines induced abortion as a straightforward and standard procedure, the purpose of which is to guarantee access to health among the global population. WHO (2023) states that almost 50% of all pregnancies are unintended, with six out of ten unintended pregnancies ending in induced abortion.
When it is carried out under the recommended standards of safety and performed by professionals with the necessary skills, the procedure is considered safe. It poses few to no risks to women. However, increased health concerns emerge when women face limitations in obtaining quality abortions, which is why they may seek unsafe ways to access the service.
Research into unsafe abortions in Africa illustrates how the lack of safe healthcare services further widens the gap in availability between developing and developed economies. Gebremedhin et al. (2018) noted that the maternal deaths linked to unsafe abortions were 37 deaths per 100,000 live births in Sub-Saharan Africa, 23 per 100,000 in the Caribbean and Latin America, and 12 per 100,000 in South Asia (Gebremedhin et al., 2018). In Africa specifically, the impact of unsafe abortions is severe to this day, with 99% of all procedures carried out in the region being classified as unsafe, thus increasing the risks of maternal deaths (Gebremedhin et al., 2018). As a result, Africa’s death rate from unsafe abortion is one in every 150 cases, which is the highest globally (Gebremedhin et al., 2018). The prerequisites for unsafe abortions include poverty, social inequality, and women’s rights.
In states where abortion is restricted and prohibited or where it does not meet the standards of safety, the implications for women are negative, especially those falling within young, poor, and low-educated categories. Unsafe abortions in such countries are implemented through such methods as using “oral and injectable” substances, “vaginal preparations, intrauterine foreign bodies, and trauma to the abdomen” (Gebremedhin et al., 2018). Importantly, between 20% and 50% of women who undergo unsafe abortions develop health issues that result in hospital admissions. The complications include hemorrhage, sepsis, and peritonitis, as well as abdominal organ, cervix, vagina, and uterus trauma.
Overall, the restrictions in access to safe abortions in countries across the world lead to women seeking illegal and unsafe services that could pose serious risks to their health. Therefore, it is the task of health development partners to consider the strategies to improve family planning services, especially in regions that lack them, and further advocate for the legalization. The availability of safe and quality abortion services will ultimately improve the health and well-being of women and prevent them from seeking them elsewhere.
Religious Perspective
It has been common for highly religious individuals to argue against abortion, with the key statement pointing to the fact that it is murder, which goes against spiritual teachings. According to the article by Mehta (2022), there is variability in religious views on abortion. From the Christian Catholic perspective, for example, the argument for murder is based on the issue of “ensoulment,” which refers to the moment at which the soul is believed to enter the body (Mehta, 2022). Thus, the fetus becomes human because it gets a soul at the moment of conception; therefore, abortion cannot be permitted.
In Islam, abortion is generally permitted to save the lives of mothers, while classical Islamic law views legal personhood starting at birth. In Jewish tradition, there remains a debate on when ensoulment takes place. However, the fetus is protected and viewed as a potential person who does not hold the same personhood as his mother (Mehta, 2022). In stricter groups, such as evangelical Protestants, around 74% of responders say that abortion must be illegal, while non-evangelical Protestants (60%) favor abortion in most cases (Hartig, 2022). These findings indicate that even though traditional teachings speak against abortion as a practice, religions that allow for free choice are not as restrictive as initially perceived.
Conclusions
Access to abortion is a component of women’s comprehensive health care that allows individuals to make informed decisions about their health and future lives. Despite the religious perspective that abortion is immoral and creates a throwaway culture that does not value human life, the legalization of the procedure only means that it becomes safe and accessible to any citizen seeking it. Individuals who have moral or religious reasons for not terminating their pregnancies will not be forced to do so. However, it does not mean that other people who may feel that abortion is the right choice for them should be prevented from accessing the service safely.
Besides, being denied an abortion legally results in higher rates of seeking unsafe services elsewhere. The examples of both developing regions, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, and developed nations, such as Poland, illustrate that banning the procedure will never stop its occurrence. Individuals who are turned away when they want to implement the procedure safely can endure both physical and mental health problems compared to those who were able to obtain it.
Policy change can only occur when there is an overarching public demand for legalizing abortion across the country. Even though it is currently protected by less than half of the states, this suggests that there is not enough pressure from the public to make abortion legal across the country. The overturning of Roe v. Wade, which left abortion rights to states separately, Poland’s near-total ban on abortion, and the lack of safe abortion services in Africa present significant barriers to public health and the exercising of fundamental human rights of women. Abortion should be legal to the full extent across the globe, leaving the decision to women and the choices they make about their reproductive health.
References
Amnesty International. (2018). Key facts about abortion. Web.
de Londras, F., Cleeve, A., Rodriguez, M. I., Farell, M., Furgalska, M., & Lavelanet. (2022). The impact of provider restrictions on abortion-related outcomes: A synthesis of legal and health evidence. Reproductive Health, 19(95). Web.
Hartig, H. (2022). About six in ten Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Web.
Mehta, S. (2022). There is no one ‘religious view’ on abortion: A scholar of religion, gender and sexuality explains. Web.
Pew Research Center. (2021). Views on abortion by race and ethnicity. Web.
Human Rights Committee. (2018). General comment No. 36 (2018) on Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on the right to life. Web.
Tayler, L. (2022). Two years on, Poland’s abortion crackdowns and the rule of law. Web.
Clements, B., & Field, C. D. (2018). Abortion and public opinion in Great Britain: a 50-year retrospective. Journal of Beliefs & Values, 39(4), 429-444. Web.
Human Rights Watch. (2021). Poland: A year on, abortion ruling harms women anniversary marks ongoing assault on women’s rights, rule of law. Web.
Langford, E. (2021). UK voters are majority pro-choice across the political spectrum and support the extension of at-home abortion. Politics Home. Web.
Benhold, K., & Pronczuk, M. (2022). Poland shows the risks for women when abortion is banned. The New York Times. Web.
Right to Life. (2022). New polls show that a minority of the British public support abortion being available for 20 weeks. Right to Life News. Web.