Even in countries where this right seems to have been acquired for a
long time, it can disappear. The United States is an example: the end of
the federal guarantee of this right has led many states to prohibit or
limit access to abortion. This situation should serve as an example to
never let our guard down and remind us of women's duty of international
solidarity. ---- In the world, seventy-five states authorize abortion
with no other limit than the length of pregnancy. Twenty-four countries
prohibit it completely. And in between, variable conditions: medical
advice, pregnancy resulting from rape, medical problems, mortal danger.
In Europe, no common policy
In France, we are relatively lucky[1]: abortion is available on request,
up to fourteen weeks of pregnancy. And the Constitution speaks of
guaranteed freedom (but not of absolute right), a weak bulwark against
possible regression. Many obstacles persist: the lack of resources in
hospitals in terms of staff and IVG centers, the double conscience
clause that makes abortion an exceptional act, the shortage of abortion
pills from time to time, the lack of choice between medical and
instrumental abortions, the injunction not to talk about it which
deprives the sharing of information and experiences, a not so long
delay. These difficulties still lead about five thousand women to abort
abroad each year. Abortion is commonplace however: almost one in two
women aborts one or more times in her life, which is normal given the
fertile life span and at a rate of twelve or thirteen cycles per year.
Racism is also present in this area: free abortion in mainland France,
incitement to sterilization in Mayotte (after other more aggressive
colonial policies[2]); deploring the decline in the birth rate when
children of exiles sleep in our streets.
Europe does not have a common policy. There is no condition other than
the time limit to access abortion in European countries except Malta -
banned until June 2023, possible since in case of danger to the mother's
life or if the fetus is not viable - and Poland, long liberal but a
perfect example of possible regressions: since 2021 abortion is only
authorized in case of danger to the woman, or if the pregnancy results
from rape or incest. The legal time limit varies from ten weeks in
Portugal to twenty-four weeks in the Netherlands. Access is not always
easy, as in Italy where the rate of caregivers refusing to perform
abortions is enormous and where the regions have more or less
restrictive policies.
As part of the national feminist meetings organized by the Feminist
Coordination in July 2023 in Mont de Marsan.
FSU LANDES/TERRAMNA
United States the great leap backwards
In 2022, the Supreme Court returned this choice to the states by
repealing the famous Roe v. Wade decision. States began to prohibit and
punish. Fourteen states completely prohibit abortion, seven others have
restricted the legal period, sometimes up to six weeks. Arizona almost
resurrected a law from 1864. Idaho forces women to carry non-viable
fetuses. Cruel debates take place, legal proceedings to authorize the
abortion of ectopic pregnancies, or in the case of rare malformations
forgotten in the exceptions. Abortionists are liable to heavy prison
sentences and, in some states, women too. Texas has introduced a bonus
for informing.
Gynecologists are deserting prohibitionist states: moving, internships
in other states including for other specialties, early retirement. In
some states, women are faced with a gynecological desert and sometimes
have to travel 250 kilometers for a simple consultation.
But the fight continues. The Supreme Court ruled in June, confirming the
legality of the abortion pill (which remains prohibited in states that
prohibit abortion). In some states, civil society obtains the
constitutional value of this right through the courts, or by referendum.
The Constitution of other states guarantees reproductive freedom more
broadly. Every time the question is raised in a ballot, the Republicans
lose. Health workers teleconsult and send abortion pills to
prohibitionist states. Liberal states do everything they can to welcome
their neighbors. The number of abortions has not decreased of course,
women are moving.
September 28, International Day for the Right to Abortion
While the right to abortion is expanding globally[3], sometimes with
very limited conditions, four countries have recently regressed: Poland,
El Salvador, Nicaragua and the United States. Russia is on the way. In
the name of a religion, a reactionary morality or for a pronatalist
goal, parliaments full of men grant themselves the right to legislate on
women's privacy. The abortion rate is the same whether it is legal or
not: when it is illegal, women live a sexual life full of fears (in
addition to often being empty of orgasms) and those too poor to go to
another State/country to have an abortion or to pay a caregiver who is
willing or interested in the money they can make from it die from it...
It would take an entire article to talk about the countries of the
South, the weight of religions and patriarchal powers, those where the
conditions are those that prevailed in Europe not so long ago and those
who are gradually gaining access to this freedom.
On September 28, we will recall the strong demand for a secure and
unconditional right to abortion. Abortion is not a problem, it is a
solution. This fight must be included in the broader fight for
"reproductive justice", the right to have or not children and to raise
them with dignity.
Christine (UCL Sarthe)
Validate
[1]This article uses the feminine plural and speaks of women, it should
however be kept in mind that trans men may need to abort.
[2]Le ventre des femmes. Françoise Vergès. Albin Michel. 2021.
[3]The World's Abortion Laws, Reproductiverishts.org
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Droit-a-l-avortement-Un-combat-perpetuel-et-universel
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