SUSTAINING THE FUTURE

Transcription

1 HISAR SCHOOL JUNIOR MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2015 SUSTAINING THE FUTURE Health Committee The issue of legalization of abortion RESEARCH REPORT Recommended by: Defne Aydınol

2 Forum: Health Issue: The issue of legalization of abortion Student Officer: Defne Aydınol Introduction The legal status of a woman s reproductive rights indicates her ability to enjoy her rights and freedom. Different nations have established different laws regarding abortion, and liberalized them. Between 1950 and 1985, several industrialized countries, as well as others, liberalized their abortion laws. Of the approximately 50 million abortions that do occur worldwide, almost half of them are performed by unskilled individuals and in environments that do not meet the minimum medical standards or both. Virtually all of these unsafe abortions take place in the developing world, where the unmet need for contraception remains high and very restrictive abortion laws often are the norm. According to estimates, around 20% of all abortions are presently aborted. The legitimacy of abortions was and is still today a heavily debated issue. This is due to large conflicts in religious and ethical beliefs, societal expectations, traditions, the right of self-determination of a woman and the right to exist of an embryo. Consequently there are various different juridical and ethical assessments of the issue, ranging from a broad freedom of choice to the complete prohibition of abortions with harsh penalties. In the developed and developing world alike, antiabortion advocates and policymakers refuse to acknowledge the facts that abortion's legal status has much less to do with how often it occurs than with whether or not it is safe, and that the surest way to actually reduce the incidence of abortion is to reduce the incidence of unintended pregnancy. While they debate and insist on legal prohibitions, the consequences for women, their families and society as a whole continue to be severe and undeniable. Delegates are responsible for researching the legalization and consequences of abortion, for the sake of being able to generate reasonable solutions that could be implemented by the United Nations. 1

3 Definition of Key Terms Abortion: The deliberate termination of an unwanted pregnancy or one that openly threatens a woman s health. Legalization: The process of removing a legal prohibition against something, which is currently not legal. Prohibition: The action of forbidding something, especially by law. General Overview Currently, 61% of the world s people live in countries where induced abortion is permitted for a numerous reasons or without restriction as to reason. However, 26% of all people live in countries where abortion is generally prohibited. Countries in the northern areas of the world have generally adopted liberal abortion laws, while southern areas have generally adopted restrictive abortion laws. These laws are influenced generally by culture and religion, which by consequence make some countries have more restrictions than others. These laws place women's lives and health at risk by forcing them to undergo unsafe procedures, governments must take legislative action to remove laws that make abortion illegal. Governments must establish and implement protocols and procedures to ensure the accessibility and availability of safe abortion services. The number of abortions per year is approximately 50 million. The number of abortions per day is approximately 115, % of all abortions are obtained in developing countries and 17% occur in developed countries. There were 35 induced abortions per 1000 women aged between years. 25% of all pregnancies ended in an induced abortion. Around 22 million unsafe abortions are estimated to take place worldwide each year, almost all in developing countries. Around 5 million women are admitted to hospital as a result of unsafe abortion every year in developing countries. While more than 3 million women who have complications following unsafe abortion do not receive care. The annual cost of treating major complications from unsafe abortion is estimated at $680 million. Liberal abortion laws do not increase abortion rates. In addition, countries must ensure women can access safe abortion services, because safe and legal abortion is a woman's human right. Some argue that governments should expand the grounds for legal abortion and remove procedural barriers that restrict access to safe abortion services, and be held accountable for making women's human rights a 2

4 primary consideration and making abortion services safe, legal, and accessible. Lawmakers and leaders must allocate resources to improve the quality of abortion care and ensure that healthcare providers are adequately trained to offer safe abortion services, as well as improve access to sexuality education, contraceptive information and services to reduce rates of unwanted pregnancies and induced abortion throughout Europe, except for Ireland and Poland, abortion is broadly legal, widely available and safe. The United States legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, in part because of the clear evidence that restrictive laws were not ending abortion but were exacting a significant public health toll, notably on lower-income women who could not travel or pay for safe services. Almost immediately afterward, pregnancy-related deaths and hospitalizations due to complications of unsafe abortion effectively ended. The United States was not the first country and has been far from the last to recognize this relationship and move to liberalize its law. China was the first large developing country to enact a liberal abortion law in The Soviet Union and the central and western Asian republics enacted similar laws in the 1950s. Over the next 50 years, abortion become legal on broad grounds in a wide range of less developed countries, including Cuba (1965), Singapore (1970), India (1971), Zambia (1972), Tunisia (1973), Vietnam (1975), Turkey (1983), Taiwan (1985), Mongolia (1989), South Africa (1996) and Cambodia (1997). Indeed, the worldwide trend in abortion law has continued to be toward liberalization. And since 1997, another 21 countries or populous jurisdictions have liberalized their laws, including Colombia, Ethiopia, Iran, Mexico City, Nepal Portugal and Thailand. During this same period, only three countries El Salvador, Nicaragua and Poland have increased restrictions. Today, 60% of the world's 1.55 billion women of reproductive age (15 44) live in countries where abortion is broadly legal. The below map is updated in real time to keep pace with changes in how countries are protecting or denying women's reproductive freedom. 3

5 Major Parties Involved and Their Views World Health Organization (WHO) provides global technical and policy guidance on the use of contraception to prevent unintended pregnancy, safe abortion, and treatment of complications from unsafe abortion. In 2012, WHO published updated technical and policy guidance on safe abortion and continues to play a major role in providing data and education. Women on Web were established in response to a growing number of help s from women around the world for an online medical abortion service in The service supports women living in countries where safe abortion is not available, to obtain information and access abortion pills. Every year Women on Web helpdesk members answer more than s from women all over the world. Center for Reproductive Rights is a legal vehicle which uses the law to advance reproductive freedom as a fundamental human right that all governments are legally obligated to protect, respect, and fulfill. Reproductive freedom lies at the heart of the promise of human dignity, self-determination and equality embodied in both the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Center 4

6 envision a world where every woman is free to decide whether and when to have children; where every woman has access to the best reproductive healthcare available; where every woman can exercise her choices without coercion or discrimination. European Court on Human Rights is a common count for the European states and fights for the rights and freedoms secured by the Convention which include the right to life, the right to a fair hearing, the right to respect for private and family life, freedom of expression, freedom of thought, conscience and religion and the protection of property. The Convention prohibits, in particular, torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, forced labor, arbitrary and unlawful detention, and discrimination in the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms secured by the Convention. Timeline of Events There are no international or multinational treaties that deal directly with abortion, but human rights law touches on the issues. European Convention on Human Rights United Nations Human Rights Committee American Convention on Human Rights The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, better known as the European Convention on Human Rights, was opened for signature in Rome on 4 November 1950; it entered into force on 3 September In 2005 the United Nations Human Rights Committee ordered Peru to compensate a woman for denying her a medically indicated abortion; this was the first time a United Nations Committee had held any country accountable for not ensuring access to safe, legal abortion, and the first time the committee affirmed that abortion is a human right. The American Convention on Human Rights, which in 2013 had 23 Latin American parties, declares human life as commencing with conception. Treaties and Events In a landmark case, Peru has compensated a woman for denying her a medically indicated abortion. In 2001, K.L. was a 17-year-old who was diagnosed as having a fetus with anencephaly at 14 weeks gestation. As described below, this fetal anomaly is routinely lethal. Although abortion was legal in Peru in this circumstance, a hospital director refused her request for an abortion. She was forced to continue her pregnancy and deliver the baby, who survived only four days. Working with human rights lawyers, K.L. filed a complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Committee, based in Geneva. In 2005, the Committee concluded that Peru had violated several articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and it ordered financial compensation to K.L. Fifteen years after the incident, 5

7 reparations were finally made for Peru s cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. This marked the first time a United Nations Committee had held a country accountable for failing to ensure access to safe, legal abortion Evaluation of Previous Attempts to Resolve the Issue In many countries where the performance of abortions is generally illegal, statistics indicate that large numbers are being carried out, most of them illegally, with few prosecutions. Of the approximately 50 million abortions carried out every year in the world, estimates place the number performed illegally at 40 per cent (WHO, 1994a). In these countries, law enforcement authorities ignore or tolerate the performance of illegal abortions or even unofficially license clinics for that purpose. A number of factors are responsible for this situation. Among these are the ease with which abortions can be performed, the lack of will or resources to prosecute, particularly in the light of more pressing social needs, and the clandestine nature of the procedure. In some countries where abortion is technically legal, access to authorized facilities and personnel may be limited, or resources to pay for the abortion may be lacking, resulting in more illegal abortions. In a few cases, although abortion is authorized, the Government may not have issued regulations allowing the law to be effectively implemented. In all of these situations, legal action is rarely taken except in the most egregious cases, usually involving the death of a pregnant woman. In some countries, the indifference to abortion is so great that most of those performing abortions or enforcing laws do not know what the provisions of the law actually are. Possible Solutions Women, including adolescents, with unwanted pregnancies often resort to unsafe abortion when they cannot access safe abortion. Barriers to accessing safe abortion include restrictive laws, poor availability of services and high cost. Also conscientious objection of health-care providers and unnecessary requirements such as mandatory waiting periods, mandatory counselling, third-party authorization, medically unnecessary tests may be counted as barriers. There might be a solution covering larger number of women population if and when all or most of these barriers can be eliminated to the extend possible. Timely education on fertility is also very important in avoiding pregnancy, hence abortion. Education and continuous campaigns will help increasing 6

8 awareness on this issue. In addition, countries must ensure women can access safe abortion services, since safe and legal abortion is a woman's human right. Bibliography Cohen, Suzan. Facts and Consequences: Legality, Incidence and Safety of Abortion Worldwide. Guttmacher Institute. Nov 20, Web. June 29, 2016 Center for Reproductive Rights. Web. June 29,2016 Abortion Policies United Nations Population Division Department of Economic and Social Affair. Web. June 29,2016 David A. Grimes, Every Third Woman in America: How Legal Abortion Transformed Our Nation Feb1, Web. June