Decriminalization Of Abortion Research Articles

From Abortions to Sex Work: What Decriminalization Can Teach Us About Stigma in Criminal Law

This paper pursues the idea that decriminalization and its aftermath deserve the attention of criminal law scholars. It presents the development of abortion law post-1969 and particularly following full decriminalization in 1988 in the Maritime provinces as a case study. Focusing on criminal law theory, decriminalization provides an opportunity to empirically test and doctrinally review the interaction between criminal law and stigma. The point of departure is the observation that abortion stigma has continued unabated after decriminalization. In the view of the Supreme Court, the application of criminal law produces social stigma. The Court also relies on the production of stigma as a distinguishing feature of true criminal law, contrasting it with regulatory law. This both suggests that criminal law is uniquely positioned to produce stigma and that regulatory law does not produce stigma. The experience of abortion decriminalization challenges both of these assumptions. Using social stigma theory, I consider the relationship of criminal law stigma to social stigma and its implications for the decriminalization and recriminalization of sex work.

Mujeres, aborto e Iglesia católica

Desde hace años las batallas más sonadas en torno a los derechos humanos de las mujeres tienen como contrincante acérrimo a la jerarquía de la Iglesia católica. En estas páginas pretendo trazar solo un aspecto de ese lamentable panorama: la confrontación que, desde hace tiempo, se viene dando en torno a la despenalización del aborto.

The Cairns abortion trial: Language, deviance, and the ‘spoiled identity’

In 2009 a couple in Cairns were charged, and later found not guilty, of illegally obtaining a medical abortion through the use of medication imported from overseas. The court case reignited the discussions surrounding the illegality and social acceptance of abortion in Queensland, Australia. Based on a discourse analysis of 150 online news media articles covering the Cairns trial, this article critically examines the language and key words relied upon by media when covering the Cairns trial. It argues that, despite popular support for the decriminalisation of abortion, emotive language that aligns with a pro-life ideology is still being employed which has the power to shape perceptions of deviance and stigma surrounding abortion. This is useful to demonstrate how media discourse surrounding abortion needs to further align with a pro-choice ideology for women to be empowered for their choices.

Acceptability and clinical outcomes of first- and second-trimester surgical abortion by suction aspiration in Colombia

Objective(s)Since partial decriminalization of abortion in Colombia, Oriéntame has provided legal abortion services through 15 weeks gestation in an outpatient primary care setting. We sought to document the safety and acceptability of the second trimester compared to the first-trimester surgical abortion in this setting. Study DesignThis was a prospective cohort study using a consecutive sample of 100 women undergoing surgical first-trimester abortion (11 weeks 6 days gestational age or less) and 200 women undergoing second-trimester abortion (12 weeks 0 days–15 weeks 0 days) over a 5-month period in 2012. After obtaining informed consent, a trained interviewer collected demographic and clinical information from direct observation and the patient's clinical chart. The interviewer asked questions after the procedure regarding satisfaction with the procedure, physical pain and emotional discomfort. Fifteen days later, the interviewer assessed satisfaction with the procedure and any delayed complications. ResultsThere were no major complications and seven minor complications. Average measured blood loss was 37.87 mL in the first trimester and 109 mL in the second trimester (p<.001). Following the procedure, more second-trimester patients reported being very satisfied (81% vs. 94%, p=.006). Satisfaction was similar between groups at follow-up. There were no differences in reported emotional discomfort after the procedure or at follow-up, with the majority reporting no emotional discomfort. The majority of women (99%) stated that they would recommend the clinic to a friend or family member. ConclusionsSecond-trimester surgical abortion in an outpatient primary care setting in Colombia can be provided safely, and satisfaction with these services is high. ImplicationsThis is one of the first studies from Latin America, a region with a high proportion of maternal mortality due to unsafe abortion, which documents the safety and acceptability of surgical abortion in an outpatient primary care setting. Findings could support increased access to safe abortion services, particularly in the second trimester.

Post-abortion and induced abortion services in two public hospitals in Colombia

ObjectiveUntil 2006, legal induced abortion was completely banned in Colombia. Few facilities are equipped or willing to offer abortion services; often adolescents experience even greater barriers of access in this context. We examined post abortion care (PAC) and legal induced abortion in two large public hospitals. We tested the association of hospital site, procedure type (manual vacuum aspiration vs. sharp curettage), and age (adolescents vs. women 20 years and over) with service type (PAC or legal induced abortion). Study designRetrospective cohort study using 2010 billing data routinely collected for reimbursement (N=1353 procedures). We utilized descriptive statistics, multivariable logistic regression and predicted probabilities. ResultsAdolescents made up 22% of the overall sample (300/1353). Manual vacuum aspiration was used in one-third of cases (vs. sharp curettage). Adolescents had lower odds of documented PAC (vs. induced abortion) compared with women over age 20 (OR=0.42; 95% CI=0.21–0.86). The absolute difference of service type by age, however, is very small, controlling for hospital site and procedure type (.97 probability of PAC for adolescents compared with .99 for women 20 and over). Regardless of age, PAC via sharp curettage is the current standard in these two public hospitals. ConclusionBoth adolescents and women over 20 are in need of access to legal abortion services utilizing modern technologies in the public sector in Colombia. Documentation of abortion care is an essential first step to determining barriers to access and opportunities for quality improvement and better health outcomes for women. ImplicationsFollowing partial decriminalization of abortion in Colombia, in public hospitals nearly all abortion services are post-abortion care, not induced abortion. Sharp curettage is the dominant treatment for both adolescents and women over 20. Women seek care in the public sector for abortion, and must have access to safe, quality services.

A Polêmica do Aborto e o 3º Programa Nacional de Direitos Humanos

Brazil's Third National Human Rights Program raised a controversy in relation to previous programs by proposing to pass a bill to decriminalize abortion grounds of women's autonomy to decide on matters pertaining to their own bodies. The article presents an anthropological analysis of this debate based on three materials: a document search aimed at comparing the focus of the current and previous programs, a survey of print and electronic media stories covering the controversy, and ethnographic observation of events in which abortion is discussed in relation to human rights. The study maps the main actors in this controversy. Demands for recognition of human rights involve the clash between pro-life groups, who defend the fetus' right to life, and the feminist movement, demanding decriminalization of abortion as a woman's right.

Prenatal diagnosis: The irresistible rise of the ‘visible fetus’

Prenatal diagnosis was developed in the 1970s, a result of a partly contingent coming together of three medical innovations—amniocentesis, the study of human chromosomes and obstetrical ultrasound—with a social innovation, the decriminalization of abortion. Initially this diagnostic approach was proposed only to women at high risk of fetal malformations. Later, however, the supervision of the fetus was extended to all pregnant women. The latter step was strongly favoured by professionals’ aspiration to prevent the birth of children with Down syndrome, an inborn condition perceived as a source of suffering for families and a burden on public purse. Experts who promoted screening for ‘Down risk’ assumed that the majority of women who carry a Down fetus will decide to terminate the pregnancy, and will provide a private solution to a public health problem. The generalization of screening for Down risk increased in turn the frequency of diagnoses of other, confirmed or potential fetal pathologies, and of dilemmas linked with such diagnoses. Debates on such dilemmas are usually limited to professionals. The transformation of prenatal diagnosis into a routine medical technology was, to a great extent, an invisible revolution.

Intervenciones disruptivas al comienzo de la vida humana: un debate bioético y del bioderecho sobre la “pena de muerte” prenatal

La intervención disruptiva que más genera debate sobre la “pena de muerte prenatal”, desde la perspectiva de la bioética y el bioderecho, es sin duda el aborto. En este caso se trata de acabar deliberadamente con la vida: prima facie, la del hijo no deseado. Elucidaremos sobre la dignidad del ser humano, desde el momento mismo de la concepción de la persona humana, en acopio al derecho a la protección de la vida física del que está por nacer.La despenalización del aborto conlleva a la “pena de muerte” al comienzo de la vida humana, con connotaciones bioéticas, biomédicas, biopolíticas y del bioderecho. Permeando a las futuras generaciones con el postulado del principio de autonomía y el consentimiento informado que entrama el determinismo biológico de quienes deben morir, se examina la “pena de muerte prenatal” ante el aborto en España y Colombia.

O aborto e o uso do corpo feminino na política: a campanha presidencial brasileira em 2010 e seus desdobramentos atuais

O tema do aborto ocupou o segundo turno da última eleição presidencial no Brasil, que teve pela primeira vez uma candidata mulher. A partir dos discursos públicos, analisam-se as pressões sofridas pela e pelo candidata/o em enfrentar a descriminalização do aborto, os argumentos religiosos contra o aborto em um Estado laico, o tratamento dos grupos religiosos dado ao corpo das mulheres, sendo esse um de seus redutos de controle, e o embate entre a visão da sexualidade feminina como um "território" de manipulação política e a perspectiva dos direitos sexuais e reprodutivos.

Decriminalization of Abortion in Mexico City: The Effects on Women’s Reproductive Rights

In April 2007, the Mexico City, Mexico, legislature passed landmark legislation decriminalizing elective abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. In Mexico City, safe abortion services are now available to women through the Mexico City Ministry of Health's free public sector legal abortion program and in the private sector, and more than 89 000 legal abortions have been performed. By contrast, abortion has continued to be restricted across the Mexican states (each state makes its own abortion laws), and there has been an antichoice backlash against the legislation in 16 states. Mexico City's abortion legislation is an important first step in improving reproductive rights, but unsafe abortions will only be eliminated if similar abortion legislation is adopted across the entire country.

The Challenges of Sexology in Argentina

ABSTRACT This article inquires into the origins and present dynamics of sexology in Argentina, with the aim of discussing its prevailing approaches and shedding light on some of the field's tensions and challenges. Findings are based on empirical research that used both secondary sources (i.e., course outlines, conference programs, and affiliation and accreditation rules of professional associations and curriculum vitae of well-known sexologists) and qualitative data gathered in interviews with key actors in the field (sexual therapists, sex educators, and other professionals dealing with sexuality issues who do not acknowledge themselves as sexologists). The text also maps professional organizations and training options, explores potential tensions in the field (i.e., the relation between those providing sexual counseling and sex education), and addresses two main issues: the increasing medicalization of the field stimulated by the Viagra phenomenon and the gender power imbalance between professions (most physicians working as sexologists are male, while most psychologists and psychoanalysts are female). It is our hypothesis that both sexologists’ profile (mainly male physicians) and the nature of the demands they face (their clients are basically middle-class couples or individuals seeking to improve their sexual lives) may explain their lack of familiarity and/or interest regarding the gender perspective and nonhegemonic sexualities. The fact that there has not been an evident generational renovation as well as sexologists’ small amount of interaction with nongovernmental and governmental actors regarding public policies on sexuality-related issues (i.e., decriminalization of abortion, sex education in schools) seem to indicate that the field is facing challenges other than increasing medicalization that threatens the power and prestige of these specialists.

Critical care providers’ opinion on unsafe abortion in Argentina

ObjectiveTo survey the opinion of critical care providers in Argentina about abortion. MethodsAn anonymous questionnaire was distributed to critical care providers attending the 20th National Critical Care Conference in Argentina. Results149 of 1800 attendees completed the questionnaire, 69 (46.3%) of whom were members of the Argentine Society of Critical Care (ASCC). 122 (81.9%) supported abortion decriminalization in situations excluded from the current law; 142 (95.3%) in cases of congenital defects; 133 (89.3%) in cases of rape; 115 (77.2%) when women's mental health is at risk; 71 (47.7%) when pregnancy is unintended; and 61 (40.9%) for economic reasons. 126 (84.6%) supported abortion in public and private institutions, and 121 (81.2%) before 12weeks of pregnancy. Variables independently associated with abortion support among female versus male attendees were abortion to preserve women's mental health (OR 4.47; 95% CI, 1.61–12.42; P=0.004) and abortion before 12weeks of pregnancy (OR 3.93; 95% CI, 1.29–11.94; P=0.015). Abortion at request was independently associated with ASCC membership (OR 2.63; 95% CI, 1.07–6.45; P=0.034). ConclusionCritical care providers would support abortion in situations excluded from the current abortion law and before 12weeks of pregnancy, in both public and private hospitals.

Politics, Religion and Gender Equality in Contemporary Mexico: women's sexuality and reproductive rights in a contested secular state

This article explores the complexities of the interaction between politics, religion and gender equality in contemporary Mexico, by analysing recent developments in public debate, legal changes and implementation of government policies in two areas: 1) the inclusion of emergency contraception in public health services in 2004; and 2) the decriminalisation of abortion in Mexico City in 2008, which was followed by a massive campaign to re-criminalise abortion in the federal states. Three main findings emerge from our analysis: first, that women's sexual and reproductive autonomy has become an issue of intense public debate that is being addressed by both state–public policy and society; second, that the gradual democratisation of the Mexican political system and society is forcing the Catholic Church to play by the rules of democracy; and third, that the character and nature of the Mexican (secular) state has become an arena of intense struggle within which traditional political boundaries and ideologies are being reconfigured.

Early medical abortion: legal and medical developments in Australia

Mifepristone is a safe, effective and relatively cheap drug that plays an important role in women's health care and is widely used for early medical abortion in many countries. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) can authorise mifepristone to be imported into and marketed in Australia. To date, no pharmaceutical company has applied to register mifepristone in Australia. The TGA can also permit medical practitioners to prescribe medicine that is not approved for marketing in Australia under the Authorised Prescribers scheme. The number of approvals for mifepristone has gradually increased, in spite of a complicated and protracted application process. Approval under the Authorised Prescribers scheme requires medical practitioners to comply with state or territory legislation. Abortion laws in Australia vary between jurisdictions, and in some states the law is unclear and confusing. The decriminalisation of abortion in all Australian jurisdictions would protect medical practitioners from criminal liability, promote the health interests of Australian women, and discourage the illegal importation of abortifacients that are being used without quality controls or medical supervision. The Victorian Abortion Law Reform Act 2008 is one legislative model for this.

Making the Best of it: A Conceptual Reconstruction of Abortion Jurisprudence in the United States and Mexico

This article makes an effort to identify conceptual categories abstracted from the history of abortion case law in the United States, with the ultimate goal of building a conceptual constitutional framework that is more or less detached from the particularities of the legal system that created it. The result is then used to evaluate the unprecedented ruling by the Mexican Supreme Court in 2008 to decriminalize abortion. The study is divided into five sections. Section I asks why women should be allowed to have abortions. The answer to this question justifies the existence of the right to choose, which involves interests, rights, principles and values. Sections II and III consider how the State should regulate abortion procedures by presenting a detailed regulatory scheme born out of various concepts of United States jurisprudence. Section IV offers some general conclusions on American case law. Finally, Section V focuses on the decriminalization of abortion in the Mexico City Criminal Code. It offers an exercise in comparative law that gives a detailed account of the content of the newly reformed statute and its constitutional challenge in the Mexican Supreme Court, analyzing it through the newly constructed looking glass.

Obstacles and challenges following the partial decriminalisation of abortion in Colombia

During a highly contested process, abortion was partially decriminalised in Colombia in 2006 by the Constitutional Court: when the pregnancy threatens a woman's life or health, in cases of severe fetal malformations incompatible with life, and in cases of rape, incest or unwanted insemination. However, Colombian women still face obstacles to accessing abortion services. This is illustrated by 36 cases of women who in 2006–08 were denied the right to a lawful termination of pregnancy, or had unjustified obstacles put in their path which delayed the termination, which are analysed in this article. We argue that the obstacles resulted from fundamental disagreements about abortion and misunderstandings regarding the ethical, legal and medical requirements arising from the Court's decision. In order to avoid obstacles such as demands for a judge's authorisation, institutional claims of conscientious objection, rejection of a claim of rape, or refusal of health insurance coverage for a legal termination, which constitute discrimination against women, three main strategies are suggested: public ownership of the Court's decision by all Colombian citizens, a professional approach by those involved in the provision of services in line with the law, and monitoring of its implementation by governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Saúde Reprodutiva, fecundidade e aborto provocado: análise de seis inquéritos populacionais realizados em São Paulo, Brasil

&lt;span style="font-family: HelveticaLTStd-Roman; font-size: xx-small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: HelveticaLTStd-Roman; font-size: xx-small;"&gt;&lt;p&gt;O Aborto Inseguro é, ainda, um grave problema de Saúde Pública e sua solução, um desafio a exigir medidas urgentes que passam, fatalmente, pelo processo de descriminalização do aborto. Conhecer o perfil das mulheres que recorrem ao aborto provocado, especialmente ao clandestino, inseguro, é de suma importância tanto para a área de Saúde Pública, em particular para a Saúde Reprodutiva, quanto para a área de Demografia. A partir da análise de 6 (seis) inquéritos populacionais, conduzidos em populações diferentes quanto à renda e quanto às características sociodemográficas, em São Paulo, nos últimos anos, as autoras procuram aproximar-se desse perfil.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;

The decriminalisation of abortion in Mexico City: how did abortion rights become a political priority?

In the last decade, there has been a clear tendency toward liberalising abortion laws at the international level. In April 2007, this trend reached the Federal District of Mexico City. Landmark legislation decriminalised abortion on demand up to 12 weeks of gestation. In a region where abortion is still legally proscribed and stigmatised to the detriment of women's health, lives, and rights, what explains Mexico City's historic decriminalisation of abortion? How and why did this issue become a political priority? To analyse this question, we propose applying a framework (developed by Jeremy Shiffman and Stephanie Smith) on the generation of political priorities for global health initiatives to the case study of the decriminalisation of abortion in Mexico City. We find that such an analysis of the Mexico City process, using Shiffman and Smith's four categories, combined with our perspective as NGO activists, offers a compelling and comprehensive explanation of this historic advance toward the recognition of women's abortion rights.

Social Consensus, Democratic Conflict: The Debate on the Decriminalisation of Abortion in Uruguay

Social Consensus, Democratic Conflict: The Debate on the Decriminalisation of Abortion in Uruguay

Anticoncepción y aborto en Argentina: perspectivas de obstetras y ginecólogos

To explore the role of obstetricians and gynaecologists in reproductive public health policies in Argentina. Combination of quantitative methods (survey, n=467) and qualitative methods (semistructured interview, n=35; focus groups, n=6). The great majority of respondents believe that abortion and contraception are serious public health issues. Seven out of 10 considered the implementation of family planning services and post-abortion contraceptive counseling to be priorities. One-half favored promoting social debate on abortion. The great majority thought that de-criminalization of abortion would help to diminish maternal mortality and that abortion should not be penalized when the womans life or health is at risk, or in cases of rape or fetal malformations. Abortion and contraception are important issues for physicians. Advocacy efforts within this community need to focus on an integral vision of health, emphasizing their social responsibility.