Around the world, countries that are slowly moving away from very restrictive abortion bans are struggling to implement legally-mandated exceptions (for example, for rape). In several countries their judiciaries are the prime movers, requiring more exceptions to general prohibitions on abortions.
The struggle then becomes drafting of rules to govern the exceptions and their implementation.
For example, in Argentina, the country's supreme court held that women must be allowed to obtain abortions in cases of rape. Provincial and city governments are apparently in charge of developing their own rules to effect the exception, and are struggling to do so in the face of pro-life opposition.
Recently, a Buenos Aires woman who was raped while a victim of human trafficking has had her abortion delayed due to activist outcry and a local judge's order. Anti-abortion activists shamed themselves by protesting outside the woman's home. The reason her case became public at all was because the mayor of Buenos Aires, who is pro-life, publicly announced that someone was going to get an abortion due to rape.
In Northern Ireland, Marie Stopes plans to open the first abortion clinic in the territory, in Belfast. Unlike in the U.S., where clinics are the primary venue for abortions, clinics are highly unusual in European countries. Northern Ireland is different from the rest of the UK in having highly restrictive limits on abortion. (While the rest of the UK has restrictive limits on paper, in practice abortion is generally available and accessible under broadly interpreted exceptions.) Hospitals in Northern Ireland are technically able to provide abortions for life-or-health reasons, but an absence of specific legal guidelines on abortions have deterred doctors from performing abortions (beyond strong political and cultural deterrents).
The Marie Stopes clinic looks as if it is intended to force the question of when abortions are permitted and to provide genuine access to abortions early in pregnancy (they will provide medical abortions for women pregnant up to nine weeks)-- which, of course, is why it is drawing such strong negative attention.
And, in an earlier post, I discussed how a life exception (yes, a life exception) for abortion was judicially imposed in the Republic of Ireland in 1992 and has not resulted in clear access to abortions for this narrow exception in the decades since.
One apparent difference between these countries and the United States is the speed and finality with which a judicial order in the U.S. is implemented. While there is a lot of scholarly literature about how judicial orders are implemented imperfectly in the U.S., when it comes to reproductive rights the judiciary does not make women wait for legislatures and bureaucratic agencies to come up with regulations. It is important to have democratic buy-in and utilize legislative and bureaucratic expertise when making fundamental changes in a sensitive policy area. But I think the U.S. system is clearly superior in allowing women much quicker access to their rights.
Links:
Article from Reuters about Argentina (October 12, 2012): Rape victims struggle to get legal abortions in Argentina
Article from the Washington Post (October 11, 2012): Belfast to open Ireland's 1st abortion clinic in test for murky anti-abortion laws on island
Article from LifeSiteNews (October 12, 2012): Marie Stopes situation in Belfast 'grim' unless politicians act swiftly: SPUC
Marie Stopes International web site
The struggle then becomes drafting of rules to govern the exceptions and their implementation.
For example, in Argentina, the country's supreme court held that women must be allowed to obtain abortions in cases of rape. Provincial and city governments are apparently in charge of developing their own rules to effect the exception, and are struggling to do so in the face of pro-life opposition.
Recently, a Buenos Aires woman who was raped while a victim of human trafficking has had her abortion delayed due to activist outcry and a local judge's order. Anti-abortion activists shamed themselves by protesting outside the woman's home. The reason her case became public at all was because the mayor of Buenos Aires, who is pro-life, publicly announced that someone was going to get an abortion due to rape.
In Northern Ireland, Marie Stopes plans to open the first abortion clinic in the territory, in Belfast. Unlike in the U.S., where clinics are the primary venue for abortions, clinics are highly unusual in European countries. Northern Ireland is different from the rest of the UK in having highly restrictive limits on abortion. (While the rest of the UK has restrictive limits on paper, in practice abortion is generally available and accessible under broadly interpreted exceptions.) Hospitals in Northern Ireland are technically able to provide abortions for life-or-health reasons, but an absence of specific legal guidelines on abortions have deterred doctors from performing abortions (beyond strong political and cultural deterrents).
The Marie Stopes clinic looks as if it is intended to force the question of when abortions are permitted and to provide genuine access to abortions early in pregnancy (they will provide medical abortions for women pregnant up to nine weeks)-- which, of course, is why it is drawing such strong negative attention.
And, in an earlier post, I discussed how a life exception (yes, a life exception) for abortion was judicially imposed in the Republic of Ireland in 1992 and has not resulted in clear access to abortions for this narrow exception in the decades since.
One apparent difference between these countries and the United States is the speed and finality with which a judicial order in the U.S. is implemented. While there is a lot of scholarly literature about how judicial orders are implemented imperfectly in the U.S., when it comes to reproductive rights the judiciary does not make women wait for legislatures and bureaucratic agencies to come up with regulations. It is important to have democratic buy-in and utilize legislative and bureaucratic expertise when making fundamental changes in a sensitive policy area. But I think the U.S. system is clearly superior in allowing women much quicker access to their rights.
Links:
Article from Reuters about Argentina (October 12, 2012): Rape victims struggle to get legal abortions in Argentina
Article from the Washington Post (October 11, 2012): Belfast to open Ireland's 1st abortion clinic in test for murky anti-abortion laws on island
Article from LifeSiteNews (October 12, 2012): Marie Stopes situation in Belfast 'grim' unless politicians act swiftly: SPUC
Marie Stopes International web site
Comments