Undermining of abortion rights is extremely rare and 'goes hand-in-hand with creeping authoritarianism' experts warn

The Supreme Court is expected to overturn precedent in abortion access.

Rebecca Turkington, a University of Cambridge scholar, told The New York Times last year that there is a trend to watch for in countries that have not successfully rolled it back. That goes hand in hand with creeping authoritarianism.

The US Supreme Court may be preparing to overturn abortion rights according to a draft opinion.

Justice Alito wrote in the document that the opinion of the court must be overruled.

In the 21st century, few countries have eroded abortion access laws. Poland, the US, and Nicaragua are included. At times of political turmoil, the changes in established law came.

In 2006 President Daniel Ortega passed a total abortion ban as part of an increasingly authoritarian platform. Poland's 2020 near-total abortion ban came at a moment after one of the country's top justices said the country was moving fast towards an authoritarian regime.

Poland's law on abortion is one of the most restrictive in Europe, and nine organizations have filed interventions on behalf of women in the country.

The head of Ipas, a global nonprofit for reproductive rights, told Foreign Policy that they don't always include reproductive freedom in that package of democracy.