The Chief Justice said last month that the United States was an international outlier in allowing abortion more than halfway through pregnancies. He said that the United States is in the company of North Korea and China.
It is true in some ways, but not all. Only a few countries allow abortion without restriction until fetal viability is established. That is now 23 weeks because of medical advances. Only around a dozen other countries allow abortions for any reason beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy, the threshold in the Mississippi law the Supreme Court is considering, which could overturn the Supreme Court's decision to legalized abortion.
In many countries, women can get an abortion after a certain point in the process. It can be easier to get an abortion in some parts of the US.
The Center for Reproductive Rights fights abortion restrictions in American courts and says that abortion access is out of reach for many in the United States.
The United States is an outlier when it comes to abortion access. The Mississippi case is a direct challenge to abortion. More than 20 states are expected to ban or severely limit abortion if the court overturns Roe.
According to the center, only three countries have tightened their abortion laws since 1994. 59 have expanded them. Ireland made abortion legal on request until 12 weeks. South Korea has decriminalized it.
The U.S. trend is a minority one according to an anthropologist at the University of Central Florida. Poland is the only European nation that restricts both policies and real access to services that are still lawful.
According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, six in 10 women of reproductive age live in countries that broadly allow abortion.
Sixty-six countries, home to just over a quarter of women of reproductive age, either prohibit abortion or allow it only if a woman's life is in danger.
35 percent of women of reproductive age in 63 countries allow abortion for various reasons, including protection of a woman's physical or mental health or consideration of her social or economic circumstances.
Some countries are more tolerant than others. In Britain, women must have two doctors approve their abortion, but they are allowed to have it up to 24 weeks. The decision to have an abortion is yours alone, according to the National Health Service website.
38 percent of women in the world are allowed to have an abortion for any reason. 12 weeks is the most common threshold. The United States is not the only country that allows abortion without restrictions after 15 weeks. North Korea, China, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and Vietnam are included.
141 international legal scholars wrote a brief to the Supreme Court in support of Mississippi.
Some of these countries allow abortion after the cutoff if the woman has a valid reason, and law scholars say that in some of them, abortion until fetal viability is as accessible as it is in the United States.
In Germany, abortion is allowed on request until 12 weeks if the woman believes it is necessary for her physical or mental health or for present or future living conditions. After a 12-week cutoff, abortion is allowed for certain factors, including the person's age, income, or occupation.
Some countries allow exceptions after 12 weeks. In France and Ireland, the exceptions are to prevent serious health issues or death if the fetus has a serious illness.
Even if they have exemptions, gestational cutoffs can make it hard to get an abortion. The large number of women who travel to less restrictive countries in Europe for later abortions is a strong piece of evidence.
She said thatational age limits are serious barriers, even in places that are ostensibly liberal.
About 8 percent of abortions happen in the United States after 13 weeks. There are barriers in the US that make it difficult for women to get an abortion.
In Europe, abortion laws may be more liberal than they are on paper. In other parts of the world, there is less access to abortion than the law allows. Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa ban abortion, but some allow it, like South Africa.
A scarcity of health professionals that are trained to provide legal abortions or have limited knowledge about abortion law can limit access to safe and affordable services in government hospitals.
In Italy, abortion is legal and free, but many doctors are not allowed to perform abortions for religious or moral reasons. It has a chilling effect on other doctors because of the discrepancy between the law and the actual access.
In rich democracies, abortion is covered by public health insurance. Other forms of reproductive health care are also included. In Ireland, the cost of an abortion is fully covered, the procedure can be performed by a general practitioner, and there is a government help line on how to get an abortion or reach a nurse during recovery.
Federal funding of abortions is not allowed in the United States. Special clinics are often far from where women live. They are more likely to be offered at ordinary hospitals and medical clinics in peer nations.
Legislation involving political compromise has been used to bring about abortion laws in most European countries. The Supreme Court in the U.S. originated the viability threshold. Michael New, a research associate at the Catholic University of America who supports more U.S. restrictions on abortion, said that the process difference may explain why the law in the U.S. is later than in most of its peer nations.
He said in an email that a legal debate can be very different from a democratic debate or moral debate.
The United States has a wide range of laws, which will be magnified if the Supreme Court overturns Roe.
The availability of pills that can end a pregnancies is changing the nature of illegal abortion. High rates of unsafe abortion were common in countries without legal abortion. It is easy to transport pills that cause abortions. Two drugs are the most effective studied protocol. According to recent research, only one drug on the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines causes a complete abortion.
In some countries, you can buy the drug over the counter. Activists in South America and Africa are helping women find and use the drug outside of the official health system. Women in the United States can order the pills online from Europe.
The use of such pills could be subject to punishment in a post-Roe world. Women who experience a miscarriage are sometimes jailed in El Salvadoran, which has a ban on abortion.
The risks have changed from physical to legal.
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