Around the world there are various forms of governments that have significantly different views on abortion. Whether a ban on abortion was enabled due to family planning or ethical questioning, we can conclude that no country has the same experience or political view on this topic. Based off the selective list of countries below, governments can legalize abortion to protect the privacy rights of women, balance out the gender ratio, or enable a female's voice over her reproductive matters.
South Korea
In 1953, abortion was banned in all of South Korea. Articles 269 and 270 of South Korea’s Criminal Act stated that a woman cannot intentionally end her pregnancy. The punishment for doing so would be serious time in prison or fines. These strict regulations were set in place because the government was "family planning". In order to increase their population and low fertility rates, mothers were outlawed from terminating their fetus. The South Korean government also stated that they were "responsible to protect the unborn fetus” when no one would. However, after a spike in the fertility rate in the 1980s and repeated protests led by feminists organizations, the government was forced to rethink the ban. In 2019, 66 years after the abortion law was signed, the ban was ruled as unconstitutional. (NPR)
China
In 1979, the One-Child Policy in the People's Republic of China was enabled. The government decided to create a one child maximum per family to slow the rapid population growth. This quickly backfired and caused uneven gender percentages in the lower age groups. There were a significantly higher percentage of male babies because society valued men over women during that time. Males had an easier time getting jobs in factories, farms, and in the army because they were considered to be stronger. This meant that every family wanted their only child to be a male in order to earn more money. When a family discovered their child was female, women would get secret abortions. This has caused a serious upset in the gender balance of China because with a shortage of females, less and less babies were born. The chinese population dropped as new generations rose. The ban was lifted very recently in 2015 and instead, a two-child policy was implemented in an attempt to balance the ratio of girls to boys. However, the abortions had a massive impact that will affect all of China for decades to come. Due to these actions, abortions in all of China had to be regulated to ensure that it was not a sex-selective decision. From this experience, we can conclude that legalizing abortion could have seriously dangerous consequences on any country because the gender to gender ratio could be disrupted. Not only that but the total population size could change drastically.
United States of America
Abortion timeline:
1821 - Connecticut governor signs first abortion
law that bans abortion within the state.
1860 - 19 other states have passed similar laws
that ban all types of abortion.
1890 - Abortion becomes illegal nationwide under
a federal government.
1900s - All appeals against the regulations that
restrict abortion are repealed by the Supreme Court.
1973 - The landmark Roe versus Wade struck down
previous bans on abortion and it become legal nationwide.
2019 - Law was signed in Alabama that makes all abortion illegal.
If you perform an abortion, you could serve up to 99 years in jail.
(Students for Life)
Roe v. Wade:
Jane Roe, a fake name used to protect her identity, went to court with a case to make abortion legal in 1973. Roe had requested an abortion in her home district, Dallas county, but was denied by Henry Wade, the district attorney. Before the case went to the Supreme Court, the US government believed that it was their duty to protect the potential life of the unborn fetus. However, Jane Roe claimed that a woman's right to privacy means that she has the right to be left alone and that the government cannot force her hand in important, personal matters. After hearing her case, the Supreme Court ruled that the abortion ban was unconstitutional. Since that day, the US government has not yet changed their views on abortion.
1821 - Connecticut governor signs first abortion
law that bans abortion within the state.
1860 - 19 other states have passed similar laws
that ban all types of abortion.
1890 - Abortion becomes illegal nationwide under
a federal government.
1900s - All appeals against the regulations that
restrict abortion are repealed by the Supreme Court.
1973 - The landmark Roe versus Wade struck down
previous bans on abortion and it become legal nationwide.
2019 - Law was signed in Alabama that makes all abortion illegal.
If you perform an abortion, you could serve up to 99 years in jail.
(Students for Life)
Roe v. Wade:
Jane Roe, a fake name used to protect her identity, went to court with a case to make abortion legal in 1973. Roe had requested an abortion in her home district, Dallas county, but was denied by Henry Wade, the district attorney. Before the case went to the Supreme Court, the US government believed that it was their duty to protect the potential life of the unborn fetus. However, Jane Roe claimed that a woman's right to privacy means that she has the right to be left alone and that the government cannot force her hand in important, personal matters. After hearing her case, the Supreme Court ruled that the abortion ban was unconstitutional. Since that day, the US government has not yet changed their views on abortion.