Integrity Score 4262
No Records Found
No Records Found
The US is going back in ages
The Supreme Court’s June 24, 2022, ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade is already having profound effects across the United States, from Florida to Wisconsin. And the ruling also bucks a clear worldwide trend. In countries from Iceland to Zambia, abortion restrictions have been lifted over the last two decades, not tightened.
Today, only 24 countries out of 195 prohibit abortion, representing just 5% of women of reproductive age globally. Twice that many countries have made it easier to legally get an abortion in the past 20 years.
The U.S. joined the short list of countries that are increasing abortion restrictions when the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The ruling did not itself make abortion illegal – it said instead that there is no federal right to get an abortion and that the power to regulate belonged to the states. Many states are now tightening restrictions on abortion.
In the past, some Supreme Court rulings, such as Brown v. Board of Education, which deemed school segregation illegal, have been influential abroad, cited by other courts in their rulings worldwide. Similarly, some women’s rights advocates are concerned that the Dobbs decision could lend legal support to more restrictive abortion policies in other countries.
I am a law professor who has studied worldwide trends in abortion law. Rather than triggering a new wave of restrictive abortion laws in other countries, the Dobbs decision seems just as likely to wield little international influence. Two key reasons are the broad global momentum toward greater abortion access and the United States’ waning international influence in the area of women’s rights.
In fact, the Dobbs decision may serve to further isolate the U.S. and undermine its credibility as a global leader on women’s rights.
Abortion trends in other countries
Thirty countries changed their laws to either permit or make it easier to get an abortion since 2000, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. This trend spanned Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and Oceania.
Read more: https://theconversation.com/us-abortion-restrictions-are-unlikely-to-influence-international-trends-which-are-largely-becoming-more-liberal-186181