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{{Short description|Laws that allow, prohibit, or regulate abortion}}{{pp|reason=: |small=yes}}{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}File:Abortion Laws.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.8|{{Center|Legality of abortion by country or territory}}{|

Legal on request:

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#40D0FF}}	No gestational limit

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#4080FF}}	Gestational limit after the first 17 weeks

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#3465A4}}	Gestational limit in the first 17 weeks

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#A000FF}}	Unclear gestational limit

Legally restricted to cases of:

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#73D216}}	Maternal death	, Complications of pregnancy>to her health*, pregnancy from rape	*, Birth defect>fetal impairment*, or socioeconomic factors

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#EDD400}}	Risk to woman's life, to her health*, rape, or fetal impairment

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#F540F5}}	Risk to woman's life, to her health*, or fetal impairment

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#C17D11}}	Risk to woman's life*, to her health*, or rape

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#F57900}}	Risk to woman's life or to her health

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#CC0000}}	Risk to woman's life

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#000000}}	Illegal with no exceptions

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#B9B9B9}}	No information

* Does not apply to some countries or territories in that category

Note: In some countries or territories, abortion laws are modified by other laws, regulations, legal principles or judicial decisions. This map shows their combined effect as implemented by the authorities.]]Abortion laws vary widely among countries and territories, and have changed over time. Such laws range from abortion being freely available on request, to regulation or restrictions of various kinds, to outright prohibition in all circumstances. Many countries and territories that allow abortion have gestational limits for the procedure depending on the reason; with the majority being up to 12 weeks for abortion on request, up to 24 weeks for rape, incest, or socioeconomic reasons, and more for fetal impairment or risk to the woman's health or life. As of 2022, countries that legally allow abortion on request or for socioeconomic reasons comprise about 60% of the world's population. In 2024, France became the first country to explicitly protect abortion rights in its constitution.WEB, Niewiarowski, Erik, France makes abortion a constitutional right in historic vote,weblink PinkNews, 5 March 2024, Abortion continues to be a controversial subject in many societies on religious, moral, ethical, practical, and political grounds. Though it has been banned and otherwise limited by law in many jurisdictions, abortions continue to be common in many areas, even where they are illegal. According to a 2007 study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization, abortion rates are similar in countries where the procedure is legal and in countries where it is not,WEB, Abortion Rates Similar In Countries That Legalize, Prohibit Procedure, Study Says,weblink dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140323224239weblink">weblink 23 March 2014, 23 March 2014, International Consortium for Medical Abortion (ICMA), JOURNAL, Sedgh, Gilda, Henshaw, Stanley, Singh, Susheela, Åhman, Elisabeth, Shah, Iqbal H., 13 August 2007, Induced abortion: estimated rates and trends worldwide,weblink The Lancet, 370, 9595, 1338–1345, 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61575-X, 17933648, 28458527, registration, due to unavailability of modern contraceptives in areas where abortion is illegal.BOOK, Susheela, Signh, Darroch, Jacqueline E., Ashford, Lori S., Vlassoff, Michael, 2009, Adding It Up: The Costs and Benefits of Investing in Family Planning and Newborn Health,weblink New York, Guttmacher Institute and United Nations Population Fund, 17, 19, 27, Some 215 million women in the developing world as a whole have an unmet need for modern contraceptives[...] If the 215 million women with unmet need used modern family planning methods....[that] would result in about 22 million fewer unplanned births; 25 million fewer abortions; and seven million fewer miscarriages....If women's contraceptive needs were addressed (and assuming no changes in abortion laws)...the number of unsafe abortions would decline by 73% from 20 million to 5.5 million., A few of the findings in that report were subsequently changed, and are available at WEB, November 2010, Facts on Investing in Family Planning and Maternal and Newborn Health,weblink Guttmacher Institute,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120324101905weblink">weblink 24 March 2012, dead, Also according to the study, the number of abortions worldwide is declining due to increased access to contraception.

History

{{More citations needed|section|date=July 2017}}Abortion has existed since ancient times, with natural abortifacients being found amongst a wide variety of tribal people and in most written sources. The earliest known records of abortion techniques and general reproductive regulation date as far back as 2700 BC in China, and 1550 BC in Egypt.JOURNAL, Joffe, Carole, 3 April 2009, Abortion and Medicine: A Sociopolitical History,weblink Management of Unintended and Abnormal Pregnancy: Comprehensive Abortion Care, 1–9, 10.1002/9781444313031.ch1, 9781444313031, subscription, Wiley Online Library, Early texts contain little mention of abortion or abortion law. When it does appear, it is entailed in concerns about male property rights, preservation of social order, and the duty to produce fit citizens for the state or community. The harshest penalties were generally reserved for a woman who procured an abortion against her husband's wishes, and for slaves who produced abortion in a woman of high status. Religious texts often contained severe condemnations of abortion, recommending penance but seldom enforcing secular punishment. As a matter of common law in England and the United States, abortion was illegal anytime after quickening—when the movements of the fetus could first be felt by the woman. Under the born alive rule, the fetus was not considered a "reasonable being" in rerum natura; and abortion was not treated as murder in English law.In the 19th century, many Western countries began to codify abortion laws or place further restrictions on the practice. Anti-abortion movements were led by a combination of groups opposed to abortion on moral grounds, and by medical professionals who were concerned about the danger presented by the procedure and the regular involvement of non-medical personnel in performing abortions. Nevertheless, it became clear that illegal abortions continued to take place in large numbers even where abortions were rigorously restricted. It was difficult to obtain sufficient evidence to prosecute the women and abortion doctors, and judges and juries were often reluctant to convict. For example, Henry Morgentaler, a Canadian pro-choice advocate, was never convicted by a jury. He was acquitted by a jury in the 1973 court case, but the acquittal was overturned by five judges on the Quebec Court of Appeal in 1974. He went to prison, appealed, and was again acquitted. In total, he served 10 months, suffering a heart attack while in solitary confinement. Many were also outraged at the invasion of privacy and the medical problems resulting from abortions taking place illegally in medically dangerous circumstances. Political movements soon coalesced around the legalization of abortion and liberalization of existing laws.By the first half of the 20th century, many countries had begun to liberalize abortion laws, at least when performed to protect the woman's life and in some cases on the woman's request. Under Vladimir Lenin, the Soviet Union became the first modern state in legalizing abortions on request—the law was first introduced in the Russian SFSR in 1920, in the Ukrainian SSR in July 1921, and then in the whole country.WEB, 18 November 1920, Decree on Women's Healthcare,weblink live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20211218204536weblink">weblink 18 December 2021, People's Commissariat of Health, JOURNAL, Avdeev, Alexandre, Blum, Alain, Troitskaya, Irina, 1995, The History of Abortion Statistics in Russia and the USSR from 1900 to 1991,weblink registration, Population: An English Selection, 7, 39–66, 2949057, The Bolsheviks saw abortion as a social evil created by the capitalist system, which left women without the economic means to raise children, forcing them to perform abortions. The Soviet state initially preserved the tsarist ban on abortion, which treated the practice as premeditated murder. However, abortion had been practiced by Russian women for decades and its incidence skyrocketed further as a result of the Russian Civil War, which had left the country economically devastated and made it extremely difficult for many people to have children. The Soviet state recognized that banning abortion would not stop the practice because women would continue using the services of private abortionists. In rural areas, these were often old women who had no medical training, which made their services very dangerous to women's health. In November 1920, the Soviet government legalized abortion in state hospitals. The state considered abortion as a temporary necessary evil, which would disappear in the future communist society, which would be able to provide for all the children conceived.BOOK, Goldman, Wendy Z., Women, the State and Revolution: Soviet Family Policy and Social Life, 1917–1936,weblink 2004, Cambridge University Press, 978-0521458160, {{Page needed|date=December 2021}} In 1936, Joseph Stalin placed prohibitions on abortions, which restricted them to medically recommended cases only, in order to increase population growth after the enormous loss of life in World War I and the Russian Civil War.BOOK, Overy, Richard, The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia,weblink 2004, W. W. Norton Company, Inc, 978-0141912240, JOURNAL, Heer, David M., 1965, Abortion, Contraception, and Population Policy in the Soviet Union, Demography, 2, 531–539, 10.2307/2060137, 2060137, 46960030, free, In the 1930s, several countries (Poland, Turkey, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Mexico) legalized abortion in some special cases (pregnancy from rape, threat to mother's health, fetal malformation). In Japan, abortion was legalized in 1948 by the Eugenic Protection Law,JOURNAL, Status of abortion in Japan, IPPF Medical Bulletin, 1, 6, 3, 1967, 12304993,weblinkweblink" title="archive.today/20090205211120weblink">weblink dead, 2009-02-05, 2008-12-10, amended in May 1949 to allow abortions for economic reasons.WEB, Eugenic Protection Law in Japan, 1960, Institute of Population Problems, Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan,weblinkweblink live, 2022-03-19, 2022-06-26, Abortion was legalized in 1952 in Yugoslavia (on a limited basis{{Which|date=October 2021}}), and again in 1955 in the Soviet Union on request. Some Soviet allies (Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Romania) legalized abortion in the late 1950s under pressure from the Soviets.{{How|date=August 2021}}BOOK, M., Akrivopoulou, Christina, Protecting the Genetic Self from Biometric Threats: Autonomy, Identity, and Genetic Privacy: Autonomy, Identity, and Genetic Privacy,weblink 2015, IGI Global, 978-1-4666-8154-5, 160, {{Additional citation needed|date=November 2021}}In the United Kingdom, the Abortion Act of 1967 clarified and prescribed abortions as legal up to 28 weeks (later reduced to 24 weeks). Other countries soon followed, including Canada (1969), the United States (1973 in most states, pursuant to Roe v. Wade—the U.S. Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion nationwide), Tunisia and Denmark (1973), Austria (1974), France and Sweden (1975), New Zealand (1977), Italy (1978), the Netherlands (1984), and Belgium (1990). However, these countries vary greatly in the circumstances under which abortion was to be permitted. In 1975, the West German Supreme Court struck down a law legalizing abortion, holding that they contradict the constitution's human rights guarantees. In 1976, a law was adopted which enabled abortions up to 12 weeks. After Germany's reunification, despite the legal status of abortion in former East Germany, a compromise was reached which deemed most abortions up to 12 weeks legal, but this law was struck down by the Federal Constitutional Court and amended to only remove the punishment in such cases, without any statement to legality. In jurisdictions governed under sharia law, abortion after the 120th day from conception (19 weeks from LMP) is illegal, especially for those who follow the recommendations of the Hanafi legal school, while most jurists of the Maliki legal school "believe that ensoulment occurs at the moment of conception, and they tend to forbid abortion at any point [similar to the Roman Catholic Church]. The other schools hold intermediate positions. [...] The penalty prescribed for an illegal abortion varies according to particular circumstances involved. According to sharia, it should be limited to a fine that is paid to the father or heirs of the fetus."BOOK, Campo, Juan Eduardo, Encyclopedia of Islam,weblink 2009, Infobase Publishing, 978-1-4381-2696-8, 7,

Timeline of abortion on request

{{See also|Timeline of reproductive rights legislation}}The table below lists in chronological order the United Nations member states that have legalized abortion on request in at least some initial part of the pregnancy, or that have fully decriminalized abortion. As of 2023, 67 countries have legalized or decriminalized abortion on request.

Notes

Where a country has legalized abortion on request, prohibited it, and legalized it again (e.g., former Soviet Union, Romania), only the later year is included. Countries that result from the merger of states where abortion on request was legal at the moment of unification show the year when it became legal across the whole national territory (e.g., Germany, Vietnam). Similarly, countries where not all subnational jurisdictions have legalized abortion on request are not included, leading to the exclusion of Australia, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Countries where abortion on request was once legalized nationwide but has since been prohibited in at least part of the country, such as the United States and Poland, are also excluded. Countries are counted even if they were not yet independent at the time. The year refers to when the relevant law or judicial decision came into force, which may be different from the year when it was approved.{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="background:white; text-align:center" ! scope="col" style=width:1em | Year legalized! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Countries! scope="col" style=width:1em | {{Abbr|CpY|Countries per year}}! scope="col" style=width:1em | {{Abbr|CC|Cumulative countries}}! scope="row" | 1955

({{flag+link

Armenia}} {{flag+link

Azerbaijan}} {{flag+link

Belarus}} {{flag+link

Estonia}} {{flag+link

Georgia}} {{flag+link

Kazakhstan}} {{flag

Abortion in

Abortion in

Abortion in

Abortion in

Tajikistan}} {{flag

Abortion in

Uzbekistan}} as part of the Soviet Union)

| 15

! scope="row" | 1957

{{flag+link	China}}Various sources: weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20051227114327fw_weblink">China, Population Policy Data Bank, Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, 2001. Archived from the original on 27 December 2005. BOOK,weblink 9781598841343, Religion and the State: An International Analysis of Roles and Relationships, 14 July 2009, Abc-Clio, BOOK,weblink 9780804718875, China's Changing Population, 1987, Stanford University Press, BOOK,weblink 9781134349760, Fertility, Family Planning and Population Policy in China, 16 December 2005, Routledge, {{efn|name=cn}}{{efn|name=cn2|In 2021, the Chinese government issued guidelines reducing "non-medically necessary" abortions as a "step toward women's development".国务院关于印发中国妇女发展纲要和中国儿童发展纲要的通知, Government of the People's Republic of China, 2021 {{in lang|zh}}. The guidelines do not provide detail on what a "non-medically necessary" abortion is, nor what specific policies the government has planned to achieve this goal.Yaqiu, Wang (27 September 2021). "Beijing to Reduce 'Non-Medically Necessary' Abortions". Human Rights Watch.Ahmed, Kaamil (27 September 2021). "China to clamp down on abortions for 'non-medical purposes'". The Guardian.}} ({{flag+link|Abortion in|Czech Republic}} {{flag+link|Abortion in|Slovakia}} as part of Czechoslovakia){{efn|The law from 1957 legalizing the abortion on request was limited in 1962 when additional approval for each abortion had to be obtained from so called Abort Commission (which rejected about 15% of the requests). The Abort Commissions were abolished by law in 1986. Until 1993 each approved abortion was paid by state.WEB, Zákon č. 68/1957 Sb., o umělém přerušení těhotenství,weblink Zákony pro lidi, 12 April 2023, Czech, 1957, WEB, Vývoj potratovosti v České republice 2003 - 2014,weblink Český statistický úřad, 12 April 2023, 2014, }}	| 18

! scope="row" | 1965

{{flag+link	Cuba}}	| 19

! scope="row" | 1973

{{flag+link	Denmark}} {{flag|Tunisia}}	| 21

! scope="row" | 1974

{{flag+link	Singapore}} {{flag+link	Sweden}}	| 23

! scope="row" | 1975

{{flag+link	Austria}} {{flag+link	France}}{{efn	Overseas France, abortion on request became legal in 2001.Law no. 2001-588 of 4 July 2001 regarding voluntary interruption of pregnancy and contraception, Légifrance {{in lang>fr}}.Voluntary interruption of pregnancy legal in Polynesia since 2001, Tahiti Infos, 4 September 2017 {{in lang	26 years after the Veil Act, New Caledonia legalized abortion, France TV, 27 November 2014 {{in lang>fr}}.}} {{flag+link	Vietnam}}{{efn	Year when all subnational jurisdictions legalized abortion on request.}}	| 26

! scope="row" | 1977

({{flag+link	Bosnia and Herzegovina}} {{flag+link	Croatia}} {{flag+link	Montenegro}} {{flag+link	North Macedonia}} {{flag+link	Serbia}} {{flag+link	Slovenia}} as part of Yugoslavia)	| 32

! scope="row" | 1978

{{flag+link	Italy}} {{flag+link	Luxembourg}}	| 34

! scope="row" | 1979

{{flag+link	Norway}}{{efn	The law legalizing abortion on request was approved in 1978 and came into force in 1979.Law on interruption of pregnancy (abortion law), Lovdata. "[A]mending law of 16 June 1978 no. 66 from 1 January 1979 according to resolution of 1 December 1978" {{in lang|no}}.}}	| 35

! scope="row" | 1983

{{flag+link	Turkey}}	| 36

! scope="row" | 1984

{{flag+link	Netherlands}}{{efn|In the Caribbean Netherlands, abortion on request became legal in 2011.}}	| 37

! scope="row" | 1986

{{flag+link	Cape Verde}} {{flag+link	Greece}}	| 39

! scope="row" | 1988

{{flag+link	Canada}}	| 40

! scope="row" | 1989

{{flag

LAST2=SEDED

LAST3=JOHNSON

LAST4=STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT TEAM

DATE=2 SEPTEMBER 2008

URL=

VOLUME=16

PAGES=127–134

PMID=18772093

ISSN=0968-8080

VIA=TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP,

| 41

! scope="row" | 1990

{{flag+link	Belgium}} {{flag+link	Bulgaria}} {{flag+link	Romania}}	| 44

! scope="row" | 1992

{{flag+link	Germany}}{{efn|After explicit legalization struck down by supreme court decision, the law only removes punishment for abortion on request but with no statement about its legality.}}	| 45

! scope="row" | 1993

{{flag+link	Guinea-Bissau}}Portuguese Penal Code of 1886, University of Coimbra, 1919. Article 358 {{in lang|pt}}.	| 46

! scope="row" | 1995

{{flag+link	Guyana}}	| 47

! scope="row" | 1996

{{flag+link	Albania}}{{efn|The law legalizing abortion on request was approved in 1995 and came into force in 1996.}}	| 48

! scope="row" | 1997

{{flag+link	Cambodia}} {{flag+link	South Africa}}	| 50

! scope="row" | 2002

{{flag+link	Nepal}} {{flag+link	Switzerland}}	| 52

! scope="row" | 2007

{{flag+link	Portugal}}	| 53

! scope="row" | 2010

{{flag+link	Spain}}	| 54

! scope="row" | 2012

{{flag	Abortion in|Uruguay}}	| 56

! scope="row" | 2015

{{flag	The law legalizing abortion on request was approved in 2014 and came into force in 2015.Law of revision of the Penal Code, Gazette of the Republic of Mozambique, 31 December 2014. "The present law enters into force one hundred and eighty days after its publication." {{in lang|pt}}}}	| 57

! scope="row" | 2018

{{flag+link	Cyprus}}	| 58

! scope="row" | 2019

{{flag+link	Iceland}} {{flag+link	Ireland}}{{efn	Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018>law legalizing abortion on request was approved in 2018 and came into force in 2019.S.I.>INDEX=594	TITLE=HEALTH (REGULATION OF TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY) ACT 2018 (COMMENCEMENT) ORDER 2018,weblink }}	| 60

! scope="row" | 2020

{{flag+link	New Zealand}}	| 61

! scope="row" | 2021

{{flag+link	Argentina}}{{efn	Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill (Argentina)>law legalizing abortion on request was approved in 2020 and came into force in 2021.}} {{flag+link	South Korea}} {{flag+link	Thailand}}	| 64

! scope="row" | 2022

{{flag+link	Colombia}} {{flag+link	San Marino}}	| 66

! scope="row" | 2023

{{flag+link	Finland}}{{efn|name=fi}}	| 67

International law

There are no international or multinational treaties that deal directly with abortion but human rights law and International criminal law touch on the issues.The Nuremberg Military Tribunal decided the case of United States v Greifelt and Others (1948) on the basis that abortion was a crime within its jurisdiction according to the law defining crimes against humanity and thus within its definition of murder and extermination.BOOK,weblink Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals, United Nations War Crimes Commission, 1949, XIII, London, 22 September 2021,weblink 18 July 2021, live, The Catholic Church remains highly influential in Latin America, and opposes the legalisation of abortion. The American Convention on Human Rights, which in 2013 had 23 Latin American parties, declares human life as commencing with conception. In Latin America, abortion on request is only legal in Cuba (1965), Uruguay (2012),NEWS, 17 October 2012, En Uruguay, le Parlement vote la dépénalisation de l'avortement, fr, Le Monde,weblink 22 September 2021, Argentina (2021), Colombia (2022) and in parts of Mexico. Abortions are completely banned in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, and only allowed in certain restricted circumstances in most other Latin American nations.NEWS, 30 December 2020, Argentina abortion: Senate approves legalisation in historic decision, BBC,weblink 22 September 2021, In the 2010 case of A, B and C v Ireland, the European Court of Human Rights found that the European Convention on Human Rights did not include a right to an abortion.In 2005, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UN HRC) ordered Peru to compensate a woman (known as K.L.) for denying her a medically indicated abortion; this was the first time a United Nations Committee had held any country accountable for not ensuring access to safe, legal abortion, and the first time the committee affirmed that abortion is a human right.NEWS, Grimes, David A., 25 January 2016, United Nations Committee Affirms Abortion As A Human Right, HuffPost,weblink 22 September 2021, K.L. received the compensation in 2016. In the 2016 case of Mellet v Ireland, the UN HRC found Ireland's abortion laws violated International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights because Irish law banned abortion in cases of fatal fetal abnormalities.

National laws

While abortions are legal at least under certain conditions in almost all countries, these conditions vary widely. According to a United Nations (UN) report with data gathered up to 2019,World Population Policies 2017: Abortion Laws and Policies, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2020. abortion is allowed in 98% of countries in order to save a woman's life. Other commonly-accepted reasons are preserving physical (72%) or mental health (69%), in cases of rape or incest (61%), and in cases of fetal impairment (61%). Performing an abortion because of economic or social reasons is accepted in 37% of countries. Performing abortion only on the basis of a woman's request is allowed in 34% of countries, including in Canada, most European countries and China.The exact scope of each legal ground also varies. For example, the laws of some countries cite health risks and fetal impairment as general grounds for abortion and allow a broad interpretation of such terms in practice, while other countries restrict them to a specific list of medical conditions or subcategories. Many countries that allow abortion have gestational limits for the procedure depending on the reason; with the majority being up to 12 weeks for abortion on request, up to 24 weeks for social, economic, rape, or incest reasons, and more for fetal impairment or threats to the woman's health or life.{{r|UN2019report|p=26}}In some countries, additional procedures must be followed before the abortion can be carried out even if the basic grounds for it are met. How strictly all of the procedures dictated in the legislation are followed in practice is another matter. For example, in the United Kingdom, a Care Quality Commission's report in 2012 found that several NHS clinics were circumventing the law, using forms pre-signed by one doctor, thus allowing abortions to patients who only met with one doctor.WEB, Findings of termination of pregnancy inspections published,weblink Care Quality Commission, 17 July 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120717213356weblink">weblink 17 July 2012, dead, Roe V. Wade has been established in the US for almost 50 years, put into motion in 1973,  before its overturn in 2022 due to Dobbs v. Jackson. This ruling made abortion access not a constitutional right. The decision, most of which was leaked in early May, means that abortion rights will be rolled back in nearly half of the states immediately, with more restrictions likely to follow. For all practical purposes, abortion will not be available in large swaths of the country.weblink 13 States, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming enacted a trigger law which placed an immediate but varying statewide abortion ban immediately following the overturning. These trigger laws were designed specifically to take effect immediately upon the fall of the Roe precedent. Other states, were bans are in effect after 6 weeks gestation, including Idaho, Tennessee, and Texas – have similar laws, which would take effect after 30 days of the overturning.weblinkWEB, Kim, Juliana, 3 more states are poised to enact abortion trigger bans this week, NPR,weblink Pill abortion access is legal in 36 states. However, a lawsuit in Texas is currently against the production and distribution of this Abortion pill, misoprostol. The ban would affect millions of women in the US who cannot access a medical procedural abortion due to a state ban. The group suing the FDA has asked for a preliminary injunction to take one of the two drugs used in a medication abortion, mifepristone, off the market while the case plays out.weblink This will effectively cause a nationwide ban of pill abortion if granted.WEB, What the Supreme Court's decision in the fight over abortion pills means for mifepristone access,weblink 2023-05-04, NBC News, 22 April 2023, en, permitted}}">

Summary tables{|class"wikitable collapsible" styleline-height:1.3|+Legendpermitted}}

rowspan=2 Gestational age (obstetrics)>gestational age.If this limit is known and does not vary by subdivision, it is shown instead of "permitted".

permitted, with complex legality or practice}}

varies by subdivision}}

prohibited, with complex legality or practice}}

prohibited}}

unknown or unclear}}

Countries

The table below summarizes the legal grounds for abortion in all United Nations member states and United Nations General Assembly observer states and some countries with limited recognition. This table is mostly based on data compiled by the United Nations up to 2019,Table 2: Countries by legal grounds for abortion (recoded), United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). World Population Policies 2017: Abortion laws and policies. with some updates, additions and clarifications citing other sources.{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style=line-height:1.3Legal grounds on which abortion is permitted in independent countries!Country !! style=width:6em|Risk to life !! style=width:6em|Risk to health !! style=width:6em|Rape !! style=width:6em|Fetal impairment !! style=width:6em|Economic or social !! style=width:6em|On request

Abkhazia}}"О здравоохранении" [On Health Care]. Article 40, Law of 29 January 2016 {{in lang	People's Assembly of Abkhazia. >	prohibited}}	{{no		prohibited}}	{{no		prohibited}}	{{no|prohibited}}

Abortion in

permitted}}{{efn

The law of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan consisted primarily of statutory law and a limited use of Fiqh

.Afghanistan's Constitution of 2004, Constitute. The Afghan penal code criminalized abortion and only removed the penalty if the abortion was prescribed by a doctor to save the woman's life,Penal Code, Government of the Republic of Afghanistan, 7 October 1976.Penal Code, Official Gazette of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, 15 May 2017 {{in lang>ps

DATE=5 MAY 2012

URL=HTTPS://WWW.DW.COM/EN/AFGHAN-WOMEN-USE-ABORTION-AS-A-WAY-OUT/A-17612865

DEUTSCHE WELLE, and rarely for economic reasons if accepted by a religious council.ENGEL RASMUSSEN

LAST2=FAIZI

DATE=26 APRIL 2017

URL=HTTP://WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM/GLOBAL-DEVELOPMENT/2017/APR/26/HUMAN-TOLL-ABORTION-AFGHANISTAN

THE GUARDIAN, After the 2021 Taliban offensive, the new government announced its intention to implement Sharia>Islamic law exclusively, and it is unclear which legal grounds for abortion it accepts.Explainer: The Taliban and Islamic law in Afghanistan, Al Jazeera, 23 August 2021.}}

{{no

prohibited}}

{{no2

name=af}}

{{no2

name=af}}

{{no|prohibited}}

Abortion in	Law No. 8045 of 27 December 1995 {{in lang>sq}}. Parliament of Albania.	{{yes		22 weeks}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		12 weeks}}

Abortion in	Collection of Regulatory Texts relative to the Management of Health Establishments, Med Ould-Kada, December 2020. Law 85-05 of 16 February 1985 regarding the protection and promotion of health. Article 72 {{in lang>fr}}.	{{yes		permitted}}	{{no		prohibited}}	{{no		prohibited}}

Abortion in

prohibited}}{{efn

Legal doctrine>legal principle.Law 9/2005, of 21 February, qualified of the Penal code, Official Gazette of the Principality of Andorra, number 25, year 17, 23 March 2005. Articles 27, 107–109 {{in lang

DATE=22 OCTOBER 2019

URL=HTTPS://WWW.POLITICO.EU/ARTICLE/ANDORRAS-ABORTION-RIGHTS-REVOLUTION

POLITICO EUROPE>ACCESS-DATE=25 APRIL 2021, }}

{{no

prohibited}}

{{no

prohibited}}

{{no|prohibited}}

Abortion in	The UN source incorrectly shows Angola as allowing abortion on request, citing a penal code draft from 2014 that did not become law.Penal code draft, Global Abortion Policies Database, World Health Organization {{in lang	Law that approves the Angolan Penal Code, Journal of the Republic of Angola, 11 November 2020. Articles 154–158 {{in lang>pt}}.}}	{{yes		permitted}}	{{yes		permitted}}	{{no		prohibited}}

Antigua and Barbuda}}Infant Life (Preservation) Act, Laws of Antigua and Barbuda.

{{yes

A 2001 UN source says that abortion must be performed within the first 16 weeks and that it may be permitted after this period under very exceptional circumstances.weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20051227114327fw_weblink">Antigua and Barbuda, Population Policy Data Bank, Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, 2001. Archived from the original on 27 December 2005.}}

{{no2

Before Antigua and Barbuda#Independence era

, a Aleck Bourne#Abortion case>judicial decision in the parent country allowed abortion for this ground, but the decision has not been explicitly recognized by Antigua and Barbuda.PHETERSON>FIRST1=GAIL

FIRST2=YAMILA

TITLE=SAFE ILLEGAL ABORTION: AN INTER-ISLAND STUDY IN THE NORTHEAST CARIBBEAN

URL-STATUS=LIVE

ARCHIVE-DATE=17 NOVEMBER 2021

14}}}}

{{no

prohibited}}

{{no

prohibited}}

Abortion in	Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill (Argentina)>Acceso a la Interrupción Voluntaria del Embarazo" [Access to Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy]. Law No. 27.610 of 30 December 2020 {{in lang	National Congress of Argentina. >	no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		14 weeks}}	{{yes|14 weeks}}

Abortion in	Law of Armenia on Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights, Government of Armenia {{in lang>hy}}.	{{yes		permitted}}	{{yes		permitted}}	{{yes		12 weeks}}

Abortion in		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{partial	Abortion for this ground is permitted in all subdivisions except the Northern Territory.Abortion law: a national perspective, Tom Gotsis and Laura Ismay, NSW Parliamentary Research Service, May 2017, pp. 13, 40. This government publication, reflecting laws up to 2017 (including the Termination of Pregnancy Law Reform Act 2017 in the Northern Territory), lists New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory as the subdivisions of Australia not allowing abortion on request. Since then, laws allowing abortion on request have entered into force in Queensland (2018), New South Wales (2019) and South Australia (2022). The abortion law in the Northern Territory was amended in 2021 but still requires approval by a medical professional based on the same criteria as in 2017, thus it is still not considered as allowing abortion on request.Abortion is no longer a crime in Australia. But legal hurdles to access remain, The Conversation, 3 March 2021. "With the exception of the Northern Territory, where abortion remains a medical practitioner's decision regardless of the gestation, and the ACT, where no gestational limits apply, Australian jurisdictions now permit abortion on request up to varying points in a pregnancy."}}

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Australian Capital Territory}}Crimes Act 1900, ACT Legislation Register.Health Act 1993, ACT Legislation Register.	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}

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Christmas Island}}{{efn	Western Australia.Christmas Island Act 1958, Federal Register of Legislation.}} >	no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes|23 weeks}}

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Cocos Islands}}{{efn	Western Australia.Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955, Federal Register of Legislation.}} >	no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes|23 weeks}}

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Jervis Bay Territory}}{{efn	Australian Capital Territory.Jervis Bay Territory Acceptance Act 1915, Federal Register of Legislation.}} >	no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes|no limit}}

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New South Wales}}Abortion Law Reform Act 2019 No 11, NSW legislation.	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		22 weeks}}

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Norfolk Island}}{{efn	Norfolk Island Applied Laws Ordinance 2016, Federal Register of Legislation.Norfolk Island Applied Laws and Service Delivery (Queensland) Ordinance 2021, Federal Register of Legislation. The Criminal Code of Norfolk Island, which remains in force in the territory, does not prohibit abortion.Criminal Code 2007 (NI), Federal Register of Legislation.}} >	no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes|no limit}}

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Northern Territory}}Termination of Pregnancy Law Reform Act 2017, Northern Territory Legislation.	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		prohibited}}{{efn	Abortion up to 24 weeks may be performed if the medical practitioner considers the abortion is appropriate in all the circumstances, having regard to all relevant medical circumstances, the woman's current and future physical, psychological and social circumstances, and professional standards and guidelines. Later abortion may be performed, if two medical practitioners consider the abortion is appropriate in all the circumstances, having regard to the mentioned matters. These criteria are not considered as allowing abortion on request.}}

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Abortion in	Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018, Queensland Legislation. >	no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes|22 weeks}}

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South Australia}}Termination of Pregnancy Act 2021, South Australian Legislation.	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		22 weeks and 6 days}}

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Tasmania}}Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) Act 2013, Tasmanian Legislation.	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		16 weeks}}

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Victoria}}Abortion Law Reform Act 2008, Victorian Legislation.	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		24 weeks}}

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Western Australia}}Public Health Act 2016, Western Australian Legislation. Sections 202MC to 202ME.	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		23 weeks}}

Abortion in	Criminal Code, Federal Legal Information System of Austria. Sections 96–98 {{in lang>de}}.	{{yes		no limit}}	3 months}}{{efn	If the woman was under age 14 when getting pregnant, no limit is specified.}}	{{yes|no limit}}	3 months}}{{efn|name=at}}	3 months}}{{efn|name=at}}

Abortion in	Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Protection of Public Health, Ministry of Healthcare (Azerbaijan)>Ministry of Public Health {{in lang		no limit}}	{{yes		permitted}}	{{yes		22 weeks}}	{{yes|12 weeks}}

Bahamas}}Penal Code, Statute Law of the Bahamas. Article 313.	{{yes		permitted}}{{efn		prohibited}}	{{no		prohibited}}	{{no|prohibited}}

Abortion in

permitted}}

{{no2

name=bh

Bahrain Penal Code, 1976, Global Abortion Policies Database, World Health Organization. However, the decree regulating medical practice prohibits abortion unless the pregnancy threatens the woman's life.Legislative decree no. 7 for 1989 on the practice of human medicine and dentistry, Ministry of Health of Bahrain, Global Abortion Policies Database, World Health Organization.}} >

prohibited}}{{efn

prohibited}}{{efn

prohibited}}{{efn

prohibited}}{{efn|name=bh}}

Abortion in

no limit}}

{{no2

name=bd

Abortion in Bangladesh#Menstrual regulation>Menstrual regulation is available on request for women with a last menstrual period of 10 weeks or less."}}

{{no2

name=bd}}

{{no2

name=bd}}

{{no2

name=bd}}

{{no2

name=bd}}

Abortion in	Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, Government of Barbados, 10 May 1983. >	no limit}}	{{yes		12 weeks}}	{{yes		12 weeks}}	{{no|prohibited}}

Abortion in	The law permits abortion for medical reasons without gestational limit, for social reasons up to 22 weeks of gestation, and on request up to 12 weeks of gestation.Law of the Republic of Belarus on health care, National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus {{in lang	Resolution of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus on the establishment of a list of medical indications for artificial termination of pregnancy, National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus, 24 December 2014 {{in lang>ru}}. and rape is included as a social reason.Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus on the establishment of a list of social indications for artificial termination of pregnancy, National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus {{in lang		no limit}}	{{yes		22 weeks}}	{{yes		22 weeks}}	{{yes|12 weeks}}

Abortion in

WEBSITE=WWW.EJUSTICE.JUST.FGOV.BE,

{{yes

no limit}}

{{yes

name=be

Family planning, Belgian Federal Public Service {{in lang>fr}}.}}

{{yes

14 weeks}}{{efn

14 weeks}}{{efn|name=be}}

Abortion in		no limit}}	{{yes		prohibited}}	{{yes		permitted}}	{{no|prohibited}}

!Country !! style=width:6em|Risk to life !! style=width:6em|Risk to health !! style=width:6em|Rape !! style=width:6em|Fetal impairment !! style=width:6em|Economic or social !! style=width:6em|On request

Abortion in	Law no. 2012-12 of 20 December 2021, General Secretariat of the Government of Benin {{in lang>fr}}. Published on 7 January 2022.	{{yes		permitted}}	{{yes		permitted}}	{{yes		prohibited}}

Abortion in	The penal code prohibits abortion except to save the woman's life, when the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or when the woman is of unsound mental condition.Penal Code of Bhutan, Judiciary of Bhutan. Guidelines for health workers mention grounds of risk to the woman's health and fetal impairment, and define a gestational limit of 180 days.Standard Guidelines for the Health Workers on Management of Complication of Abortion, Ministry of Health of Bhutan.}}	180 days}}	180 days}}{{efn	This ground is only cited in guidelines for health workers, not by law.}}	180 days}}	180 days}}{{efn		prohibited}}	{{no|prohibited}}

Abortion in		22 weeks}}	{{yes		22 weeks}}	{{yes2	This ground is established by a regulation implementing a judicial decision, although it is not mentioned in the decision itself or in the law.Technical procedure for the provision of health services in the framework of the Plurinational Constitutional Sentence 0206/2014, Ministry of Health of Bolivia, 2015. {{in lang		prohibited}}	{{no|prohibited}}

Abortion in		no limit}}	{{yes		permitted}}	{{yes		permitted}}	{{yes|10 weeks}}

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Brčko District}}{{efn	Continues to apply the abortion law of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.Human rights in the field of sexual and reproductive health in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Human Rights Ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina, United Nations Population Fund, January 2021 {{in lang	Abortion Legislation, Bosnia Herzegovina, Russia, Ukraine, Law Library of Congress, July 2007.}} >	no limit}}	{{yes		20 weeks}}	{{yes		10 weeks}}	{{yes|10 weeks}}

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Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina}}{{efn		no limit}}	{{yes		20 weeks}}	{{yes		10 weeks}}	{{yes|10 weeks}}

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Republika Srpska}}Law on the conditions and procedure for interruption of pregnancy, National Assembly of Republika Srpska.	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		10 weeks}}

Abortion in	Penal Code, Government of Botswana. Article 160. >	16 weeks}}	{{yes		16 weeks}}	{{yes		prohibited}}	{{no|prohibited}}

Abortion in

22 weeks}}{{efn

The penal code criminalizes abortion and only removes the penalty if the abortion is done to save the woman's life or if the pregnancy is the result of rape.Penal Code, Decree-Law no. 2848, of 7 December 1940, Presidency of Brazil {{in lang

ADPF 54>decision by the Supreme Federal Court, abortion is also permitted in case of anencephaly, and it may also be authorized by court order in other fatal cases of fetal impairment.Reproductive rights: legal abortion, Public Defenders' Office of the State of São Paulo, July 2018 {{in lang

Malformation that renders baby's life inviable justifies authorization for abortion, judge decides, Consultor Jurídico, 20 January 2020 {{in lang>pt}}.Woman obtains judicial authorization to interrupt risky pregnancy, Brazilian Family Law Institute, 11 August 2020 {{in lang

prohibited}}

{{yes2

name=br}}

{{no2

name=br}}

{{no

prohibited}}

Abortion in	Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013, Brunei Darussalam Government Gazette, 22 October 2013. Articles 158–164. >	permitted}}	{{no		prohibited}}	{{no		prohibited}}	{{no|prohibited}}

Abortion in	Ordinance no. 2 of 1 February 1990 on the conditions and procedure for artificial termination of pregnancy, Lex.bg {{in lang>bg}}.	{{yes		20 weeks}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		12 weeks}}

Abortion in	Law no. 025-018/AN bearing the penal code, Police Academy of Burkina Faso. Articles 513-10 to 513–19 {{in lang>fr}}.	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{no		prohibited}}

Abortion in		permitted}}	{{yes		prohibited}}	{{no		prohibited}}{{efn	Law no. 1/27 of 29 December 2017 bearing revision of the penal code, President of the Republic of Burundi. Article 534 {{in lang>fr}}. It is unclear if this circumstance reduces the penalty or may remove it.}}	{{no|prohibited}}

Abortion in	Royal Kram of 6 October 1997. National Assembly (Cambodia)>National Assembly of Cambodia.	{{yes		12 weeks}}	{{yes		no limit}}	{{yes		12 weeks}}

Abortion in	Norms and Standards in Reproductive Health-Family Planning in Cameroon, Ministry of Health of Cameroon, 2018 {{in lang>fr}}.	{{yes		28 weeks}}	{{yes		prohibited}}	{{no		prohibited}}

Abortion in	There is no abortion law in Canada, but its subdivisions and professional bodies have regulations restricting the procedure to various grounds or gestational limits.Abortion Coverage by Region, National Abortion Federation Canada.{{Cite web	title=Access at a Glance: Abortion Services in Canada | Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights	quote=While abortions after 20 weeks are statistically very rare (