Truth is Truth: U.S. Abortion Law in the Global Context

ACSblog (Aug. 27, 2018): Truth is Truth: U.S. Abortion Law in the Global Context, by Risa Kaufman & Martha Davis:

In a new ACS issue brief, Risa Kaufman and Martha Davis take on anti-abortion activists' claim that U.S. abortion laws are more permissive than in other parts of the world based on a "rudimentary global tally of national laws." The issue brief

exposes the fundamental flaws in this argument, explaining that international norms on abortion access cannot be portrayed through such nose counting. Abortion opponents’ uncritical reliance on a simplified scorecard is misleading, inaccurate, and ignores important protections for women’s health. Indeed, the abortion opponents’ simplified global tally fails to account for broad exceptions contained in many European abortion laws. And it fails to examine the broader context of access to reproductive health care, including access to contraception, maternal health care, and access to medical information.

The authors also point out that in countries like Germany that have more restrictive abortion laws, women have much wider access to health care including public funding for contraception and abortion.  And around the world the is an international trend towards expanding the grounds under which abortion is legal.