Countries Where Abortion Is Illegal 2022

There has always been debate over abortion, which is the surgical termination of an unborn child’s pregnancy at an early stage. Regarding abortion, we all have our own unique set of values and beliefs that influence how we feel about the procedure and how we feel about it. 




A woman’s right to physical autonomy (and health) and her unborn child’s right to life is at stake in abortion, two inherent rights that are at odds. For these and other reasons, abortion regulations differ greatly across countries and within the United States.

Abortion laws are undeniably (though understandably) complicated.

Abortion laws vary from state to state. By 2021, there will be 24 nations where abortion is outlawed. Most nations have taken a more sophisticated approach.

An embryo or fetus may be aborted up to a particular point in the pregnancy in almost all countries where abortion is allowed. Still, after it reaches that point, it cannot be terminated. 

However, it might be as short as six weeks and as long as 24 weeks. If the pregnancy is the consequence of rape, incest, or the baby has an obvious developmental defect, an abortion may also be lawful.

Gender-based abortion is permitted in several nations, notably in Asia, where male offspring are more highly prized than female children.

In addition, the condition of the mother is an important consideration. Abortion is outlawed in 37 countries unless the mother’s life is at risk. Other nations prohibit it unless it is needed to save the mother’s life or protect her health while pregnant. 




When an embryo fails to implant in the uterus but instead implants elsewhere (in the fallopian tubes, ovaries, or just outside the uterus), this is an ectopic pregnancy.

In addition to the significant risk of the mother’s death, ectopic pregnancies can’t be taken to term since the embryo cannot thrive outside the uterus.

Another factor to consider is money. If carrying a pregnancy to term would cause the mother an undue economic hardship, several nations allow abortion.

For women denied abortion access, studies have shown that the extra financial burden of caring for a second child increases their risk for poverty.

Additional rules and regulations may be found in many nations’ abortion legislation, such as needing parental/spousal permission (or in situations of rape, a police complaint) or limiting access to techniques of ascertaining the fetus’ gender.

Making abortion illegal in the real world




Abortion rates across the globe are unaffected by the legality of the procedure, according to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO). Abortions can, will, and do occur, regardless of whether they are legal.

Abortion, on the other hand, has a direct impact on how safe such abortions are. A lack of legal abortion choices forces many women to resort to illegal or “homemade” abortions, which are riskier, more deadly, and less successful than abortions performed by physicians in a clinical environment.

Laws concerning abortion in key countries are analyzed.

United States

As of 2022, the United States’ abortion laws are in upheaval. The Supreme Court’s historic Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 legalized abortion in the United States. Abortion was allowed across the nation, although each state had its own rules, some more stringent than others. 

However, on June 24, 2022, the then-current Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case involving the then-current Supreme Court.

This judgment allowed each state to decide whether or not to allow abortion. State abortion regulations are now more diverse than ever before.

Thirty states had expressly prohibited abortion before Roe v. Wade overturned such laws. Although Roe v. Wade obliged these states to legalize abortion, several nevertheless passed rules restricting it to the extent that the state permitted it.

It was expected that these states would rapidly return to banning abortion. Moreover, a week after the Dobbs ruling, this was the case in more than 20 states, primarily red areas in the center and south of the United States.




Roe v. Wade declared some of these restrictions dormant, but they were never deleted from the state’s legal code. Thus they reactivated after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

When Roe v. Wade was abolished, thirteen states introduced trigger laws—anti-abortion measures that would go into effect immediately if the Supreme Court overturned the statute.

As a result of the Roe v. Wade decision, future abortion laws may be more stringent and punitive than previous versions.

For example, a 2021 Texas legislation (S.B. 8) allowed private residents to sue anybody they learned had conducted or facilitated an abortion, even if they had never met any of the persons involved. This new rule was not in Texas’ abortion laws before the RvW.

Brazil

With a few exceptions: where a pregnant woman has been sexually abused, or the pregnancy is the consequence of unmarried incest, or when the mother’s life would be at risk if she carried the pregnancy to term, Latin America’s biggest nation has not prohibited abortion in its entirety.




Abortion laws across the world often include these three exceptions.

Canada

As long as the abortion occurs before the gestational limit, which varies from province to province and territory from 12 weeks to 24 weeks + 6 days, it is lawful in Canada. No legally compelling cause (such as rape or health problems) is required.




Most abortions were unlawful until the Supreme Court of Canada overturned those prohibitions in 1988. This service is included in the Canadian national health care plan. Patients are not paid for abortions carried out in a traditional hospital setting.

In certain cases, the patient may be responsible for the whole cost of the abortion if it is done in a private clinic.

Russia

As of the 12th week of pregnancy in Russia, abortion is completely lawful. However, in situations of rape and when the pregnancy is threatening the mother’s life, abortion is permitted up to the 22nd week. In 1920, Russia became the first nation to make it lawful to abort for any reason.




Although a blanket prohibition on abortion was reintroduced in 1936, it was repealed in 1955 and has been accessible ever since. Russia had the world’s highest number of abortions per capita in 2010.

Abortion regulations in several nations throughout the globe are listed below:

AndorraHaitiMaltaRepublic of the Congo
ArubaHondurasMauritaniaSan Marino
Curaçao (territory)IraqNicaraguaSenegal
Dominican RepublicJamaicaPalauSierra Leone
EgyptLaosPalestineSuriname
El SalvadorMadagascarPhilippinesTonga

Also See: Common Law Countries 2022

Abortion laws in each nation are summarized in the table below.

  • On Request — Abortion may be performed for any cause; however, gestational limitations still apply. 
  • Save Life — A woman’s life, abortion is permissible.
  • Physical Health — Abortion is permitted when the fetus is in danger of serious but non-fatal damage to the mother.
  • Mental Health — Abortion is permissible if the pregnancy jeopardizes the woman’s mental/emotional health.
  • Rape — When pregnancy is the consequence of rape, it is permissible to abort the child.
  • Incest — It is permissible to abort a pregnancy if the mother and father are incestuous.
  • Cognitively Disabled — Abortion is lawful for intellectually or mentally impaired women.
  • Fetal Impairment — Pregnant women who know their unborn child has substantial mental or physical impairments are permitted to terminate the pregnancy. More specific recommendations are sometimes required since the disorders included here might vary from those that aren’t life-threatening, like Down Syndrome, to those that are, like anencephaly, completely lethal.
  • Socioeconomic — Abortion is lawful if the mother cannot financially care for the kid.




CountryAbortion on Request2022 Population
AfghanistanTo save a woman's life40754.3880
AlbaniaNo restriction2866.3740
AlgeriaTo preserve physical/mental health45350.1480
AndorraProhibited altogether77.4630
AngolaProhibited altogether35027.3430
Antigua and BarbudaTo save a woman's life99.5090
ArgentinaTo preserve physical health46010.2340
ArmeniaNo restriction2971.9660
AustraliaNo restriction26068.7920
AustriaNo restriction9066.7100
AzerbaijanNo restriction10300.2050
BahamasTo preserve physical health400.5160
BahrainNo restriction1783.9830
BangladeshTo save a woman's life167885.6890
BarbadosTo preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds288.0230
BelarusNo restriction9432.8000
BelgiumNo restriction11668.2780
BelizeTo preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds412.1900
BeninTo preserve physical health12784.7260
BhutanTo save a woman's life787.9410
BoliviaTo preserve physical health11992.6560
Bosnia and HerzegovinaNo restriction3249.3170
BotswanaTo preserve physical/mental health2441.1620
BrazilTo save a woman's life215353.5930
BulgariaNo restriction6844.5970
Burkina FasoTo preserve physical health22102.8380
BurundiTo preserve physical health12624.8400
CambodiaNo restriction17168.6390
CameroonTo preserve physical health27911.5480
CanadaNo restriction38388.4190
Cape VerdeNo restriction567.6780
Central African RepublicTo preserve physical health5016.6780
ChadTo preserve physical health17413.5800
ChileTo save a woman's life19250.1950
ColombiaTo preserve physical/mental health51512.7620
ComorosTo preserve physical health907.4190
Costa RicaTo preserve physical health5182.3540
CroatiaNo restriction4059.2860
CubaNo restriction11305.6520
CyprusTo preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds1223.3870
Czech RepublicNo restriction10736.7840
DenmarkNo restriction5834.9500
DjiboutiTo preserve physical health1016.0970
DominicaTo save a woman's life72.3440
Dominican RepublicProhibited altogether11056.3700
DR CongoProhibited altogether95240.7920
EcuadorTo preserve physical health18113.3610
EgyptProhibited altogether106156.6920
El SalvadorProhibited altogether6550.3890
Equatorial GuineaTo preserve physical health1496.6620
EritreaTo preserve physical/mental health3662.2440
EstoniaNo restriction1321.9100
EswatiniTo preserve physical/mental health1184.8170
EthiopiaTo preserve physical health120812.6980
FijiTo preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds909.4660
FinlandTo preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds5554.9600
FranceNo restriction65584.5180
GabonProhibited altogether2331.5330
GambiaTo preserve physical/mental health2558.4820
GermanyNo restriction83883.5960
GhanaTo preserve physical/mental health32395.4500
GreeceNo restriction10316.6370
GrenadaTo preserve physical health113.4750
GuatemalaTo save a woman's life18584.0390
GuineaTo preserve physical health13865.6910
GuyanaNo restriction794.0450
HaitiProhibited altogether11680.2830
HondurasProhibited altogether10221.2470
Hong KongTo preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds7604.2990
HungaryNo restriction9606.2590
IcelandTo preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds345.3930
IndiaTo preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds1406631.7760
IndonesiaTo save a woman's life279134.5050
IranTo save a woman's life86022.8370
IraqProhibited altogether42164.9650
IrelandTo save a woman's life5020.1990
IsraelTo preserve physical/mental health8922.8920
ItalyNo restriction60262.7700
Ivory CoastTo save a woman's life27742.2980
JamaicaTo preserve physical/mental health2985.0940
JapanTo preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds125584.8380
JordanTo preserve physical health10300.8690
KazakhstanNo restriction19205.0430
KenyaTo preserve physical health56215.2210
KiribatiTo save a woman's life123.4190
KuwaitTo preserve physical health4380.3260
KyrgyzstanNo restriction6728.2710
LaosProhibited altogether7481.0230
LatviaNo restriction1848.8370
LebanonTo save a woman's life6684.8490
LesothoTo preserve physical health2175.6990
LiberiaTo preserve physical/mental health5305.1170
LibyaTo save a woman's life7040.7450
LiechtensteinTo preserve physical health38.3870
LithuaniaNo restriction2661.7080
LuxembourgNo restriction642.3710
MadagascarProhibited altogether29178.0770
MalawiTo save a woman's life20180.8390
MalaysiaTo preserve physical/mental health33181.0720
MaldivesTo preserve physical health540.9850
MaliTo save a woman's life21473.7640
MaltaProhibited altogether444.0330
Marshall IslandsProhibited altogether60.0570
MauritaniaProhibited altogether4901.9810
MauritiusTo preserve physical/mental health1274.7270
MexicoTo save a woman's life131562.7720
MicronesiaProhibited altogether117.4890
MoldovaNo restriction4013.1710
MonacoTo preserve physical health39.7830
MongoliaNo restriction3378.0780
MontenegroNo restriction627.9500
MoroccoTo preserve physical health37772.7560
MozambiqueTo preserve physical/mental health33089.4610
MyanmarTo save a woman's life55227.1430
NamibiaTo preserve physical/mental health2633.8740
NauruTo preserve physical/mental health10.9030
NepalNo restriction30225.5820
NetherlandsNo restriction17211.4470
New ZealandTo preserve physical/mental health4898.2030
NicaraguaProhibited altogether6779.1000
NigerTo preserve physical health26083.6600
NigeriaTo save a woman's life216746.9340
North KoreaNo restriction25990.6790
North MacedoniaNo restriction2081.3040
NorwayNo restriction5511.3700
OmanTo save a woman's life5323.9930
PakistanTo preserve physical health229488.9940
PalauProhibited altogether18.2330
PanamaTo save a woman's life4446.9640
Papua New GuineaTo save a woman's life9292.1690
ParaguayTo save a woman's life7305.8430
PeruTo preserve physical health33684.2080
PhilippinesProhibited altogether112508.9940
PolandTo preserve physical health37739.7850
PortugalNo restriction10140.5700
QatarTo preserve physical health2979.9150
Republic of the CongoProhibited altogether5797.8050
RomaniaNo restriction19031.3350
RussiaNo restriction145805.9470
RwandaTo preserve physical health13600.4640
Saint Kitts and NevisTo preserve physical/mental health53.8710
Saint LuciaTo preserve physical/mental health185.1130
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesTo preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds111.5510
SamoaTo preserve physical/mental health202.2390
San MarinoProhibited altogether34.0850
Sao Tome and PrincipeProhibited altogether227.6790
Saudi ArabiaTo preserve physical health35844.9090
SenegalProhibited altogether17653.6710
SerbiaNo restriction8653.0160
SeychellesTo preserve physical/mental health99.4260
Sierra LeoneTo preserve physical/mental health8306.4360
SingaporeNo restriction5943.5460
SlovakiaNo restriction5460.1930
SloveniaNo restriction2078.0340
Solomon IslandsTo save a woman's life721.1590
SomaliaTo save a woman's life16841.7950
South AfricaNo restriction60756.1350
South KoreaTo preserve physical health51329.8990
South SudanTo save a woman's life11618.5110
SpainNo restriction46719.1420
Sri LankaTo save a woman's life21575.8420
SudanTo save a woman's life45992.0200
SurinameProhibited altogether596.8310
SwedenNo restriction10218.9710
SwitzerlandNo restriction8773.6370
SyriaTo save a woman's life19364.8090
TaiwanTo preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds23888.5950
TajikistanNo restriction9957.4640
TanzaniaTo save a woman's life63298.5500
ThailandTo preserve physical/mental health70078.2030
Timor-LesteTo save a woman's life1369.4290
TogoTo preserve physical health8680.8370
TongaProhibited altogether107.7490
Trinidad and TobagoTo preserve physical/mental health1406.5850
TunisiaNo restriction12046.6560
TurkeyNo restriction85561.9760
TurkmenistanNo restriction6201.9430
TuvaluTo save a woman's life12.0660
UgandaTo save a woman's life48432.8630
UkraineNo restriction43192.1220
United Arab EmiratesTo save a woman's life10081.7850
United KingdomTo preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds68497.9070
United StatesVaries by state334805.2690
UruguayNo restriction3496.0160
UzbekistanNo restriction34382.0840
VanuatuTo preserve physical health321.8320
VenezuelaTo save a woman's life29266.9910
VietnamNo restriction98953.5410
YemenTo save a woman's life31154.8670
ZambiaTo preserve health/on socioeconomic grounds19470.2340
ZimbabweTo preserve physical health15331.4280




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