The right to safe and legal abortion is a fundamental human right protected by numerous international and regional human rights treaties and constitutions at the national level around the world. These instruments establish safe abortion in a constellation of rights, including the right to life; Freedom; Privacy; Equality and non-discrimination and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned restrictive abortion laws as incompatible with human rights standards. The most common pregnancy threshold for countries in this category is 12 weeks. Gestational limits are calculated from the first day of the last menstruation, which occurs two weeks before conception. Where laws provide that gestational age is calculated from the date of conception, these limits have been extended by two weeks. The laws of countries in this category do not allow abortion under any circumstances, even if the life or health of the woman is in danger. Poland bans abortion with relatively few exceptions compared to its European neighbors, allowing it only in cases of rape or serious foetal abnormalities or to preserve the life and health of the mother. In 2016, when the government considered a bill to remove all exemptions from the ban, 150,000 women took to the streets for a national strike, and the law was overwhelmingly rejected. Similar bills were eventually introduced in Lithuania and Russia. In other Eastern European countries – including Armenia, Georgia, Macedonia, Russia and Slovakia – recent legislation imposes preconditions on patients seeking abortion, such as mandatory waiting periods or counselling. The global trend in abortion legislation is towards liberalization.
Since 2000, twenty-nine countries have amended their abortion legislation, and all but one — Nicaragua — have expanded the legal basis on which women have access to abortion services. Just last year, Ireland legalized abortion by referendum and South Korea`s Supreme Court declared the country`s abortion ban unconstitutional. While most countries have taken steps to expand the grounds for abortion, some – including El Salvador, Poland and the United States – are adopting measures to tighten restrictions. The Climate Change Laws of the World map helps you visualize our data by showing climate laws, policies and disputes (content – left drop-down list) against key contextual indicators (context – right-hand drop-down list). Select two options from the drop-down menus below to get started. A more recent concept is “supranational law,” which concerns regional agreements where the laws of nation-states can be declared unenforceable if they conflict with a supranational legal system to which the nation is contractually obliged. [9] Supranational legal systems arise when nations explicitly attribute their right to make certain judicial decisions to a common court. [10] The decisions of the Common Court are directly in force in each State Party and take precedence over the decisions of the national courts. [11] The European Union is the most striking example of an international treaty organisation implementing a supranational legal framework, with the European Court of Justice taking precedence over all courts of the Member States in matters of EU law. International law defines the framework and criteria for identifying States as key actors in the international legal system. Since the existence of a State presupposes control and jurisdiction over territories, international law deals with the acquisition of territory, the immunity of States and the legal responsibility of States for their conduct among themselves.
International law treats the treatment of individuals within the borders of States in the same way. There is therefore a comprehensive regime that deals with collective rights, the treatment of aliens, refugee rights, international crimes, nationality issues and human rights in general. It also includes the important functions of the maintenance of international peace and security, arms control, the peaceful settlement of disputes and the regulation of the use of force in international relations. Although the law is not able to prevent the outbreak of war, it has developed principles to regulate the conduct of hostilities and the treatment of prisoners. International law is also used to regulate issues related to the global environment, global commons such as international waters and outer space, global communications and global trade. The laws of countries in this category allow abortion for health or therapeutic reasons. The following infographic illustrates changes in countries` abortion laws over the past 25 years using the color section of the global map of abortion laws. The color change reflects the legality of abortion before and after the law reform. Where the law amendment added listed reasons for abortion, these are reflected by labeled symbols.
The relationship and interaction between a national legal system (domestic law) and international law is complex and variable. National law can become international law if treaties grant national jurisdiction to supranational courts such as the European Court of Human Rights or the International Criminal Court. Treaties such as the Geneva Conventions may require national legislation to be in conformity with the provisions of the Treaty. National laws or constitutions may also provide for the transposition or incorporation of international obligations into domestic law. The Andean Community of Nations was the first attempt to integrate the Andean countries into South America. It began with the Cartagena Agreement of 26 May 1969 and consists of four countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The Andean Community follows supranational laws, called agreements, which are binding on these countries. The categorizations on the map reflect a strict interpretation of the law in black letters of each country. Abortion laws are classified according to the provisions of national laws, legal regulations and court decisions. Ministerial directives are not used to categorize the legal status of abortion on the map, unless they have the force of law. Ashurst, DLA Piper, Gomez-Pinzon Abogados, and White & Case provided pro bono assistance in reviewing each country`s laws, with legal interpretations provided by practicing lawyers in each country as they became available.
For the purposes of the map, “countries” include independent States with populations exceeding one million, semi-autonomous regions, territories and special status jurisdictions. Like contract law in the United States, international agreements create the right for the parties to the agreement. Common law and laws enacted by international treaties (such as those adopted by the United Nations) have the same authority as international law. Private or public parties may assign a higher priority to one of the sources by agreement. A number of international human rights treaties and other instruments adopted since 1945 have given legal form to inherent human rights and developed the corpus of international human rights. At the regional level, other instruments have been adopted to address the specific human rights concerns of the region and to provide for specific protection mechanisms. Most states have also adopted constitutions and other laws that formally protect basic human rights. While international treaties and customary law are the backbone of international human rights law, other instruments such as internationally agreed declarations, guidelines and principles contribute to its understanding, implementation and development. Respect for human rights requires the establishment of the rule of law at the national and international levels.
Since international law exists in a legal environment without a global “sovereign” (i.e. an external power capable and willing to uphold international norms), the “application” of international law is very different from the domestic context.
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