Policy surveillance for a global analysis of national abortion laws

Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters

卷:30

Patty Skuster¹  Megan Perkins²  Adrienne R. Ghorashi³  Jamie Menzel⁴ 

[1] Beck Chair in Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Correspondence:;

[2] Program Coordinator, Ipas, Chapel Hill, NC, USA;

[3] Program Manager, Center for Public Health Law Research, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Philadelphia, PA, USA;

[4] Senior Advisor, Research and Evaluation, Ipas, Denver, CO, USA;

关键词: abortion;    law;    policy;    medical abortion;    self-managed abortion;    comparative law;   

DOI  :  10.1080/26410397.2022.2064208

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Policy surveillance offers a novel and important method for comparing law across jurisdictions. We used policy surveillance to examine abortion laws across the globe. Self-managed abortion, which generally takes place outside formal healthcare settings, is increasing in prevalence and can be safe. We analysed provisions that do not account for the prevalence of self-managed abortion and evidence of its safety. Such provisions require that abortion take place in a formal healthcare setting. We also analysed criminal penalties for non-compliance. Our method included development of a legal framework, an iterative process of refining coding schemes and procedures, and rigorous quality control. We limited our analysis to liberal abortion laws for two reasons. Abortion laws globally trend towards less restrictive. In addition, we aimed to focus on how laws relate to abortion outside a formal healthcare setting specifically and excluded laws that prohibit abortion more broadly. We found that in all countries with liberal national abortion laws, the law permits only healthcare professionals or trained health workers to perform legal abortion and the majority require the abortion to take place in a specified health facility. With policy surveillance methods we can illuminate characteristics of law across many jurisdictions and the need for widespread reform, toward laws that reflect scientific evidence and the way people have abortions.

【 授权许可】

Unknown