National Laws
While abortions are legal in most countries, the grounds on which they are permitted vary. According to the United Nations publication World Abortion Policies 2011 abortion is allowed in most countries in order to save a woman's life (97% of countries). Other commonly accepted reasons are preserving physical (67%) or mental health (63%). Abortion in the case of rape or incest is accepted in about half of all countries (49%), and performing them because of economic or social reasons in about a third (34%). Performing abortion only on the basis of a woman's request is allowed in 29% of all countries, including in North America and in most European countries.
In some countries additional procedures must be followed before the abortion can be carried out even if the basic grounds for it are fulfilled. For example, in the United Kingdom and Finland, where abortions are not granted based merely on a woman's request, approval for each abortion must be obtained from two doctors. How strictly all of the procedures dictated in the legislature are followed in practice is another matter. For example, in the United Kingdom 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.
The effect of national laws as of 2011 for each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations and two non-Member States (the Holy See and Niue) is listed in the U.N. World Abortion Policies 2011 report, and summarized in the following table. The publication also includes information on national estimates of abortion rate, fertility rate, maternal mortality ratio, levels of contraceptive use, unmet need for family planning, and government support for family planning, as well as regional estimates of unsafe abortion.
| Count | Countries | Category |
Geographic area |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Somalia | 1 | Eastern Africa |
| 1 | Djibouti | 2 | Eastern Africa |
| 12 | Burundi, Comoros, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe | 3 | Eastern Africa |
| 6 | Angola, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe | 1 | Middle Africa |
| 3 | Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea | 3 | Middle Africa |
| 2 | Egypt, Libya | 2 | Northern Africa |
| 3 | Algeria, Morocco, Sudan | 3 | Northern Africa |
| 1 | Tunisia | 4 | Northern Africa |
| 1 | Lesotho | 2 | Southern Africa |
| 3 | Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland | 3 | Southern Africa |
| 1 | South Africa | 4 | Southern Africa |
| 3 | Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Niger | 1 | Western Africa |
| 2 | Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal | 2 | Western Africa |
| 10 | Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo | 3 | Western Africa |
| 1 | Cape Verde | 4 | Western Africa |
| 2 | Japan, South Korea | 3 | Eastern Asia |
| 3 | China, Mongolia, North Korea | 4 | Eastern Asia |
| 1 | Iran | 1 | South-central Asia |
| 3 | Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka | 2 | South-central Asia |
| 4 | Bhutan, India, Maldives, Pakistan | 3 | South-central Asia |
| 6 | Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan | 4 | South-central Asia |
| 1 | Philippines | 1 | South-east Asia |
| 4 | Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Timor-Leste | 2 | South-east Asia |
| 3 | Laos, Malaysia, Thailand | 3 | South-east Asia |
| 3 | Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam | 4 | South-east Asia |
| 1 | Syrian Arab Republic | 1 | Western Asia |
| 5 | Iraq, Lebanon, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Yemen | 2 | Western Asia |
| 6 | Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia | 3 | Western Asia |
| 5 | Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, Turkey | 4 | Western Asia |
| 1 | Poland | 3 | Eastern Europe |
| 9 | Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine | 4 | Eastern Europe |
| 1 | Ireland | 2 | Northern Europe |
| 3 | Finland, Iceland, United Kingdom | 3 | Northern Europe |
| 6 | Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden | 4 | Northern Europe |
| 2 | Holy See, Malta | 0 | Southern Europe |
| 2 | Andorra, San Marino | 1 | Southern Europe |
| 11 | Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain | 4 | Southern Europe |
| 1 | Monaco | 1 | Western Europe |
| 2 | Liechtenstein, Luxembourg | 3 | Western Europe |
| 6 | Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland | 4 | Western Europe |
| 1 | Dominican Republic | 0 | Caribbean |
| 2 | Antigua and Barbuda, Haiti | 1 | Caribbean |
| 1 | Dominica | 2 | Caribbean |
| 8 | Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago | 3 | Caribbean |
| 1 | Cuba | 4 | Caribbean |
| 2 | El Salvador, Nicaragua | 0 | Central America |
| 2 | Guatemala, Honduras | 2 | Central America |
| 3 | Belize, Costa Rica, Panama | 3 | Central America |
| 1 | Mexico1 | 4 | Central America |
| 1 | Chile | 0 | South America |
| 4 | Argentina, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela | 2 | South America |
| 6 | Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay | 3 | South America |
| 1 | Guyana | 4 | South America |
| 2 | Canada, USA | 4 | Northern America |
| 1 | New Zealand | 3 | Australasia |
| 1 | Australia1 | 4 | Australasia |
| 1 | Solomon Islands | 2 | Melanesia |
| 3 | Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu | 3 | Melanesia |
| 4 | Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau | 2 | Micronesia |
| 1 | Nauru | 3 | Micronesia |
| 2 | Tonga, Tuvalu | 2 | Polynesia |
| 3 | Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa | 3 | Polynesia |
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