COUNTRY : United States of America

COUNCIL : UN Women

TOPIC : Legalizing Abortion

DELEGATE : Khansa Adilla Rinda Putri

Abortion is one of the most divisive topics on earth. Lawmakers around the world have passed
laws that prohibit abortion completely or allow it only under certain conditions. In fact, the
center of reproductive rights says that 41 percent of the countries (very strict laws) private
abortion completely or allow it for medical reasons, 23 percent of countries allow them on
broader social economic grounds (moderate laws), while 36% have very liberal abortion laws
(liberal laws). Around 56 million abortions are performed each year in the world, with about
45% done unsafely. Abortion rates changed little between 2003 and 2008, before which they
decreased for at least two decades as access to family planning and birth control increased. As
of 2018, 37% of the world's women had access to legal abortions without limits as to reason.
Countries that permit abortions have different limits on how late in pregnancy abortion is
allowed (July, 2010. Culwell KR, Vekemans M, de Silva U, Hurwitz M). Abortion rates are similar
between countries that ban abortion and countries that allow it. In USA, there is a well-
established constitutional right to abortion since 1973 when the Supreme Court decision Roe
versus Wade decriminalized abortion nationwide. Abortion is legal in the United States during
the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. Most abortions are done during the first trimester
of pregnancy. The Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalized abortion in all 50 states. Every
state has at least one abortion clinic. From 1973 to 1980, the abortion rate rose almost 80%,
peaking at 29.3 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age according to the Guttmacher
Institute and at 25 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age according to the CDC. From
1981 through 2017, the abortion rate fell approximately in half. It did not fall every single year,
but it has not risen two years in a row since 1979 and 1980. The abortion rate fell below the
1973 rate in 2012 and continued to fall through 2017. In 2017, the abortion rate stood at 13.5
abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age according to the Guttmacher Institute, and at
11.2 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age according to the CDC. In 2018, according
to the CDC, the abortion rate rose for the first time since 2006, to 11.3 abortions per 1,000
women of childbearing age. One aspect of the legal abortion regime now in place has been
determining when the fetus is "viable" outside the womb as a measure of when the "life" of the
fetus is its own (and therefore subject to being protected by the state), so women have a right
to choose to have an abortion before what’s known as viability that is the time of the fetus
could potentially survive outside the womb.

In 2020, the right to access abortion established in Roe v. Wade is still under attack. Moreover,
meaningful access to abortion has never been a reality for many people in the United States,
especially women of color. The courts are by no means saviors of reproductive rights; the June
Medical decision preserved a status quo in which hundreds of abortion restrictions remain in
place across the country. More abortion restrictions—90—have already been enacted in 2021
than in any year since the Roe v. Wade decision was handed down in 1973. Many of these
actions took place in the beginning of the year, despite the need for state legislatures to
address critical issues ranging from racial equity to the COVID-19 response and pandemic-
related health care. These unrelenting state actions demonstrate the need to move beyond
reliance on the courts and to advance proactive policies at the state and federal level that
ensure true access to abortion rights. This issue brief breaks down the bans and restrictions
that state legislatures have passed this year in their ongoing attempts to undermine or
eliminate outright the right to access abortion care. It then highlights efforts to protect and
advance abortion rights. policymakers must do more than stop restrictions; they should take
action to proactively ensure that access to abortion care is a reality for all—through insurance
coverage, access to medication abortion, and more60—to fulfill the promise of Roe v. Wade.
We believe that legalizing abortion can help in population reduction. In this pandemic where
masses are struggling to make ends meet, abortion can actually be a relief as it reduces the
pressure and burden on the breadwinners. The cost of abortion actually becomes cheaper
compared to the one of nursing a child and providing for all their needs. Besides, abortion is not
a question of morality it is a question of providing options to prevent and mitigate risks in
certain circumstances.

To this, we purpose some recommendations solutions due to this issue:

1. Safe abortions. Making abortions legal is an essential prerequisite to making it safe.
Unsafe abortion situations are characterized by a lack of equity in cost, safety, and
quality of care. Covering the cost of safe abortions in public health services is therefore
not about incurring entirely new costs, but about shifting expenditure away from
complicated cases in tertiary level hospitals to safe, simple procedures that can be
provided in primary clinics. Women may or may not be charged a fee at the point of
service, but safety should mean affordability for the poorest of women as well as for
those who can pay, with one high standard care for all.

2. Changing laws and policies. Good laws and policies on abortions, in addition to being
legal instruments, are a sign of public acceptance of fertility control and women’s need
for abortions. To make abortion safe, restrictive laws need to be annulled, amended or
replaced; traditional, and in some cases, religious laws may also require attention when
legal change is being contemplated. Both the content of the law and the policy that
defines how the law will be implemented matter.

3. Striking a balance. Striking a realistic balance and finding out what women require is
advisable. Abortion services that are openly available have the opportunity to offer
family planning and sexual health information and services, to give women the means to
protect themselves.
References:

https://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book-excerpts/health-article/u-s-abortion-history/
https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-worldwide#
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6384621.stm
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2020/08/27/489786/state-actions-
undermining-abortion-rights-2020/
Abortion in the United States by state - Wikipedia
https://live.guttmacher.org/article/2021/07/state-policy-trends-midyear-2021-already-worst-
legislative-year-ever-us-abortion
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/news/2006/01/20/1796/the-right-way-to-
reduce-abortion/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_law#