Understanding politics across borders and divides
Last Updated: July 2026 Overview Europe is the most permissive region in the world on abortion law and one of the more restrictive on gestational limits, which is a combination that surprises people who follow the debate through American framing. Nearly every European state allows abortion on request in early pregnancy, but twelve weeks is … Read more
Last Updated: July 2026 Overview Africa is the only continent whose regional human rights treaty spells out an obligation to permit abortion, and it also carries the world’s heaviest burden of unsafe abortion. Article 14 of the Maputo Protocol requires states to authorise abortion for rape, incest, and threats to the woman’s life or health. … Read more
Last Updated: July 2026 Overview Asia and the Pacific hold the widest spread of abortion law of any world region. The procedure is available on request in China and Vietnam, decriminalised across Australia and New Zealand, permitted only for rape or medical emergency in Indonesia, and prohibited in all circumstances in the Philippines. That legal … Read more
This page is a regional companion to the global Abortion: The Global Picture hub, focusing on how the issue plays out across Latin America. Overview Latin America has produced the most striking abortion story of the past decade, moving from some of the strictest laws in the world toward liberalization in several of its largest … Read more
Overview Abortion is among the most contested political and moral questions in the world, and one of the few debated on every continent. An estimated 73 million abortions take place worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization. How the procedure is regulated varies enormously: some countries treat it as ordinary healthcare available on … Read more
Below are materials that can be used to discuss the topic of abortion. These include neutral statistics for the world and for the United States, statements from various perspectives on the issue, and a list of questions that can (hopefully) be used to discuss the issue. Statistics International Estimated Abortions: An estimated 73 million medically induced … Read more