France is the first country to explicitly register the abortion in its Constitutionalthough there were other nations that introduced it or indirectly prohibited it in their Magna Carta.
The French initiative advocates shielding in its article 34 the “guaranteed freedom of women to resort to voluntary termination of pregnancy” (IVE).
This is “the first explicit and broad constitutional provision on the subject” in the world, explains Leah Hoctor, from the American organization Center for Reproductive Rights, to AFP.
The Chilean attempt
In September 2022, Chile attempted to introduce the right for women to “a voluntary termination of pregnancy” in his draft new Constitution, which was rejected in a referendum.
The current Magna Carta, inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), stipulates that ““The law protects the life of the unborn.”
Another subsequent reform attempt, prepared by a council dominated by the extreme right, protected the life of “the unborn,” giving rise to reviewing the right to abortion. It was also rejected.
This country, traditionally conservative on the subject, prohibited abortion until 2017, when a law authorized it on three grounds: rape, non-viability of the fetus and risk to the mother.
The Yugoslav precedent
Currently, several countries “they offer constitutional protection of the right to abortion, but not through an explicit formulation,” explains Leah Hoctor.
Several Balkan countries thus inherited the “human right to decide freely about the birth of children” included in the 1974 Magna Carta of Marshal Tito’s then Yugoslavia.
This is the case of Slovenia, North Macedonia and Serbia, as well as the Bosnian Serb entity.
Other countries like Cuba also make a veiled reference when they talk about “reproductive rights” in their Constitution.
The Magna Carta of Ecuador enshrines “the right to make free, responsible and informed decisions about their health and reproductive life and to decide when and how many daughters and sons to have.”
Case by case
Other countries, especially African ones, “they refer to abortion explicitly in their Constitution, but generally to allow it in specific circumstances”explains the expert.
In Kenya“abortion is not authorized unless a qualified health professional deems it necessary for emergency treatment or if the life or health of the mother is in danger, or if permitted by other written law,” iindicates the Constitution.
The fundamental law of neighboring Somalia states that “Abortion is contrary to Sharia law.” [ley islámica] and it is prohibited, except in case of necessity, in particular to save the life of the mother.”
The Magna Carta of Eswatini, a small country in Southern Africa, provides thate “abortion is illegal, but it can be authorized” in case of rape and risk to the life or health of the woman.
Life from conception
In contrast to the French initiative, some fundamental laws implicitly prohibit abortion, enshrining the right to life from conception, as in the case of the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, Madagascar, Honduras and El Salvador.
This Central American country is one of the toughest. Abortion is punishable by two to eight years in prison, but is often classified as “aggravated homicide”which carries penalties of 30 to 50 years in prison.
Source: Gestion
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