Access to knowledge and the Global Abortion Policies Database

Abstract

Research shows that women, healthcare providers, and even policy makers worldwide have limited or inaccurate knowledge of the abortion law and policies in their country. These knowledge gaps sometimes stem from the vague and broad terms of the law, which breed uncertainty and even conflict when unaccompanied by accessible regulation or guidelines. Inconsistency across national law and policy further impedes safe and evidence-based practice. This lack of transparency creates a crisis of accountability. Those seeking care cannot know their legal entitlements, service providers cannot practice with legal protection, and governments can escape legal responsibility for the adverse effects of their laws. This is the context for the newly launched Global Abortion Policies Database-an open-access repository that seeks to promote transparency and state accountability by providing clear and comprehensive information about national laws, policies, health standards, and guidelines, and by creating the capacity for comparative analysis and cross-referencing to health indicators, WHO recommendations, and human rights standards.

The duty to make abortion law transparent: A Malawi case study

“…Jane was forced to carry a medically high‐risk pregnancy to term because of the failure of the state to ensure that the abortion law is fully transparent both to potential clients and to healthcare providers. Lack of transparency and the uncertainty this creates around the question of when it is legal to provide abortion has a chilling effect on healthcare providers who, as in the case of Jane, would rather interpret the law conservatively and restrictively for fear of prosecution . Lack of transparency sustains the illusion that all abortion is unlawful, forcing eligible girls and women to carry medically risky pregnancies to term or, indeed, to seek clandestine and unsafe abortions.…”

“…Yet, such services are not transparently available to them, as in the case of Jane. All the while, the government escapes accountability for violations of the rights of girls and women because of its failure to give effect to the law on lawful abortion . This has serious health implications for girls and women whose pregnancies pose threats to their lives.…”

“…Lack of transparency and the uncertainty this creates around the question of when it is legal to provide abortion has a chilling effect on healthcare providers who, as in the case of Jane, would rather interpret the law conservatively and restrictively for fear of prosecution. 12 Lack of transparency sustains the illusion that all abortion is unlawful, forcing eligible girls and women to carry medically risky pregnancies to term or, indeed, to seek clandestine and unsafe abortions. The burden of interpreting the law should not be on individual healthcare providers.…”

“…In describing the importance to reproductive rights of the Global Abortion Policies Database—a repository of abortion laws and policies of UN Member States launched in 2017—Erdman and Johnson emphasize that knowledge of abortion laws and policies is critical to ensuring access to safe abortion and to holding governments accountable for realizing access to safe abortion. Applying this insight to the context of Malawi, the present article shows that even when abortion is restricted, and the provisions drafted in unclear language, access to safe abortion is nevertheless realizable in accordance with the law if only the government would fulfil its duty to explain the abortion law, guided by the national legal and policy framework, and prevailing medical standards.…”

Impact of abortion law reforms on women’s health services and outcomes: a systematic review protocol

“…Additionally, abortion laws may exist outside the penal codes in some countries, where they are supplemented by health legislation and regulations such as public health statutes, reproductive health acts, court decisions, medical ethic codes, practice guidelines, and general health acts (18,19,24). The diversity of regulatory documents may lead to conflicting directives about the grounds under which abortion is lawful (19).…”