Debate: When abortion is ‘haram’, women find strategies to claim their rights
Abstract
Many women took to the streets worldwide on September 28, the global day of action for safe abortion successes and put forth new demands for women’s right to access safe, free and legal abortion.Right to access safe abortion is under threat in many countries, from the United States to Poland, from Argentina to Ireland where women are still fighting for it. Nearly 80% of women in the Middle East and North Africa live in countries where abortion laws are restricted. Among those, 55% live in countries where abortion is prohibited except to save the mother’s life and 24% live in countries where abortion is permitted only to preserve women’s physical or mental health. Today, only Turkey and Tunisia allow elective abortions (abortion on demand). Although, there are no countries in the region with complete abortion bans, abortion restrictions narrow the grounds for women’s access to safe abortion.