Let’s proceed to the list of countries with the lowest abortion rates in the world in 2018. Insider Monkey has recently published an arresting article about it. Currently, there are 24 countries in which women are not allowed to terminate a pregnancy even when their life is at risk. These countries also prohibit abortions in situations such as rape, incest, or severe fetus illness. If a woman decides to terminate a pregnancy, she might end up serving a prison sentence. For instance, a woman from El Salvador was recently freed after being held in prison for a decade serving a 30-year long punishment for alleged intentional pregnancy termination. There are also many countries such as Ireland which allow abortion only in exceptional circumstances. Restrictive policy in these places has not decreased the number of abortions. Women either travel to countries which allow abortions or undergo unsafe procedures. Guttmacher Institute estimates that “of the 56 million induced abortions that took place each year during 2010–2014” around 25 million, or in other words almost half, were unsafe.
Now without a further ado let’s see what Insider Monkey has investigated for us. We have picked three countries with the lowest abortion rates in the world in 2018 from their list.
The first one is Norway. Abortion is allowed on demand until the 12th week of pregnancy in Norway since 1978. Like in other Nordic countries abortion rates are low mainly due to a widespread use of contraceptives. Note that besides just mentioned Denmark and Norway, New Zealand and Iceland also have the abortion rate of 12 per 1,000 women aged 15-44. The second country on our short list should be Slovenia. Abortion has been legal in Slovenia since 1977. It is interesting that since 1992 Slovenian law allows doctors to refuse to perform an abortion if it is against their religious beliefs. The latest statistic shows that there are 9 abortion per 1,000 women aged 15-44. At last, but not least let’s check out Netherlands’ numbers. Abortion in the Netherlands, which also occupies third place on our list of 10 countries with lowest abortion rates in the world in 2018, can be performed until the fetus becomes viable. In theory, it means that pregnancy can be terminated until the 24th week. However in practice abortion are rarely allowed after 22nd week. Abortion became legal in the Netherlands in 1984.
For any further useful information, read Insider Monkey’s article about 10 countries with the lowest abortion rates in the world in 2018.
