Sofia Flores Colombres- President Melissa Peniche Yunes - Moderator 1 Daniela Navarro Buendía - First Official assistant World Health Organization of the organization is currently Dr. Tedros Adhanom Topic B: Global access to Ghebreyesus. The World Health Organization is a assisted, safe and legal worldwide standard on medical and related issues in the abortion in special cases modern-day. One of the most relevant and ongoing situations the World Health Organization is currently analyzing is establishing global access to assisted, safe and legal INTRODUCTION abortion in special cases. First of all, the term “abortion” is defined as the removal of pregnancy tissue, products The world has always tried to evolve and adapt to the of conception and placenta from the uterus of a female growth of current medical-related circumstances; to terminate a pregnancy. There are various other terms in order to provide worldwide standards, solutions, for abortion, such as elective abortion, termination of humanitarian aid, and much more. The World Health pregnancy, therapeutic abortion, along with others. Organization (WHO) was officially established on April 7, 1948, after the Constitution adopted by the International Nowadays, abortion policies and laws vary among Health Conference came into place. This organization nations and individual states across the globe, currently counts with 7,000 individuals from 150 depending on each of the countries’ current needs. countries in 150 national offices around the world. It has As a medical definition, abortion is defined as the its headquarters in Geneva. complete removal of a pregnancy. Now, the making of this procedure around the world has different conditions The purpose of the World Health Organization is in what will be illegal and what would lay within the to “promote health, keep the world safe, and serve law. Legal abortion is the one made inside parameters the vulnerable” (Paul, 1963). This organization is a started by the government. Abortion is only considered subsidiary of the General Assembly, and the director legal when all the conditions in which the procedure 2 develops are following the law and the constitutional such policies are Iran, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, and amendments of the nation. others. The last legality status of abortion is where the procedure is entirely banned, some of the regions with The legality of abortion is determined by each nation, this final status are Iraq, El Salvador, Chile, Malta, the but there are currently 5 legal status of abortion in a Philippines, and other 26 countries (Beale, 2018). worldwide consideration. The first one is that abortion is allowed without restriction as to a reason, which The access to abortion started to become illegal in means that there is no need for the patient to present a the 1800s, due to many reasons variating on the state reason to do the procedure. Some nations who present in which the law was being applied. One of the most this first legal term of abortion are Denmark, Austria, common reasons was the racial fear of immigrant China, Cuba, Switzerland, among others. The second children making up the majority of the population. legal condition is when abortion is only permitted with Abortion started to become regulated due to poor previous analysis on socioeconomic grounds, such as health care services and the lack of medical knowledge laws regarding economic resources, age and marital to perform an abortion accurately. Hospitals were status. Some of the countries with this legal position are rare, antiseptics were yet to be invented and medical Finland, Portugal, Barbados, Japan, Iceland and so forth. education was very low even in the most prestigious doctors (Khazan, 2018). Continuing with legal abortion status, another legality contributor to allow abortion is recognizing the Abortion started to become a taboo in an attempt by safeguard of the woman’s mental and physical health, doctors to provide and regulate the rights to practice as well as her life. Some of the nations that follow medicine and obtain a bigger profit. Doctors looked to the previously mentioned laws are Colombia, Algeria, prevent practitioners from medicine, and that could New Zealand. Thailand and Israel. When abortion be easily achieved when one simple procedure was becomes restricted, abortion legality is only allowed criminalized, in this case, abortion. Therefore, the when protecting a woman’s life. Some countries with American Medical Association started campaigns 3 stating that abortion was immoral and an extreme Another way abortion affects countries is by managing procedure. By 1910, abortion was banned to practice equality index in both genders since the right to an unless a woman’s life was at risk. abortion is sometimes related to equality and women empowerment movements. It also disturbs nations Some of the most involved countries in restrictive because abortions can influence birth rates dropping, abortion legality status and with high death rates are El such as the case of New Zealand. In New Zealand, it is Salvador, Argentina, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, North estimated that a woman averages 1.81 births during her Korea, Afghanistan, Haiti, Bolivia, Honduras, Paraguay, lifetime, while the global average is approximately 2.5. Yemen, and so forth. Other nations where abortions are (Oberman, 2018) completely illegal and strictly punished are Andorra, Iraq, Nicaragua, Senegal, Philippines, Laos among Overall, only 37% of the world’s women live in countries others. Some of the countries with leading abortion where abortion is completely allowed and at least policies are Belgium, Germany, Singapore, Canada, the 23,000 women die from unsafe abortions. At the same United States, Puerto Rico, among others. (Berer, 2017). time, 78% of abortions worldwide take place outside of a clinic, showing that 17,000,000 abortions are done The impact of abortion in the population and medical illegally in a global matter. Abortion in 2019 is illegal aspects vary depending on the country. One of the main in 26 countries: Andorra, Angola, Congo-Brazzaville, ways abortion affects countries is on the impact these Congo-Kinshasa, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El procedures have on health service budgets. This means Salvador, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, that abortion procedures need a lot of the health budget Laos, Madagascar, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, for being able to provide them in a safe way. (Oberman, Micronesia, Nicaragua, Palau, Philippines, San Marino, 2018) In Canada, about 50% of the health services Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Suriname and Tonga. budget is used on abortion-related matters. This shows (Dixon-Mueller, 1990). a huge impact on the rest of the health care necessities of the general population. A third of the population in developing countries lives 4 where abortion is illegal or only allowed in special abortion policies come from almost any demographic cases. This has resulted in only 1 in 4 abortions being sector. The sector which struggles economically is safe in some countries. In these same abortions, there actually the sector that is far more likely to have an are numerous possible physical complications that abortion. Also, racial factors have been proved to play are barely treated. 97% of these unsafe abortions a role in abortions, with 35% of dark-skinned women underwent in developing nations. In Asia, 1 in 2 getting an abortion done, followed by Hispanic women abortions was safe, and in Africa 1 in 4 were safe. Asia (Riley, 2018). Also, women in developed regions has a has about 35.5 million abortions each year, South higher likelihood to undergo an abortion procedure on a America 6.5 million and in Africa 8.2 million abortions in 36 compared to 27 per 1,000 as to developed regions. total. (Starrs, 2016). HISTORICAL BACKGROUND There are currently 61 countries with category 4 on abortion laws, which means that they have the most Abortion is one of the most ancient procedures, with liberal laws in the world and provide greater health records from societies such as the Egyptians, found services to its own citizens. These countries only in the Ebers Papyrus. Records show that Persians and represent 39.5% of the world’s population and they Romans were also in knowledge of the procedure and are mostly located in North America, Europe, and it was common. Jewish and Muslim texts declared Central/Eastern Asia. On the other hand, 25% of the knowledge of an abortion process and banning ideas world’s population resides in nations where abortion is started to emerge. The earliest records of banning forbidden or only allowed in order to save a woman’s life. abortion come from the 11th century BCE, in the Code (Abdullaeva, 2012). 56 countries allow abortion without of Assura, which assures the death penalty to women a reason, 35 deny abortions, and 34 make an exception who undergo an abortion without the consent of their to save a life. husband. It wasn’t until the 19th century, that abortion through the dilatation and curettage method was made Data recollected has shown that women involved with possible, by the invention of the Hegar dilator in 1879. 5 This artifact made surgical abortion easier and safer for birth rates were higher. both the surgeon and the patient. By the end of the 19th century, abortion was legally The Ebers Papyrus, a compilation of ancient Egyptian restricted. The most important sources of such laws medical texts, states that an abortion can be instigated were the imperial countries of Europe, such as Britain, with the utilization of a plant-fiber tampon covered France, Portugal, Spain, and Italy; who imposed their with an aggravate that included nectar and pulverized own laws according to abortion on their colonies. dates. Later on, commonly grown abortifacients, such as Between the range of 1967 and 1973, 33% of the states silphium (most expensive and important plant in ancient changed or revoked their criminal fetus removal laws.