Abortion in American Samoa

Last updated

Abortion in America Samoa is legal but has so many restrictions it is effectively illegal. These laws were passed in the 1980s. When the Zika virus hit in 2015 and 2016, women could not get abortions unless they had enough money to fly to Hawaii. In 2018, abortion pills were not available but the morning after pill was.

Contents

History

In 2016, the Zika virus hit American Samoa particularly hard, despite efforts to prevent its spread, with 21 pregnant women known to have contracted the virus in a population of 55,000 people.  Pregnant women across American Samoa were given condoms when seeking prenatal care at four clinics and one hospital starting in 2015 and continuing to 2016.  This was facilitated in part by all prenatal care in American Samoa being subsidized by the government beginning in the summer of 2015, which also increased women seeking prenatal care as they previously waited until the third-trimester to seek care. Pregnant women confirmed as having the Zika virus had few options as the only way to get an abortion is if the life of the mother was at risk and the Zika virus did not qualify as such an exception; if women wanted an abortion, their only real option if they could afford it, and most could not, was to fly to Hawaii. [1]

Legislative history

A September 20, 1985 directive from the American Samoa Attorney General stated that elective abortions are unconstitutional and that no such procedures can occur at public hospitals. [2] [3] Legal code section 46.3904, which passed in 1986, said that no physician or hospital employee can be compelled to participate in an abortion procedure if doing so goes against their conscience, and that such refusals are immune to criminal, administrative or disciplinary action. [2] [3] Legal code sections passed in 1986 declared that the only persons who can perform a legal abortion in American Samoa are licensed American Samoan physicians. [2] [3] As of 1998, legal code sections 46.3902 and 46.3903, which were adopted in 1986, made any attempt to terminate a pregnancy except in the case of saving the physical or mental health of the mother a crime. [2] [4] [3]

Contraceptive history

As of 2014, abortion medications like mifepristone were not available in American Samoa, because the government does not permit Title X funding to be used for abortions. The morning after pill was available because it prevented conception and was not legally considered an abortifacient. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion in the United States</span> Termination of a pregnancy in the United States

Abortion in the United States and its territories is a divisive issue in American politics and culture wars, with widely different abortion laws in U.S. states. Since 1976, the Republican Party has generally sought to restrict abortion access based on the stage of pregnancy or to criminalize abortion, whereas the Democratic Party has generally defended access to abortion and has made contraception easier to obtain. The abortion-rights movement advocates for patient choice and bodily autonomy, while the anti-abortion movement maintains that the fetus has a right to live. Historically framed as a debate between the pro-choice and pro-life labels, most Americans agree with some positions of each side. Support for abortion gradually increased in the U.S. beginning in the early 1970s, and stabilized during the 2010s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion in Canada</span> Overview of the legality and prevalence of abortions in Canada

Abortion in Canada is legal at all stages of pregnancy and is publicly funded as a medical procedure under the combined effects of the federal Canada Health Act and provincial health-care systems. However, access to services and resources varies by region. While some non-legal barriers to access continue to exist, Canada is one of the only nations with absolutely no criminal restrictions on abortion. Abortion availability is, however, subject to provincial health-care regulatory guidelines for physicians. The general rule is that few providers offer abortion care beyond 23 weeks and 6 days, but there can be exceptions in certain cases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of abortion</span> Aspect of history

The practice of induced abortion—the deliberate termination of a pregnancy—has been known since ancient times. Various methods have been used to perform or attempt abortion, including the administration of abortifacient herbs, the use of sharpened implements, the application of abdominal pressure, and other techniques. The term abortion, or more precisely spontaneous abortion, is sometimes used to refer to a naturally occurring condition that ends a pregnancy, that is, to what is popularly called a miscarriage. But in what follows the term abortion will always refer to an induced abortion.

Abortion in El Salvador is illegal. The law formerly permitted an abortion to be performed under some limited circumstances, but in 1998 all exceptions were removed when a new abortion law went into effect.

Timeline of women's legal rights (other than voting) represents formal changes and reforms regarding women's rights. The changes include actual law reforms as well as other formal changes, such as reforms through new interpretations of laws by precedents. The right to vote is exempted from the timeline: for that right, see Timeline of women's suffrage. The timeline excludes ideological changes and events within feminism and antifeminism; for that, see Timeline of feminism.

Abortion in Romania is currently legal as an elective procedure during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, and for medical reasons at later stages of pregnancy. In the year 2004, there were 216,261 live births and 191,000 reported abortions, meaning that 46% of the 407,261 reported pregnancies that year ended in abortion.

This is a timeline of reproductive rights legislation, a chronological list of laws and legal decisions affecting human reproductive rights. Reproductive rights are a sub-set of human rights pertaining to issues of reproduction and reproductive health. These rights may include some or all of the following: the right to legal or safe abortion, the right to birth control, the right to access quality reproductive healthcare, and the right to education and access in order to make reproductive choices free from coercion, discrimination, and violence. Reproductive rights may also include the right to receive education about contraception and sexually transmitted infections, and freedom from coerced sterilization, abortion, and contraception, and protection from practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion law in the United States by state</span> Termination of pregnancy in states of the United States

The legality of abortion in the United States and the various restrictions imposed on the procedure vary significantly depending on the laws of each state or other jurisdiction. Some states prohibit abortion at all stages of pregnancy with few exceptions, others permit it up to a certain point in a woman's pregnancy, while others allow abortion throughout a woman's pregnancy. In states where abortion is legal, several classes of restrictions on the procedure may exist, such as parental consent or notification laws, requirements that patients be shown an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion, mandatory waiting periods, and counseling requirements. Abortion laws tend to be the most strict in the Southern United States and the most lenient in the Northeastern and Western United States.

The North Carolina Woman's Right to Know Act is a passed North Carolina statute which is referred to as an "informed consent" law. The bill requires practitioners read a state-mandated informational materials, often referred to as counseling scripts, to patients at least 72 hours before the abortion procedure. The patient and physician must certify that the information on informed consent has been provided before the procedure. The law also mandated the creation of a state-maintained website and printed informational materials, containing information about: public and private services available during pregnancy, anatomical and physiological characteristics of gestational development, and possible adverse effects of abortion and pregnancy. A review of twenty-three U.S. states informed consent materials found that North Carolina had the "highest level of inaccuracies," with 36 out of 78 statements rated as inaccurate, or 46%.

Abortion is the termination of human pregnancy, often performed in the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. In 1973, the United States Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade recognized a constitutional right to obtain an abortion without excessive government restriction, and in 1992 the Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey invalidated restrictions that create an undue burden on people seeking abortions. Since then, there has continued to be an abortion debate in the United States, and some states have passed laws in the form of regulation of abortions but which have the purpose or effect of restricting its provision. The proponents of such laws argue they do not create an undue burden. Some state laws that impact the availability of abortions have been upheld by courts. In 2022, Roe and Casey were overturned by the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, meaning that states may now regulate abortion in ways that were not previously permitted.

Abortion in Thailand is legal and available on-request up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion has been legal up to at least 12 weeks of pregnancy since 7 February 2021. Following a 2020 ruling of the Constitutional Court which declared a portion of the abortion statutes unconstitutional, the Parliament removed first-term abortion from the criminal code. Once strict, over time laws have been relaxed to take into account high rates of teen pregnancy, women who lack the means or will to raise children, and the consequences of illegal abortion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion in South Korea</span> Overview of the legality and prevalence of abortions in South Korea

Abortion in South Korea was decriminalized, effective 1 January 2021, by a 2019 order of the Constitutional Court of Korea.

Abortion in Vietnam is legally available and provided free of charge by the state through Article 44 of the 1989 Public Health Protection Law. Vietnam also has one of the highest rates of abortion that has been surveyed in the world and its abortion laws are among the most liberal in Southeast Asia and the world.

Nepal legalised abortion in March 2002, under the 11th Amendment to the Civil Code. The legal services were successfully implemented on December 25, 2003. The high maternal mortality rates in Nepal lead to the government legalising it. More than 500,000 women sought abortion between 2004–2014. In 2014, 323,100 women in Nepal had the abortion; among this, only 42% of abortions were legal and 19% were treated for abortion complications. Similar study had found the rate of unintended pregnancy as 50%.

Abortion in Ghana is legally permissible. The abortion should also be conducted only at a Government hospital; registered private hospital, clinics registered under the Private Hospitals and Maternity Homes Act, 1958 and a place approved by the Minister of Health by a Legislative Instrument. Illegal abortions are criminal offenses subject to at most five years in prison for the pregnant woman who induced said abortion, as well as for any doctor or other person who assisted this pregnant woman in accessing, or carrying out, an abortion. Attempts to cause abortions are also criminal, as are the purveyance, supply, or procurement of chemicals and instruments whose intent is to induce abortions.

Abortion in Hawaii is legal. 66% of adults in Hawaii said in a poll by the Pew Research Center that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Hawaii began allowing elective abortion care de jure in 1970, the first state to do so. State law enacted at that time stated said, "the State shall not deny or interfere with a female's right to choose or obtain an abortion of a nonviable fetus or an abortion that is necessary to protect the life or health of the female."

Abortion in Ohio is legal through 22 weeks of pregnancy.

Abortion in Maryland is legal up to the point of fetal viability or when necessary to preserve the life or health of the pregnant woman. The first laws regulating abortion in the state were passed in 1867 and 1868, banning abortion except by a physician to "secure the safety of the mother." Abortion providers continued to operate, with a robust network of referrals from regular physicians to "skilled abortionists" such as Dr. George Lotrell Timanus, who practiced from the 1920s through the 1950s in Baltimore. Medical and legal enforcement became more strict from the 1940s through 60s, with numerous police raids on abortion providers. In 1968, Maryland passed a liberalized abortion law that clarified the wording of the previous law, allowing abortion in hospital settings in cases of rape, severe fetal deformity, or when life and health were endangered.

Abortion in Puerto Rico is legal throughout pregnancy. On June 22, 2022, the Senate passed a bill limiting abortion to 22 weeks, with exceptions for danger to the mother's life, fetal defects, and if the fetus would not be viable. The bill will need to be considered by the House.

Abortion in the United States Virgin Islands is legal on request up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, and afterwards only in cases that endanger the life or health of the mother. There are five clinics in the territory. Women travel from the British Virgin Islands for abortions because it is illegal there.

References

  1. ↑ "Cultural factors complicate Zika prevention in American Samoa". NBC News. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Arndorfer, Elizabeth; Michael, Jodi; Moskowitz, Laura; Grant, Juli A.; Siebel, Liza (December 1998). A State-By-State Review of Abortion and Reproductive Rights. DIANE Publishing. ISBN   9780788174810.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Code Annotated". www.asbar.org. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  4. 1 2 "EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION IS NOT AN ABORTION PILL". www.samoanews.com. 2014-06-27. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.