In Trinidad and Tobago, abortion is illegal save for few exceptions. The respective laws are in place since 1925.
Trinidad and Tobago was a colony under British rule until 1962. [1] Consequently, many of their statutes replicate those in the UK, including the Offences Against the Person Act of 1925 which states abortion is illegal.
The UK case of Rex v Bourne of 1938 is highly influential, even to this day, in Trinidad and Tobago abortion laws. Dr. Bourne was tried under the Offences Against the Person Act for administering an abortion to a 15 year old who had been raped by a group of soldiers. In this case, the prosecution's duty was to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the operation was not performed in good faith for the well-being of the girl. The judge ruled that it was Bourne's responsibility as a doctor to terminate the pregnancy if, on reasonable grounds and with adequate knowledge, he was of the belief that the result of the pregnancy would lead to deterioration of the girl's physical and/or mental health. Thereafter, Bourne was acquitted. (5)
Abortion is only permitted if it will:
Permission to abort is not permitted for:
The punishment for a woman who has an abortion is four years in prison, and the punishment for a doctor or other person who performs the procedure is the same. Aiding in the process of finding someone to perform an abortion or other preliminary steps is also illegal, and subject to a two-year prison sentence. [2]
An abortion is one of the most common surgical procedures in Trinidad and Tobago, and most occur during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. [3]
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an unsafe abortion is "a procedure for terminating an unwanted pregnancy either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment lacking the minimal medical standards or both". [3] Unsafe abortions in Trinidad and Tobago have led to increased rates of maternal morbidity and hospital visits.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the maternal mortality rate (MMR) is 55 per 100,000 live births.
Although the law states that abortion is allowed to save a woman's mental health, the law does not give a clear definition of what mental health issues are included. Therefore, it can be difficult for health practitioners, lawyers, and midwives to judge when the law should be followed as far as mental health is concerned. For this very reason, many doctors are hesitant to perform abortions, and costs are very high. [3] Women who can afford expensive but safe abortions at private practices and hospitals are the only ones who remain unaffected. The lack of safe resources has forced women who are either young or poor to seek out cheaper, life-threatening methods to terminate unwanted pregnancies, where they eventually end up in the hospital. The drug Cytotec (misoprostol), taken without adequate medical guidance or follow-up care, is used to conduct unsafe but cheap abortions. [4]
This is a widespread issue that is so common that the majority, if not all public hospitals have an entire ward set aside for women suffering from unsafe abortion complications. [3] The complications that stem from underground abortions cost 1 million TT dollars per month. [4] Treatment includes surgery, blood transfusions, medications, and overnight stays (20). Unsafe abortions can lead to sepsis, hemorrhage, cervical complications, or uterine perforations, [3] with the most historically common problems in emergency rooms being sepsis and hemorrhage. [4] The women that do not seek out medical attention have issues with infertility, pelvic problems including pelvic inflammatory disease and chronic pelvic pain. [4]
Although abortion is not permitted, other methods of contraceptives such as oral contraceptives, condoms, and tubal ligation are widely used and accepted. It appears that over the counter contraceptives have also become popular since the 1990s. Today, oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices (IUDs), and male and female condoms are available for free at public health institutions.
The Trinidadian government is connected to the Catholic Church, and many laws are based on Christian commandments.[ citation needed ] The Billings Ovulation Method of Natural Fertility Regulation has stated they operate under the Catholic Church's Archdiocesan Family Life Commission. [5] The Catholic Church, and therefore the government believe sexual intercourse serves only the purpose of connecting marriage and/or conceiving babies.[ citation needed ] An alternative solution to legalizing all abortions known as the Billings Ovulation Method has been proposed from the church alongside the Billings Ovulation Method of Natural Fertility Regulation. [5] This method suggests women should observe symptoms in her body that indicate whether she is fertile or infertile, and this will determine whether or not the couple should engage or abstain in sexual activities.
Advocates for Safe Parenthood: Improving Reproductive Equity (ASPIRE) is a non-profit organization in Trinidad and Tobago that advocate for abortion law reform, better sexual education in schools, and contraceptive delivery services. [3] They were the first organization to consistently strive to fight the government's views and laws on abortion rights and established in 1999. They have participated in conducting studies on women's health records concerning abortion, created model policies and laws, public media campaigns, and surveys over the past decade. [3]
The United Nations reports that there has been a decline in the 1990s of contraceptive usage due to access and supply limitations. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago also thinks that fertility and population rates are too high. [3]
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of all pregnancies. When deliberate steps are taken to end a pregnancy, it is called an induced abortion, or less frequently "induced miscarriage". The unmodified word abortion generally refers to an induced abortion. The most common reasons women give for having an abortion are for birth-timing and limiting family size. Other reasons reported include maternal health, an inability to afford a child, domestic violence, lack of support, feeling they are too young, wishing to complete education or advance a career, and not being able or willing to raise a child conceived as a result of rape or incest.
Fertility awareness (FA) refers to a set of practices used to determine the fertile and infertile phases of a woman's menstrual cycle. Fertility awareness methods may be used to avoid pregnancy, to achieve pregnancy, or as a way to monitor gynecological health.
Calendar-based methods are various methods of estimating a woman's likelihood of fertility, based on a record of the length of previous menstrual cycles. Various methods are known as the Knaus–Ogino method and the rhythm method. The standard days method is also considered a calendar-based method, because when using it, a woman tracks the days of her menstrual cycle without observing her physical fertility signs. The standard days method is based on a fixed formula taking into consideration the timing of ovulation, the functional life of the sperm and the ovum, and the resulting likelihood of pregnancy on particular days of the menstrual cycle. These methods may be used to achieve pregnancy by timing unprotected intercourse for days identified as fertile, or to avoid pregnancy by avoiding unprotected intercourse during fertile days.
The Billings ovulation method is a method in which women use their vaginal mucus to determine their fertility. It does not rely on the presence of ovulation, rather it identifies patterns of potential fertility and obvious infertility within the cycle, whatever its length. Effectiveness, however, is not very clear.
An unsafe abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by people lacking the necessary skills, or in an environment lacking minimal medical standards, or both. An unsafe abortion is a life-threatening procedure. It includes self-induced abortions, abortions in unhygienic conditions, and abortions performed by a medical practitioner who does not provide appropriate post-abortion attention. About 25 million unsafe abortions occur a year, of which most occur in the developing world.
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Sexual and reproductive health is more commonly defined as sexual and reproductive health and rights, to encompass individual agency to make choices about their sexual and reproductive lives.
Abortion is illegal in El Salvador. 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.
Abortion has been legal in India under various circumstances with the introduction of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Regulations, 2003 were issued under the Act to enable women to access safe and legal abortion services.
Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unintended pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only became available in the 20th century. Planning, making available, and using human birth control is called family planning. Some cultures limit or discourage access to birth control because they consider it to be morally, religiously, or politically undesirable.
Abortion in Namibia is restricted under the Abortion and Sterilisation Act of South Africa (1975), which Namibia inherited at the time of Independence from South Africa in March 1990. The act only allows for the termination of a pregnancy in cases of serious threat to the maternal or fetal health or when the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest. This law has not been updated since, and attempts to liberalise it have been met with fierce opposition from religious and women's groups.
Septic abortion describes any type of abortion, due to an upper genital tract bacterial infection including the inflammation of the endometrium during or after 20 weeks of gestation. The genital tract during this period is particularly vulnerable to infection, and sepsis in most cases is caused by a combination of factors both due to facility conditions and/or individual predispositions. The infection often starts in the placenta and fetus, with a potential complication of also affecting the uterus, that can result in sepsis spreading to surrounding organs, or pelvic infections.
Abortion in Cuba is legal and available upon request, which is rare in Latin America because of widespread Catholic influence.
The first large-scale human trial of the birth control pill was conducted by Gregory Pincus and John Rock in 1955 in Puerto Rico. Before the drug was approved as safe in the mainland U.S., many Puerto Rican women were used as test subjects. These trials are a major component in the history of the development of female oral contraceptives, occurring in between initial small trial testing on the east coast and the release of the drug for public consumption. As a result, women gained more independence as they were able to delay pregnancies. The trials are controversial because the Puerto Rican women were uninformed of the potential health and safety risks of the drug. There was a large amount of criticism coming from feminist circles surrounding the trial.
Abortion is illegal in Bangladesh under most situations, but menstrual regulation is often used as a substitute. Bangladesh is still governed by the penal code from 1860, where induced abortion is illegal unless the woman is in danger.
Women's reproductive health in the United States refers to the set of physical, mental, and social issues related to the health of women in the United States. It includes the rights of women in the United States to adequate sexual health, available contraception methods, and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. The prevalence of women's health issues in American culture is inspired by second-wave feminism in the United States. As a result of this movement, women of the United States began to question the largely male-dominated health care system and demanded a right to information on issues regarding their physiology and anatomy. The U.S. government has made significant strides to propose solutions, like creating the Women's Health Initiative through the Office of Research on Women's Health in 1991. However, many issues still exist related to the accessibility of reproductive healthcare as well as the stigma and controversy attached to sexual health, contraception, and sexually transmitted diseases.
Abortion in Uganda is illegal unless performed by a licensed medical doctor in a situation where the woman's life is deemed to be at risk.
Trinidad and Tobago is the southernmost country of the West Indies; as of 2013, its adjusted maternal mortality rate is 84 deaths per 100 000 women; the rate is adjusted for underreporting and misclassification by the World Health Organization. The contraceptive rate, that is the percentage of women in union aged 15–49 years currently using contraception, is 42.5%. The fertility rate is 1.8 children per woman. Fourteen weeks of maternity leave with allowances is provided by the government; women typically choose to take this leave after the birth rather than before, to spend time with the newborn.
Abortion is a controversial topic in Nigeria. Abortion in Nigeria is governed by the two laws that differs greatly depending on geographical location. Northern Nigeria is governed by The Penal Code and Southern Nigeria is governed by The Criminal Code. The only legal way to have an abortion in Nigeria is if having the child is going to put the mother's life in danger. However, sex-selective abortion has long had acceptance in Nigeria.
Abortion in Ghana is banned except when there is a valid exemption. 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 Kenya is prohibited with the exception of certain circumstances including danger to the life and health of the expectant mother, and rape. Unsafe abortions are a major cause of deaths and health complications for women in Kenya.
