Forced abortion

{{Short description|Forced termination of pregnancy}}
{{Violence against women}}
'''Forced [[abortion]]''' is a form of [[reproductive coercion]] that refers to the act of compelling a woman to undergo termination of a pregnancy against her will or without explicit consent.<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last=Pike |first=Gregory K. |date=2022-10-19 |title=Coerced Abortion – The Neglected Face of Reproductive Coercion |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20502877.2022.2136026 |journal=The New Bioethics |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=85–107 |doi=10.1080/20502877.2022.2136026 |pmid=36260375 |s2cid=252993533 |issn=2050-2877}}</ref> Forced abortion may also be defined as coerced abortion, and may occur due to a variety of outside forces such as societal pressure, or due to intervention by perpetrators such as an intimate partner, parental guardian, medical practitioners, or others who may cause abortion by force, threat or [[coercion]].<ref name=":03"/> It may also occur by taking advantage of a situation where a pregnant individual is unable to give consent, or when valid consent is in question due to [[duress]]. This may also include the instances when the conduct was neither justified by medical or hospital treatment, which does '''not''' include instances in which the pregnant individual is at risk of life threatening injury due to unsustainable pregnancy.<ref name=":03"/> Similar to other forms of reproductive coercion such as forced [[Sterilization (medicine)|sterilization]], forced abortion may include a physical invasion of [[female reproductive organs]], therefore creating the possibly of causing long term threat or injury preventing viable future pregnancies.{{cn|date=November 2023}} Forced abortion is considered a [[human rights violation]] by the United Nations due to its failure to comply with the human right to reproductive choice and control without coercion, discrimination, and violence.<ref>{{Citation |title=Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, 1995 |date=2018-10-25 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781316677117.051 |work=International Human Rights Law Documents |pages=428–431 |access-date=2023-11-18 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/9781316677117.051 |isbn=9781316677117 |s2cid=239904934 }}</ref>

==Nazi Germany==
{{further|Abortion in Germany#Nazi era|Nazi birthing centres for foreign workers|Nazi racial theories}}
During [[World War II]], abortion policy in [[Nazi Germany]] varied depending on the people, group, and territory the policy was directed at, as German women were forbidden to have an abortion.<ref name=":15">{{Cite journal |last1=David |first1=Henry P. |last2=Fleischhacker |first2=Jochen |last3=Hohn |first3=Charlotte |date=March 1988 |title=Abortion and Eugenics in Nazi Germany |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1972501 |journal=Population and Development Review |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=81–112 |doi=10.2307/1972501 |jstor=1972501 |pmid=11655915 |issn=0098-7921}}</ref> The commonality between policies was its purpose in promoting the birth rate and population of the putative "Aryan race" and minimizing the population of those such as [[Jews|Jewish]], [[Poland|Polish]], and [[Romani people|Roma]] women.<ref name=":15"/> Additionally, those deemed an overall burden on German society such as the disabled or mentally ill were also subjected to forced abortion with sterilization to follow, and were among the only Germans who were legally subjected to receiving an abortion.<ref name=":15"/> These accounts have been categorized as a part of Nazi Germany's "systematic program of genocide, aimed at the destruction of foreign nations and ethnic groups".<ref>{{cite book |title=Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals under Control Council Law No. 10 (Volume 4) |date=1947 |pages=609–610 |url=https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.law/llmlp.2011525364_NT_war-criminals_Vol-IV}}</ref>

After the war ended, the practices of forced abortion towards condemned groups among Nazi society was determined to be a war crime upon assessment during the [[Nuremberg trials|Nuremberg Trials]].<ref name=":15"/> Those guilty of encouraging or enforcing abortion during the Holocaust were sentenced to a minimum of 25 years imprisonment due to their practice being considered a "inhumane act of extermination".<ref name=":15" />

==People's Republic of China==
Forced abortions associated with administration of the [[one-child policy]] have occurred in the People's Republic of China; they are a violation of [[Chinese law]] and are not official policy.<ref name=NYT615>{{cite news|title=China Suspends Family Planning Workers After Forced Abortion|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/16/world/asia/china-suspends-family-planning-workers-after-forced-abortion.html|access-date=June 27, 2012|newspaper= [[The New York Times]]|date=June 15, 2012|author=David Barboza|author-link=David Barboza}}</ref> They result from government pressure on local officials who, in turn, employ strong-arm tactics on pregnant mothers.<ref name=NYT72212>{{cite news|title=Reports of Forced Abortions Fuel Push to End Chinese Law|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/world/asia/pressure-to-repeal-chinas-one-child-law-is-growing.html|access-date=July 23, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 22, 2012|author=Edward Wong|author-link=Edward Wong}}</ref> On September 29, 1997, a bill was introduced in the [[United States Congress]] titled [[Forced Abortion Condemnation Act]], that sought to "condemn those officials of the [[Chinese Communist Party]], the [[government of the People's Republic of China]] and other persons who are involved in the enforcement of forced abortions by preventing such persons from entering or remaining in the United States".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/105/hr2570|title=H.R. 2570 (105th): Forced Abortion Condemnation Act|publisher =Govtrack.us|access-date=27 April 2012}}</ref> In June 2012 [[Feng Jianmei]] was forcibly made to abort her 7 month old fetus after not paying a fine for breaking the one-child policy.<ref name=NYT615 /> Her case was widely discussed on the internet in China to general revulsion after photos of the stillborn baby were posted online.<ref name=NT615>{{cite news|title=Abortion and Politics in China|url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2012/06/abortion-and-politics-in-china.html|access-date=June 27, 2012|newspaper=[[The New Yorker]]|date=June 15, 2012|author=Evan Osnos|author-link=Evan Osnos|format=Blog by reporter in reliable source}}</ref> A fortnight after the forced abortion she continued to be harassed by local authorities in [[Shanxi|Shanxi Province]].<ref name=NYT626>{{cite news|title=Forced to Abort, Chinese Woman Under Pressure|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/world/asia/chinese-family-in-forced-abortion-case-still-under-pressure.html|access-date=June 27, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 26, 2012|author=Edward Wong}}</ref> On July 5, the [[European Parliament]] passed a resolution saying it "strongly condemns" both Feng's case specifically and forced abortions in general "especially in the context of the one-child policy".<ref name=EU>{{cite news|title=EU Parliament condemns China forced abortions|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]|date=July 6, 2012|url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/224353/eu-parliament-condemns-china-forced-abortions|access-date=July 7, 2012}}</ref>

Part of the work of the activist "[[barefoot lawyer]]" [[Chen Guangcheng]] also concerned excesses of this nature.<ref name="wp_8July06">{{cite news |title=Chinese to Prosecute Peasant Who Resisted One-Child Policy |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/07/AR2006070701510.html |date=8 July 2006 |first=Philip P. |last=Pan |access-date=28 April 2010}}</ref> By 2012, disagreement with forced abortion was being expressed by the public in China, thought to be fuelling pressure to repeal the [[one-child policy]].<ref name=NYT72212 /><ref name=":0">[http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/14/world/asia/china-abortion/ Forced abortion sparks outrage, debate in China] [[CNN]], June 2012</ref> After the shift to a [[two-child policy]] in January 2016, the practice was reported in 2020 to still occur through intimidation of the [[Uyghurs|Uyghur minority]] in [[Xinjiang]] leading to the US government imposing sanctions on officials in response.<ref>Jerry Dunleavy (July 09, 2020). [http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/us-sanctions-chinese-communist-party-officials-for-uighur-human-rights-abuses?rid=102073 US sanctions Chinese Communist Party officials for Uighur human rights abuses]. ''[[Washington Examiner]]''. Retrieved August 26, 2020.</ref>

==North Korean refugees repatriated from China==
{{main|Abortion in North Korea}}
Forced abortions and [[infanticide]] are used as a form of punishment in [[Prisons in North Korea|prison camp]]s. The North Korean regime banned pregnancy in its camps in the 1980s.<ref name="NYT61002" /> [[China]] returns all illegal immigrants from [[North Korea]] which usually imprisons them in a short-term facility. Many [[North Korean defectors]] assert that forced abortions and infanticide are common in these prisons.<ref name=NYT61002>{{cite news|title=N. Koreans Talk of Baby Killings|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/10/world/n-koreans-talk-of-baby-killings.html|access-date=August 3, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 10, 2002|author=James Brooke}}</ref><ref name=HG2>{{cite book|title=The Hidden Gulag Second Edition The Lives and Voices of "Those Who are Sent to the Mountains"|year=2012|publisher=Committee for Human Rights in North Korea|isbn=978-0615623672|pages=111–155|url=http://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/HRNK_HiddenGulag2_Web_5-18.pdf|author=David Hawk|edition=Second|access-date=September 21, 2012}}</ref><ref name="United Nations Human Rights Council 2014" /> The majority of the prisoners held in the Chinese detention centers are women. Repatriated North Koreans are subject to forced abortions regardless of perceived crimes. North Korean police's efforts are to prevent North Korean women from having ethnically mixed children with [[Han Chinese]] men. Medical care was not provided to North Korean women who underwent forced abortions.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hawk|first=David|title=The Hidden Gulag, Second Edition, The Lives and Voices of "Those Who are Sent to the Mountains"|publisher=The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea|year=2012|isbn=978-0615623672|location=Washington, DC|pages=99–123}}</ref>

==United Kingdom==
On June 21, 2019, the UK [[Court of Protection]] ordered a disabled woman to have an abortion against her will.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 June 2019 |title=UK court orders forced abortion for disabled Catholic, Nigerian woman |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/uk-court-orders-forced-abortion-for-disabled-woman-34728 |access-date=7 February 2024 |website=www.catholicnewsagency.com}}</ref> The woman had a moderate [[mood disorder]] and [[learning disability]] and under the care of an [[NHS trust]], which argued that she was [[mentally incompetent]] and that having a child would worsen her mental health. Justice Nathalie Lieven subsequently approved the forced abortion under the [[Mental Capacity Act 2005]] despite the wishes of herself and her mother. The decision was criticized by the [[Catholic Church]], the [[Disability Rights Commission]], and numerous anti-abortion activist groups such as Life and the [[Society for the Protection of Unborn Children]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Joseph |first=Yonette |date=2019-06-23 |title=U.K. Court Says Mentally Disabled Woman Must Have Abortion |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/world/europe/abortion-mentally-disabled-uk.html |access-date=2022-05-12 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The case was subsequently overturned by the [[Court of Appeal (England and Wales)|Court of Appeal]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/24/catholic-church-hits-out-at-court-over-abortion-ruling|title = Appeal court overturns forced abortion ruling|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 24 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hannon |first=Paul |date=2019-06-24 |title=U.K. Court of Appeal Overturns Ruling Ordering Mentally Disabled Woman to Have Abortion |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-k-court-rules-mentally-disabled-woman-must-have-abortion-11561390581 |access-date=2022-05-12 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref>

==United States==

=== Forced abortion in sex trafficking ===
In a series of focus groups conducted around the United States by anti-trafficking activist [[Laura Lederer]] in 2014, over 25% of survivors of [[Sex trafficking in the United States|domestic sex trafficking]] who responded to the question reported that they had been forced to have an abortion.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lederer|first1=Laura|title=Examining H.R. 5411, the Trafficking Awareness Training for Health Care Act of 2014|journal=US House of Representatives, Energy and Commerce Committee, Witness Hearings|date=11 September 2014|url=http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF14/20140911/102647/HHRG-113-IF14-Wstate-LedererL-20140911.pdf|access-date=1 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lederer|first1=Laura|last2=Wetzel|first2=Christopher A.|title=The health consequences of sex trafficking and their implications for identifying victims in healthcare facilities|journal=Annals Health|date=2014|volume=23|page=61|url=https://www.icmec.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Health-Consequences-of-Sex-Trafficking-and-Implications-for-Identifying-Victims-Lederer.pdf|access-date=1 August 2017}}</ref>

== Russia ==
[[Forced sterilization]] and abortion are common practices in Russian {{Not translated|Psychoneurologic internat|lt=psychoneurologic internats (PNIs)|ru|Психоневрологический интернат|WD=}}. Since children cannot legally live in psychoneurologic internats in Russia, and there are no institutions where internats' patients can live with their children, almost all pregnant women are aborted in PNIs. During abortions, PNI patients are also often subjected to forced sterilization - their [[Tubal ligation|fallopian tubes are tied]], motivated by allegedly detected "serious complications".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allenova |first=Olga |last2=Tsvetkova |first2=Roza |date=4 April 2016 |title=ПНИ — это смесь больницы и тюрьмы |trans-title=PNI is a mixture of hospital and prison |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2950620 |access-date=7 February 2024 |work=Коммерсантъ-Власть |pages=12 |language=ru |issue=13}}</ref>

==India==

=== Laws surrounding forced abortions ===
Section 314 in The Indian Penal Code deals with forced abortion, it reads as- 'Whoever, with intent to cause the miscarriage of a woman with child, does any act which causes the death of such woman, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine; If act done without woman's consent.' <ref>{{Cite news |title=Section 314 in The Indian Penal Code |url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1317800/#:~:text=%E2%80%94Whoever%2C%20with%20intent%20to%20cause,act%20done%20without%20woman's%20consent.}}</ref>

=== Laws surrounding abortion ===
The [[Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971)|Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act]] (MTP) was passed in 1971 in response to the rising incidence of abortions performed without proper medical supervision, which was leading to an alarmingly high number of maternal deaths. Abortion was made legal in India as a result of the MTP statute. Before this legislation, having an abortion was considered a crime, which led to a significant number of women having them despite the risks involved.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Abortion laws In India |url=https://legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-8925-abortion-laws-in-india.html |access-date=2023-03-04 |website=legalserviceindia.com}}</ref> This legislation establishes norms and restrictions for the termination of pregnancy, which may only be performed by registered medical practitioners (a medical practitioner who has a recognised medical qualification, as defined in section 2 (h) of the [[Indian Medical Council Act|Indian Medical Council Act, 1956]]).<ref name=":1" /> The most recent update to this statute was made in 2021, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act of 2021 modifies the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 to increase the maximum limit for abortion from 20 to 24 weeks for certain women. The Amendment increases the upper gestational limit from 20 to 24 weeks for certain categories of women, which would be specified in the MTPA 2021 and would include rape survivors, incest victims, and other vulnerable women (such as women with disabilities or minors).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021 |url=https://legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-6037-medical-termination-of-pregnancy-amendment-act-2021.html |access-date=2023-03-04 |website=legalserviceindia.com}}</ref>

=== Sex selective abortion ===
Researchers anticipate that there would be 6.8 million fewer female births in India by 2030 due to the continued practise of selective abortions.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Dhillon |first=Amrit |date=2020-08-21 |title=Selective abortion in India could lead to 6.8m fewer girls being born by 2030 |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/aug/21/selective-abortion-in-india-could-lead-to-68m-fewer-girls-being-born-by-2030 |access-date=2023-03-04 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The [[Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994|Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act of 1994]] makes it unlawful to divulge the sex of an unborn child save for medical grounds in India. The sex ratio at birth worsened in several states due to inconsistent legal enforcement. Indian authorities often arrest groups who do for pregnancy tests. India's gender ratio—900-930 females for 1,000 males—reflects its attitude towards girls. Males are breadwinners and girls burdens in all socioeconomic classes. Males get healthier diets and better access to medical treatment than girls.<ref name=":2" />{{Vague|date=September 2023}}

==See also==
*[[Feticide]]
*[[Sex-selective abortion]]
*[[Childless Hundred Days]]
*[[Baby hatch]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="United Nations Human Rights Council 2014">{{cite report |first1= Michael Donald|last1=Kirby |author-link1=Michael Kirby (judge) |first2=Sonja |last2=Biserko  |author-link2=Sonja Biserko |first3= Marzuki|last3=Darusman  |author-link3=Marzuki Darusman  |date=7 February 2014 |title=Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - A/HRC/25/CRP.1 |publisher=[[United Nations Human Rights Council]] |url= http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIDPRK/Report/A.HRC.25.CRP.1_ENG.doc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227104633/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIDPRK/Report/A.HRC.25.CRP.1_ENG.doc | archive-date= Feb 27, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

{{Abortion}}

[[Category:Forced abortion| ]]
[[Category:Violence against women]]
[[Category:Human rights abuses]]
[[Category:Reproductive rights]]
[[Category:Medical ethics]]
[[Category:Women's rights]]
[[Category:Health law]]
[[Category:Women's health]]