
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the
abortion debate advocating against the practice of
abortion
Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
and its
legality
Legality, in respect of an act, agreement, or contract is the state of being consistent with the law or of being lawful or unlawful in a given jurisdiction, and the construct of power. ''Merriam-Webster'' defines legality as "1: attachment to or ...
. Many anti-abortion movements began as
countermovements in response to the legalization of
elective abortion
Elective may refer to:
* Choice, the mental process of judging the merits of multiple options and selecting one of them
* Elective course in education
** Elective (medical), a period of study forming part of a medical degree
* In medical procedure ...
s.
Europe

In Europe, abortion law varies by country, and has been legalized through parliamentary acts in some countries, and constitutionally banned or heavily restricted in others. In Western Europe this has had the effect at once of both more closely regulating the use of abortion, and at the same time mediating and reducing the impact anti-abortion campaigns have had on the law.
France
The first specifically anti-abortion organization in France, Laissez-les-vivre-SOS futures mères, was created in 1971 during the debate that was to lead to the
Veil Law in 1975. Its main spokesman was the geneticist
Jérôme Lejeune. Since 2005, the French anti-abortion movement has organized an annual
March for Life.
The 1920 abortion laws of France have not been entirely repealed leading to ambiguity in the nation's policies.
By 1975,
Simone Veil, the minister for health, introduced legislation that specifically in cases of distress "tolerated" abortion up to ten weeks.
Abortions after this date are only cleared by the government if the pregnancy endangers the health of the woman or will result in the birth of a child with a severe and incurable disease.
After twelve weeks, abortion, except for "therapeutic abortion, under the terms of Article 317 of the Criminal Code, is a crime, punishable by 6 months to 10 years in prison, a fine of between 1800 and 250,000 Francs, and loss of professional license."
Catholics and right-wing political groups continue to protest abortion. The far-right party
National Rally (formerly National Front), has attempted unsuccessfully to decrease funding for abortions.
Ireland
There are several major anti-abortion groups in the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
, including
Pro Life Campaign
Pro Life Campaign (PLC) is an Irish Opposition to the legalization of abortion, anti-abortion advocacy group, advocacy organisation. Its primary spokesperson is Cora Sherlock. It is a non-denominational organisation which promotes anti-abortion ...
,
Youth Defence and the
Iona Institute. The
Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland (2018) provided for legal abortion in Ireland, but several anti-abortion parties still campaign, including
Aontú
Aontú (; "Unity") is a conservative Irish republican political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It has been led by Peadar Tóibín since its foundation in January 2019. The party holds socially conservative ...
and the
National Party.
Liechtenstein
In
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...
, an application to legalize abortions was rejected by a slim majority in
a referendum in 2011. The opponents, which included
Prince Alois, got 500 votes more and eventually settled at 52.3 percent compared with 47.7 percent.
Prince Alois had announced the use of his veto in advance if necessary to prevent the introduction of abortion.
Russia
Abortion is legal in Russia as an elective procedure up to the 12th week of pregnancy, and in special circumstances at later stages.
The abortion issue gained renewed attention in 2011 in a debate that ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' says "has begun to sound like the debate in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
".
[Sophia Kishkovsky,]
Russia Enacts Law Opposing Abortion
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' Parliament passed and
President Dmitri Medvedev signed several restrictions on abortion into law to combat "a falling birthrate" and "
plunging population".
The restrictions include requiring abortion providers to devote 10% of advertising costs to describing the dangers of abortion to a woman's health and make it illegal to describe abortion as a safe medical procedure. Medvedev's wife
Svetlana Medvedeva
Svetlana Vladimirovna Medvedeva (, ; []; born 15 March 1965) is a Russian economist who was the First Lady of Russia from 2008 to 2012, as the wife of the then President of Russia, president and former Prime Minister of Russia, prime minister ...
has taken up the anti-abortion cause in Russia in a weeklong national campaign against abortion called "Give Me Life!" and a "Day of Family, Love and Faithfulness" by her Foundation for Social and Cultural Initiatives in conjunction with the
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
.
Spain
In
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, over one million demonstrators took part in a march in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
in October 2009 to protest plans by the government of
José Luis Zapatero to legalize elective abortions and eliminate parental consent restrictions.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the most prominent anti-abortion organization is the
Society for the Protection of Unborn Children. It was formed at the time of the passage of the
1967 Abortion Act which liberalized abortion law. The group campaigns against abortion, often using questionable claims, and supports protests at pregnancy clinics. The Abortion Act of 1967 had a significant effect in Britain (excluding Northern Ireland). The Act states that if at least two doctors deem the reasons for abortion to be in alignment with the Act, it can legally be performed. This still means that the punishment for women who obtain abortions contrary to the Act are faced with potential life imprisonment. Doctors too can be prosecuted if they are found administering abortions without reasonable cause.
The Abortion Act of 1967 did not apply in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. Women living there who sought abortions either had to travel to Britain to receive an abortion or potentially face criminal charges for purchasing abortion pills illegally.
To this day, anti-abortion activists routinely stand outside many abortion clinics; their goal is to discourage women from entering the clinics. This is through two processes, known as "prayer vigils", which are sometimes quiet and other times said aloud to actively dissuade; and "pavement counseling", where activists approach women entering clinics in order to persuade them to continue with their pregnancies. This is a practice held in low regard by many, as it causes anxiety and distress.
Middle East
Israel
In
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, the major anti-abortion organization is
Efrat.
Efrat activists primarily raise funds to relieve the "financial and
social pressure
Peer pressure is a direct or indirect influence on peers, i.e., members of social groups with similar interests and experiences, or social statuses. Members of a peer group are more likely to influence a person's beliefs, values, religion and beh ...
s" on pregnant women so that they will not terminate their pregnancies. However, this activity is only carried out in the Jewish sector in Israeli society, as Efrat officially views abortion among Jews as a demographic threat to the Jewish people.
Americas
United States
In the 19th century United States,
Anthony Comstock launched an 'anti-vice crusade' that included opposition to contraception and abortion. He successfully got the
US congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
to pass laws later known as the
Comstock laws
The Comstock Act of 1873 is a series of current provisions in federal law that generally criminalize the involvement of the United States Postal Service, its officers, or a common carrier in conveying obscene matter, crime-inciting matter, or c ...
that included provisions that made it illegal to send materials used for abortion through the mail. These laws have been referenced by modern anti-abortion campaigners in the US and cited in court cases to stop the mailing of abortion medication.
The
United States anti-abortion movement formed as a response to the landmark 1973 ''
Roe v. Wade'' and ''
Doe v. Bolton''
U.S. Supreme Court decisions with many
anti-abortion organizations having emerged since then. There is also a smaller
consistent life ethic movement, favoring a philosophy which opposes all forms of killing, including abortion,
war,
euthanasia
Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...
, and
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
.
The current movement is in part a continuation of previous debates on abortion that led to the practice being banned in all states by the late 19th century. The initial movement was led by
physicians
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...
, but also included politicians and
feminists
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
. Among physicians, advances in medical knowledge played a significant role in influencing anti-abortion opinion.
Quickening, which had previously been thought to be the point at which the soul entered a human was discovered to be a relatively unimportant step in fetal development, caused many medical professionals to rethink their positions on early term abortions.
Ideologically, the
Hippocratic Oath and the medical mentality of that age to defend the
value of human life as an absolute also played a significant role in molding opinions about abortion.
Meanwhile, many 19th-century feminists tended to regard abortion as an undesirable necessity forced upon women by thoughtless men. The "free love" wing of the feminist movement refused to advocate abortion and treated the practice as an example of the hideous extremes to which modern marriage was driving women.
Marital rape
Marital rape or spousal rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one's spouse without the spouse's consent. The lack of consent is the essential element and doesn't always involve physical violence. Marital rape is considered a form of dome ...
and the seduction of unmarried women were societal ills which feminists believed caused the need to abort, as men did not respect women's right to
abstinence
Abstinence is the practice of self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, but it can also mean abstinence from alcohol (drug), ...
.
[
Anti-abortion groups like Students for Life of America and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America are at times associated with conservatism. Other groups, such as ]Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is an American Christian fundamentalism, Evangelical Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of Evangel ...
, are considered a part of the Christian right. They call themselves "pro-life" because they are often united in their belief that a fetus
A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic development, embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Pren ...
is a person that has legal rights. Since the U.S. Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization
''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'', 597 U.S. 215 (2022), is a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court in which the court held ...
, some of these organizations have turned their attention to banning abortions at the state and local level and asking the U.S. Supreme Court to recognize fetal personhood under the Constitution.
Canada
A Conservative MP, Cathay Wagantall, introduced a bill in 2020 seeking to ban abortions for the purpose of choosing a child's sex. Abortion in Canada is legal at all stages of pregnancy and funded in part by the Canada Health Act. In 2013, the Conservative prime minister, Stephen Harper, barred the members of Parliament from discussing the matter in the Commons. Harper's move was linked to his repeated declarations that he wouldn't allow the abortion debate to be re-opened. Since the 1980s, at least forty-three private member bills that are against abortion have been sent to the House of Commons yet none of them have been passed. Canadian anti-abortion discourse increasingly "aims at changing cultural values more than legislation; is explicitly framed as 'pro-woman'; largely avoids appealing to religious grounds; and relies on a new 'abortion-harms-women' argument that has supplanted and transformed traditional fetal personhood arguments".
Since 1998, Catholics and allies have held national anti-abortion March for Life rallies at Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...
. Two have gathered over 10,000 protesters. In addition to the national protests, anti-abortionists protest abortion clinics across the nation in attempts to stop abortions from continuing.
Australia
A number of anti-abortion organizations exist in Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, including Cherish Life, Right to Life Australia, and Australian Christian Lobby. These organizations undertake various campaigning activities, including political campaign fundraising.
A large portion of Australian law surrounding abortion was originally derived from the British law. Until 1967, British law stated that "an induced abortion is unlawful in all situations save the (probable) exception of situations where it is necessary to save the life of the mother." Australia partook of this law until Britain changed it in 1967 towards a more liberal standpoint.
All states and territories, except Western Australia, have laws prohibiting anti-abortion campaigners from harassing visitors and staff of abortion clinics by setting exclusion zones around abortion clinics.
Religion
Christianity
Evangelical Christianity
In Evangelical Christianity
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
, international organizations like Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is an American Christian fundamentalism, Evangelical Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of Evangel ...
are involved in the anti-abortion movement.[ Hilde Løvdal Stephens, ''Family Matters: James Dobson and Focus on the Family's Crusade for the Christian Home'', University of Alabama Press, USA, 2019, p. 100]
See also
* ''180'' (2011 American film)
* Anti-abortion violence
Anti-abortion violence is violence committed against individuals and organizations that perform abortions or provide abortion counseling. Incidents of violence have included destruction of property, including vandalism; crimes against people, inc ...
* Crisis pregnancy center
A crisis pregnancy center (CPC), sometimes called a pregnancy resource center (PRC) or a pro-life pregnancy center, is a type of nonprofit organization established by anti-abortion movement in the United States, anti-abortion groups primarily to ...
* Dublin Declaration on Maternal Healthcare
* Fetal rights
Fetal rights or foetal rights (alternatively prenatal rights) are the moral rights or legal rights of the human fetus under Natural law, natural and Civil law (common law), civil law. The term ''fetal rights'' came into wide usage after ''Roe v. ...
* Forced abortion
* History of abortion law debate
* Mildred Fay Jefferson (founder of National Right to Life PAC)
* '' Unplanned'' (anti-abortion movie)
References
External links
List of international anti-abortion organizations
{{Authority control
Abortion