Looking at Gibraltar’s Anti-Abortion Laws With Leah Pou
Abortion. It is a word a lot of people don’t like to use, a topic so many shy away from however, it is also a very real thing that so many women each year must decide on. Moreover, it is something a lot of women, especially in the UK, take for granted. Abortion was first made legal in the UK in 1967 and initially allowed women to terminate a pregnancy up until 28 weeks, this was changed in 1990 to 24 weeks which is still the case today. There are cases when an abortion can occur after the 24-week cut-off point however, this is only in extreme circumstances. Although abortions can be carried out until this point, most actually happen much earlier on in the pregnancy. In fact, GOV.UK reported that in the January to June 2020 time “86% of abortions were performed at under 10 weeks”. This is slightly higher than in the same period of 2019 where the percentage fell at 81%.
Abortions are offered by the NHS as well as privately because in the UK women are lucky enough for abortion to be considered basic healthcare. This is important as thousands of women in the UK find themselves needing a termination each year for a multitude of reasons which can range from needing one due to medical needs or even just not wishing to be a parent. According to GOV.UK from January to June 2020 109,836 abortions took place in England and Wales this number is slightly higher than in comparison to the previous year (105,540). Although the data for the entirety of 2020 is not currently available in 2019 a total of 207,384 occurred.
Abortions are not legal across the world though and in fact up until a few years ago this was not the case in the whole of the UK, with Northern Ireland only voting to legalise abortion in 2019. Laws vary on abortion throughout the world with some only allowing it under specific circumstances and others banning it all together. I am no expert on the whole world’s abortion laws but if you are interested you can look at the Centre for Reproductive Rights. This website details each country’s laws on abortions and in those where it is legal under what circumstances this is the case. One place however, that is not listed on the map and a lot of people are unaware of is Gibraltar. I am from Gibraltar and one of the reasons I am so passionate about this matter is because it has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in Europe.
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A lot of people do not know much about Gibraltar let alone their laws on abortions so here is a bit of background. It is a British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, has a population of about 30,000, an area of around 3 square miles and is a rock. Gibraltar is a Catholic country and has large, Catholic, Muslim, and Jewish communities however, the fact that it is Catholic means that not only does it have many religious holidays, but it also has extremely strict rules on abortion.
Section 162 of 2011 Crimes Act states that if a woman tries to terminate her pregnancy, she will be liable to life imprisonment. Furthermore, it states that any person who “causes a child to die before it has an existence independent of its mother, commits the offence of child destruction” and is liable to life imprisonment. The only instance in which it would not be illegal is if it were to preserve the mother’s life.
Despite being a catholic country, this does not mean that every person in it agrees with the law and there are cases in which Gibraltarian women find themselves with unwanted pregnancies. This means they must fly to the UK or cross the border into Spain to have a termination, this is not always an option for people though, not only is it expensive but during what can already be a highly emotional time it is not fair on women to have to travel away from their homes. This has been even more of an issue during COVID-19 where people were unable to travel outside of Gibraltar and therefore, found themselves in a situation where, even if in normal circumstances they could have travelled for a termination this was now not possible. Abortion is considered essential healthcare in the UK and ergo, has been allowed to take place during the pandemic and this is a right that should be afforded to all women.
It is important to point out that Gibraltar’s new law would still be quite restrictive, they would continue to be available if the pregnancy presents a risk to the woman’s life however, it will now also be available if the continuation of the pregnancy would involve a rick to her mental health, the government states that this will also cover abortions for pregnancies from rape or incest. Finally, the Bill will also permit abortions in the case where the foetus is suffering from a “fatal foetal abnormality” or if the child would suffer from “such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously disabled”. With regards to the cut-off point for when they can be carried out, the bill proposes that it should be between 10 and 14 weeks. Finally, the Bill also highlights that they do not want any independent abortion clinics to be established in Gibraltar. This means that women will have to go to the general hospital to have a termination which would add further stress to the situation, for several reasons. For example, Gibraltar is a small place and news travels fast which means people may worry about having to go to the hospital for one, moreover, some doctors have publicly announced their disagreement with this proposed change in law and ergo, women may feel safer and less judged if they have a specialised clinic to go to.
In March 2020, a referendum was finally going to be held to see if this proposed new law would be brought in however, March 2020 also saw the start of pandemic and worldwide lockdowns which meant it had to be put on hold indefinitely. This was a huge blow to all the people who had been campaigning for this vote to occur. People had been campaigning on both sides of the argument however, the pro-choice side had far more successful demonstrations which suggests that hopefully, the people in Gibraltar are ready for change. With the vaccine now being administered in Gibraltar and lockdown rules easing it is a promising sign that voting should be able to take place again and if this is the case Gibraltar could be back on track for an exciting change in law.