Abortion has been and continues to be a contentious issue in the Global North as well as the Global South. While abortion has been historically criminalised in most countries, recent legal reforms have led to liberalisation of abortion laws in many parts of the world. However, there remains a dearth of postcolonial analysis on abortion laws and legal developments, particularly in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Therefore, it is crucial to map trajectories of abortion laws within this region. Accordingly, this study seeks to identify and critically examine the abortion laws in ten countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia. These ten countries are: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.
SOURCE: ARROW, May 2023