Abortion Laws in Democracies: Revisiting the Political Development Aspect of Modernization

Abstract

Adamczyk, A., Kim, C., and Dillon, L. (2020). Examining public opinion about abortion: A mixed‐methods systematic review of research over the last 15 years. Sociological Inquiry, 90(4), 920–954.

https://doi.org/10.1111/soin.12351

Amuchástegui, A., Cruz, G., Aldaz, E. and Mejía, M. C. (2010). Politics, Religion and Gender Equality in Contemporary Mexico: women's sexuality and reproductive rights in a contested secular state. Third World Quarterly, 31(6), 989-1005.

https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2010.502733

Asal, V., Brown M., & Figueroa, R. G. (2008). Structure, Empowerment and the Liberalization of Cross-National Abortion Rights. Politics & Gender, 4, 265–284.

https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X08000184

Atay, H., & Levrier, G. (2025). Constitutionalizing abortion in France: A “civilizational imperative” to safeguard access and counter international backlash?. Interdisciplinary Political Studies, 11(1), 31-51. https://doi.org/10.1285/i20398573v11n1p30

Bloomer, F., Pierson, C., and Estrada, C. S. (2018). Reimagining Global Abortion Politics: A Social Justice Perspective. Bristol University Press.

Boland, R., & Katzive, L. (2008). Developments in Laws on Induced Abortion: 1998-2007. International Family Planning Perspectives, 34(3), 110–120.

https://doi.org/10.1363/ifpp.34.110.08

Boyle, E. H., Kim, M., and Longhofer, W. (2015). Abortion Liberalization in World Society: 1960–2009. American Journal of Sociology, 121(3), 882–913.

https://doi.org/10.1086/682827

Bridges, D., & Wulff, E. (2024). Making the link: Secular democracy, human rights and the cases of marriage equality and abortion rights. In D. Bridges, C. Lewis, E. Wulff, C. Litchfield, and L. Bamberry (Eds.), Gender, Feminist and Queer Studies Power, Privilege and Inequality in a Time of Neoliberal Conservatism. New York: Routledge, 216-230.

https://doi.org/10.1086/682827

Brown, C. G. (2022). The agency of women in secularization. Religion, Brain and Behaviour, 12(4), 401–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2021.2023616

Brysk, A. (2025). Abortion Rights Backlash: The Struggle for Democracy in Europe and the Americas. New York: Oxford University Press.

https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197800454.003.0001

Brysk, A., & Yang, R. (2023). Abortion Rights Attitudes in Europe: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, or Pro-Nation?. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 30(2), 525–555. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxac047

Camobreco, J. F., & Barnello, M. A. (2008). Democratic Responsiveness and Policy Shock: The Case of State Abortion Policy. State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 8(1), 48–65.

https://doi.org/10.1177/153244000800800104

Casanova, J. (1994). Public Religions in the Modern World. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press

Celis, K. & Childs, S. (2020). Feminist Democratic Representation. Oxford University Press.

Center for Reproductive Rights. (2024). The World's Abortion Laws, last accessed 23 September 2024.

https://reproductiverights.org/maps/worlds-abortion-laws/

Cherif, F. M. (2015). Myths about Women's Rights: How, Where, and Why Rights Advance. New York: Oxford University Press.

CIA, Central Intelligence Agency. (2024). The World Factbook: Explore All Countries, last accessed 27 October 2024.

https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/

Cofelice, A., & Stavridis, S. (2014). The European Parliament as an International Parliamentary Institution (IPI). European Foreign Affairs Review, 19(2): 145-78.

https://doi.org/10.54648/eerr2014008

Cole, D. (1993). Going to England: Irish Abortion Law and the European Community. Hastings International and Comparative Law Review, 17(1), 113-142.

Coppedge, M., Gerring, J., Knutsen, C.H., Lindberg, S. I., Teorell, J., Altman, D., Angiolillo, F., Bernhard, M., Borella, C., Cornell, A., Fish, M.S., Fox, L., Gastaldi, L., Gjerløw, H., Glynn, A., God, A.G., Grahn, S., Hicken, A., Kinzelbach, Krusell, J., Marquardt, K.L., McMann, K., Mechkova, V., Medzihorsky, J., Natsika, N., Neundorf, A., Paxton, P., Pemstein, Pernes, J., Rydén, O., von Römer, J., Seim, B., Sigman, R., Skaaning, S.E., Staton, J., Sundström, A., Tzelgov, E., Uberti, L., Wang Y., Wig, T., Wilson, S. and Ziblatt, D. (2024a). V-Dem [Country-Year/Country-Date] Dataset v14, Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project, last accessed 2 October 2024.

https://doi.org/10.23696/mcwt-fr58

Coppedge, M., Gerring, J., Knutsen, C.H., Lindberg, S. I., Teorell, J., Altman, D., Angiolillo, F., Bernhard, M., Borella, C., Cornell, A., Fish, M.S., Fox, L., Gastaldi, L., Gjerløw, H., Glynn, A., God, A.G., Grahn, S., Hicken, A., Kinzelbach, K., Marquardt, K.L., McMann, K., Mechkova, V., Neundorf, A., Paxton, P., Pemstein, D., Rydén, O., von Römer, J., Seim, B., Sigman, R., Skaaning, S.E., Staton, J., Sundström, A., Tzelgov, E., Uberti, L., Wang Y., Wig, T., and Ziblatt, D. (2024b). V-Dem Codebook v14, Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project, last accessed 2 October 2024.

https://v-dem.net/documents/38/V-Dem_Codebook_v14.pdf

Crane, B. B. (1994). The Transnational Politics of Abortion. Population and Development Review, 20, Supplement: The New Politics of Population: Conflict and Consensus in Family Planning (1994), 241-262.

http://doi.org/10.2307/2807949

Dahl, R. (1971). Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Dhima, K., & Golder, M. (2021). Secularization Theory and Religion. Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association, 14(1), 37-53.

https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755048319000464

Diamond, L., & Morlino, L. (2004). The Quality of Democracy: An Overview. Journal of Democracy, 15(4), 20-31. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2004.0060

Dubel, I. (2025). Women Make Waves: A Pendulum Swing between Dutch transnational and domestic abortion activism. Interdisciplinary Political Studies, 11(1), 149-170. https://doi.org/10.1285/i20398573v11n1p149

Ertan, S. (2016). How to Study Gender Equality Policy Cross Nationally: Aggregate or Disaggregate Gender Equality Policy Indices. Social Indicators Research, 125(1), 47-76.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0841-1

Fabbrini, F. (2011). The European Court of Human Rights, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Right to Abortion: Roe V. Wade on the other side of the Atlantic?. Columbia Journal of European Law, 18, 1-76.

http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2578665

Fernández, J. J. (2020). Women’s Civil Rights and the Worldwide Liberalization of Abortion on Demand and for Socio-Economic Reasons. The Sociological Quarterly, 62(1), 87–120.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00380253.2019.1711249

Fiala, C., Agostini, A., Bombas, T., Lertxundie, R., Lubusky, M., Parachini, M. and Gemzel-Danielsson K. (2022). Abortion: legislation and statistics in Europe. The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care, 27(4), 345–352.

https://doi.org/10.1080/13625187.2022.2057469

Field, M. J. (1979). Determinants of Abortion Policy in the Developed Nations. Policy Studies Journal, 7(4), 771-781.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0072.1979.tb01375.x

Freedom House (2024a). Countries and Territories, last accessed 20 September 2024.

https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores

Freedom House (2024b). Freedom in the World 2024 Methodology Questions, last accessed 20 November 2024.

https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/202402/FIW_2024%20MethodologyPDF.pdf

Ginsburg, F., & Rapp, R. (1991). The Politics of Reproduction. Annual Review of Anthropology, 20, 311-343.

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.20.100191.001523

Heinen, J., & Portet, S. (2010). Reproductive Rights in Poland: when politicians fear the wrath of the Church. Third World Quarterly, 31(6), 1007-1021.

https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2010.502735

Hildebrandt, A. (2015). What Shapes Abortion Law? A Global Perspective. Global Policy, 6(4), 418-428.

https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12208

Htun, M. (2003). Sex and the State: Abortion, divorce, and the family under Latin American

dictatorships and democracies, Cambridge University Press.

Htun, M., & Weldon, S. L. (2018). The Logics of Gender Justice: State Action on Women's Rights Around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Humphrey, A. (2024). Secularization and Women's Liberation: An Analysis of Women's Freedoms in the Modern Era. Political Analysis, 22, 41-62.

https://doi.org/10.70531/2474-2295.1063

Hunt, K., & Gruszczynski, M. (2019).  The Ratification of CEDAW and the Liberalization of Abortion Laws. Politics & Gender, 15(4), 722-745.

https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X18000442

Inglehart, R., & Norris, P. (2003). Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change around the World. New York: Cambridge University Press.

https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511550362

IPU, Inter-Parliamentary Union. (2024). Monthly ranking of women in national parliaments, IPU Parline Data: Global Data on national parliaments, last accessed 2 October 2024.

https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking/?date_month=9&date_year=2024

Jelen, T. G., O’Donnell, J., and Wilcox, C. (1993). A Contextual Analysis of Catholicism and Abortion Attitudes in Western Europe. Sociology of Religion, 54(4), 375–83.,

https://doi.org/10.2307/3711780

Levels, M., Sluiter, R., and Need, A. (2014). A review of abortion laws in Western-European countries. A cross-national comparison of legal developments between 1960 and 2010. Health Policy, 118(1), 95-104.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2014.06.008

Lovenduski, J. (2019). Feminist Reflections on Representative Democracy. In A. Gamble & T. Wright (eds.) Rethinking Democracy. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 18–35.

https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12563

Mackinnon, C. A. (1991). Toward a Feminist Theory of the State. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Matland, R. E. (1998). Women's Representation in National Legislatures: Developed and Developing Countries. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 23(1), 109-125.

https://doi.org/10.2307/440217

Mazur, A. G. (2002). Theorizing Feminist Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

https://doi.org/10.1093/0199246726.001.0001

Mazur, A. (2005). The Impact of Women’s Participation and Leadership on Policy Outcomes: A Focus on Women’s Policy Machineries, EGM/EPWD/2005/EP.5, UN, last accessed 2 September 2024.

https://iknowpolitics.org/sites/default/files/ep.5_mazur.pdf

Medoff, H. (2002). The Determinants and Impact of State Abortion Restrictions. The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 61(2), 481-493.

https://doi.org/10.1111/1536-7150.00169

Miguel, L. F. (2012). Aborto e Democracia. Estudos Feministas. 20(3), 657–672.

Minkenberg, M. (2002). Religion and Public Policy Institutional, Cultural, and Political Impact on the Shaping of Abortion Policies in Western Democracies. Comparative Political Studies, 35(2), 221-247.

https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140020350020

Oakley, M. R. (2003). Abortion Restrictions and Abortion Rates: Has State Abortion Policy Been Successful?. Politics & Policy, 31, 472-487.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2003.tb00158.x

O'Connor, R. O., & Berkman, M. B. (1995). Religious Determinants of State Abortion Policy. Social Science Quarterly, 76(2), 447-459.

https://doi.org/10.2307/3341731

Ozzano, L. & Giorgi, A. (2023). World Religions. In L. Horn, A. Mert, & F. Müller (Eds), The Palgrave Handbook of Global Politics in the 22nd Century, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 309-323.

Piacentini, F., Molteni F., & Maraffi M. (2024). Religion, identity, and party preference: the role of Catholicism in the 2022 Italian national elections. Italian Political Science Review/Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica. 54(3), 209-222.

https://doi.org/10.1017/ipo.2024.16

Pierson, C. (2004). Modern States. Second Edition, New York: Routledge.

Pullan, D. & Gannon, P. (2024). Between the Church and the State Catholic and European Influences on Abortion Governance in Italy and Beyond. Journal of Religion in Europe, 17, 262–292. https://doi.org/10.1163/18748929-bja10107

Ramirez, F., & McEneaney, H. E. (1997). From Women’s Suffrage to Reproduction Rights? Cross-National Considerations. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 38(1-2), 6–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/002071529703800102

Riesebrodt, M., & Konieczny, M. E. (2005). Sociology of Religion. In J. R. Hinnells (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion (pp. 125-143). New York: Routledge.

Robinson, J. C. (2001). Gendering the Abortion Debate: The French Case. In D. M. Stetson (Ed.), Abortion Politics, Women's Movements, and the Democratic State (pp. 87-110). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

https://doi.org/10.1093/0199242666.003.0005

Schedler, A. (1998). What is Democratic Consolidation?. Journal of Democracy, 9(2), 91-107.

https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.1998.0030

Simmons, B. A. (2009). Mobilizing for Human Rights International Law in Domestic Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Stetson, D. M. (2001). Conclusion: Comparative Abortion Politics and the Case for State Feminism”, In D. M. Stetson (Ed.), Abortion Politics, Women's Movements, and the Democratic State (pp. 267-296). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

https://doi.org/10.1093/0199242666.003.0013

Stockemer, D., & Byrne, M. (2012). Women's Representation around the World: The Importance of Women's Participation in the Workforce. Parliamentary Affairs, 65(4), 802–821.

https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsr063

Stoltzfus, J.C. (2011). Logistic Regression: A Brief Primer. Academic Emergency Medicine, 18(10), 1099–1104.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1553-2712.2011.01185.x

Sutton, B., & Vacarezza, N. L. (2021). Abortion and Democracy: Contentious Body Politics in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. New York: Routledge.

The Economist. (2023). Looters with flags. The Economist, 31 August, last accessed 10 May 2025.

https://www.economist.com/briefing/2023/08/31/how-cynical-leaders-are-whipping-up-nationalism-to-win-and-abuse-power

The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church. (2024). Statistics by Country by Catholic Population, last accessed 27 October 2024.

https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/country/sc1.html

Trent K., & Hoskin, A. W. (1999). Structural determinants of the abortion rate: A cross‐societal analysis. Biodemography and Social Biology, 46(1-2), 62-81.

https://doi.org/10.1080/19485565.1999.9988988

Walby, S. (2004). The European Union and Gender Equality: Emergent Varieties of Gender Regime. Social Politics, 11(1): 4-29.

https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxh024

Weldon, S. L. (2011). When Protest Makes Policy: How Social Movements Represent Disadvantaged Groups. USA: The University of Michigan Press.

Weldon, S. L., & Htun, M. (2013). Feminist mobilisation and progressive policy change: why governments take action to combat violence against women. Gender & Development, 21(2), 231-247. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2013.802158

Womanstats Database (2022). ATC-SCALE-1, last accessed 15 April 2024.

https://www.womanstats.org/new/codebook/

V-Dem Institute (2025). Democracy Report 2025: 25 Years of Autocratization - Democracy Trumped?, Gothenburg: University of Gothenburg, last accessed 27 October 2024.

https://v-dem.net/documents/60/V-dem-dr__2025_lowres.pdf

Yishai, Y. (1993). Public Ideas and Public Policy: Abortion Politics in Four Democracies. Comparative Politics, 25(2), 207–28.

https://doi.org/10.2307/422352

Yurdakul, G., Rexer, G., Eilat, S., and Mutluer, N. (2019). Contested Authorities over Life Politics Religious-Secular Tensions in Abortion Debates in Germany, Turkey, and Israel. Comparative Sociology, 18(5-6), 706-734.

https://doi.org/10.1163/15691330-12341517

Zacharenko, E. (2020). Anti-gender Mobilization in Europe. The Greens/EFA, last accessed 20 September 2024.

https://heidihautala.fi/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Anti-gender-Mobilisations-in-Europe_Nov25.pdf