Abortion tourism: Where to go after abortion
In 2014, an institution opened on one of the streets of Madridresembling a travel agency. Storefronts were plastered with flyers: they were offered for a lucrative amount to visit London, Berlin or Paris. Above the entrance hung a sign: Abortiontravel.org. If you look closely, it became clear that the clients were invited to make a trip with a specific goal - to have an abortion.
The travel company was unreal: Abortiontravel was a pop-up agency organized in protest. The fact is that at the end of 2013 the Spanish government was considering a bill to ban abortions. Its initiators were representatives of the then ruling People’s Party of Spain: they proposed to outlaw all abortions, except when the woman’s health was threatened or the pregnancy was the result of rape.
As soon as it became known about the bill, a wave of protests began in Spain - it was then that the art director of the advertising company Christina Rodriguez and her friends decided to open a fake travel agency. Girls who went inside were offered to find a suitable country in which abortions were legal, to find cheap flights and a hotel. As Rodriguez explained, Abortiontravel is an agency that, for good, should not be, but it can appear if the law is passed.
In the end, the Spanish legislation on abortion did not become tougher - politicians retreated under the pressure of the protesters. The Abortiontravel agency remained an activist gesture, however, such companies on the organization of "abortion trips" were once quite real - and in other countries they still exist. In the same Spain, from 1985 to 2010, an abortion could be done only in the case of rape, impaired fetal development, or a threat to the mother’s life. One of the visitors to Abortiontravel said that once she had to go on a trip abroad to terminate a pregnancy. She was only nineteen years old, and she flew to Amsterdam alone, because there was only enough money for one ticket.
Julia Dudkina
How did abortion tourism come about?
Abortion tourism is the informal name of one of the types of medical tourism. Even before the beginning of our era, people made pilgrimages to mineral springs and ancient Greek medical centers — and with the development of civil aviation in the 20th century, the industry gained unprecedented momentum. However, as Mary Gilmartin and Allen White, researchers of international migration, note, abortion tourism is fundamentally different from the usual medical tourism.
“The word“ tourism ”suggests that the initiative is voluntary and a person can make a choice based on individual preferences, they write in their work.“ But not all medical tourism looks like this. Abortion tourism most often develops when abortion is prohibited in a certain area or limited. " That is, unlike the usual "medical tourists", women who go for an abortion are deprived of the right to choose. Usually they travel to the nearest country where they can afford the operation.
By the 1960s, many countries began to mitigate abortion laws: in Sweden, abortion due to medical and socio-economic indications became legal in 1946, in Japan - in 1948, and in the UK - in 1967. During these years, airline tickets were already available for the middle class, and women who could afford traveling began to make trips to terminate a pregnancy.
In 1968, a seventeen-year-old American woman named Alison Williams-Chung went to Japan. For three days she was walking around Tokyo, looking at shop windows in the Ginza shopping district, asking for kimonos and tea sets. One of these days, she came to a Tokyo clinic and had an abortion. “I don’t remember that I was very worried,” says Alison. “It was the only right decision at the time.” Before going to Japan, Alison tried to contact her doctor in Washington, but the clinic refused to help her. Then her brother said that he knew the travel agency in Seattle, which for a thousand dollars will be able to organize a trip to a foreign clinic. If Alison had decided not to go anywhere, she would have to have an illegal abortion in the United States — at that time this prospect seemed more than dangerous. About 17% of all deaths related to pregnancies in the country were due to clandestine abortions. Surveys conducted among low-income residents of New York showed that only 2% of operations were performed by professional doctors - in other cases, medical services were provided by people of dubious qualifications. So in the case of Alison it was obvious: if you have money, you need to leave.
In the 1960s, thousands of American women traveled to Japan, Sweden and the UK to end their pregnancy. Unlike the United States, it was possible to have an abortion legally and safely.
Later, when Alison picked up the courage to tell her story to her friends, she found out that she was very lucky. Many girls who had less money had to have illegal abortions in Mexico. And if she was operated on at a high-tech Japanese clinic, then they were forced to put up with unsanitary conditions in underground rooms. In the 1960s, thousands of American women, like Alison, went to Japan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom to end a pregnancy. Unlike the United States, it was possible to have an abortion legally and safely. Other women — those who could not afford to travel long distances — went to Mexico and Puerto Rico.
In the US, many travel agencies were engaged in such trips - just one of them turned Alison. They could buy a tour package, which includes not only an abortion, but also excursions and sightseeing. For less affluent women in America, the Society for the Fight for Humane Abortions operated — a non-profit organization that helped girls find the route and clinic for abortion. The society appeared in 1962 and in total helped twelve thousand women.
The typewritten instruction for women who were to go to Japan to have an abortion there has survived to the present day. It is not known what organization printed the manual, presumably, it was the Society for the Fight for Humane Abortions. The document describes step by step how to obtain documents for traveling abroad and negotiate with a Japanese doctor:
"1. On Monday at eight in the morning, go to the passport office and take three photos for your passport. Photo booths are located around the building. Bring a copy of your birth certificate. To take a photo, you will need three dollars fifty cents.
2. Take photos, a copy of your birth certificate and $ 12 in cash or in check form. Take them to the passport office. Fill in the form. If you are asked why you need to urgently get a passport, tell me that you have a meeting with a tourist group in Japan. After that, your passport should be ready by 8:30 am Wednesday.
3. Get vaccinated against smallpox. You can do this for free at the health department. Get a certificate with the seal that the vaccination is done. The certificate must indicate the vaccine number.
4. Go to the ticket office and buy tickets to Tokyo. You will spend on it from 680 to 722 dollars. Book flights on Thursday or Friday.
5. When you know your arrival time in Tokyo, call your doctor, discuss your case with him and agree on a price. Try to ask for a discount. Tell me that you are a student and you have little money. "
Some doctors sincerely took care of patients, while other doctors performed surgeries in unsanitary conditions. Sometimes after that women ended up in municipal hospitals.
The instruction takes two pages, and it describes in detail how to answer questions at the airport, how to exchange money in Japan and go back to the USA after the operation.
The fight for human abortion society promised women confidentiality and security. The organization had its own list of doctors who could be trusted and who were willing to host American women. A woman who wanted to terminate a pregnancy contacted the Society and was helped to select the appropriate doctor from the list.
If there was not enough money for a long trip, you could go to Mexico. In this country, abortions, like in the USA, were illegal, but at least they were performed in underground medical centers. Mexican specialists who wanted to cooperate with the Company should have sent a letter to the organization and documents confirming their qualifications. After that, they were included in the list of "reliable" doctors. Nevertheless, abortion in Mexico was a risky venture. Some doctors sincerely took care of the patients - they themselves came to their hotels and offered them three meals a day in their medical centers. Other doctors performed surgeries in unsanitary conditions. Sometimes the Americans then ended up in Mexican municipal hospitals, and the doctors started having problems with the law.
By the early 1970s, the situation began to change. Even before abortions were legalized throughout America, they were recognized as legitimate in New York and California. After that, a wave of domestic tourism rose: in 1972, 86% of all abortions performed in the United States fell on these two states. From 1970 to 1972, seventy-one thousand women came to New York on purpose to end their pregnancy.
In 1973, the US Supreme Court for the first time recognized a woman’s right to have an abortion of his own accord. The operation began to be legalized throughout the country, and in the following years, women no longer needed to take long journeys to end a pregnancy.
Where abortion tourism flourishes today
Nicola (name changed) became pregnant in 1992, when she was fifteen. She lived in Ireland, where at that time abortions were almost completely prohibited. At first, Nicola turned to her boyfriend - he was seven years older than her, and she hoped that he would tell me what to do. The man, however, was not ready to help. Frightened, Nikola tried to take a lethal dose of paracetamol, but did not calculate the number of pills and survived. In complete despair, she confessed to her mother in her pregnancy.
“Mom cried for several hours,” says Nicola. “After that, she booked a seat on the ship, and we went to the UK. Together with us was my mother's friend — she decided to support us.” Nikola grew up in a large family. To arrange a trip and pay for an abortion for a daughter, parents had to take out a loan. When everything was left behind, representatives of the credit company came every Saturday for many months to collect the next part of the money. “Every Saturday I knew that the people we pay for my abortion came,” the woman explains. “I felt guilt and shame again and again.”
Until 2018, the United Kingdom was one of the capitals of abortion tourism, since in Ireland, abortion was possible only in case of danger to the health of the mother. So, from 1991 to 2018, more than one hundred thirty thousand Irish women visited the UK to have an abortion.
Until 2018, the UK was one of the capitals of abortion tourism, since in Ireland, abortion was possible only in case of danger to the health of the mother
For British doctors, this situation was more than profitable: the abortion operation in a private clinic cost about nine hundred pounds. Each year, about three thousand Irish women and seven hundred residents of Northern Ireland came to the country, where abortion is still prohibited. However, not every woman can afford to pay for the operation. In 2017, the UK government offered to pay for abortion of women from Northern Ireland, and those who earn less than 15,300 pounds per year began to pay for travel and accommodation.
In 2018, Ireland lifted the ban on abortion. Now the toughest bans on abortion among European countries are in force in Poland. The operation is legal only in three cases: if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest, or if there is a threat to the life of the mother. About eighty thousand fields per year crosses the border to get an abortion abroad - most often they travel to Germany, the UK and the Netherlands. Another country where abortion tourism is widespread is Malta. Every year, three or four hundred women leave the country to end a pregnancy. Like the residents of Poland, they mainly choose Britain - according to the testimony of British doctors, about sixty Maltese patients come to them in a year.
Often women go from one country to another, if in their homeland they missed a period in which they can legally have an abortion. For example, every year from one hundred to two hundred residents of Austria come to the Netherlands to do the surgery: in the Netherlands it is allowed up to the sixteenth week, while in Austria it is allowed until the twelfth. In general, the directions of "tourist flows" are constantly changing depending on how the laws of different countries change. For example, until 1975, women from Austria continuously went to Yugoslavia and Hungary. Then, when abortions in Austria became legal, everything changed - and the inhabitants of Hungary began to come to Austria. In 2012, the Hungarian government adopted a new constitution: abortion was not banned, but many restrictions came into force - formally, under the new constitution, human life is protected "from the moment of conception."
Domestic tourism
Susan lives in the US state of Utah. She recently graduated from college and now pays arrears on student loans - sixteen thousand dollars. She has a job where she gets twenty-five thousand dollars a year. Her budget per month is six hundred dollars.
One day, Susan and her boyfriend broke a condom, and the girl became pregnant. Susan has no plans to start a family yet, so she began to look for a clinic where she could have an abortion. She tried to choose a place so that she did not have to go far and that expenses did not go beyond the budget. She found only three options. The first - at a distance of more than three hundred kilometers from the house of Susan. This is a clinic in Utah, where there is a seventy-two-hour waiting period. This means that after Susan turns to the doctor for an abortion, she will be given another three days to think about - she cannot refuse them. “I’ll have to take a couple of days off at work and spend a few nights in a hotel,” says Susan. “I’m definitely not going to budget."
The second clinic is located in Colorado. Its plus is that local authorities do not allow pro-activists to approach medical facilities. This means that Susan is not attacked at the entrance shouting: "Save his life!". But to get to this clinic, Susan will have to drive about eight hundred kilometers. The third option is a clinic in Mexico City. But Susan hardly speaks Spanish, and doesn’t want to cross the border just to get an abortion. It faces a difficult choice.
Susan is not a real character. She is the heroine of a social video shot by the American non-profit organization Lady Parts Justice. Today, thousands of American women are in a situation like Susan. Although officially abortions are not prohibited, in different states there are so-called abortion deserts - huge territories in which there are no clinics where you can terminate a pregnancy.
To have an abortion, women have to take time off, look, with whom to leave their children and elderly relatives, spend huge amounts of money.
Since 2011, the movement to ban abortions has intensified in the States. Not a single US state is able to completely ban abortions, but each of them can impose its own restrictions. Wyoming, West Virginia, Missouri, Mississippi and other states began to impose stringent requirements for gynecological clinics, and they began to be closed. Now each year in the United States closes about ten clinics. 90% of women in the southern states live in counties where it is impossible to have an abortion. There are a total of twenty-seven "abortion deserts" in the country, and most of them are in Texas.
To terminate a pregnancy, women need to go to neighboring states. On average, every American woman who decides to have an abortion needs to make a journey of thirty miles — about forty-eight kilometers, but many travel for far longer distances. So, women have to take holidays, look for, with whom to leave children and elderly relatives, to spend huge money. For those whose income level is below average, this can be a real disaster.
Approximately the same situation exists in Canada, Mexico and Australia. In Mexico, abortion has long been banned. In 2007 they were allowed, but only in one city - Mexico City. Since then, approximately 175,000 women have traveled to the capital to have surgery. In Canada, as in the United States, abortion is not formally prohibited, but sometimes there is simply no place to do the operation. В некоторых провинциях - например, Онтарио или Квебек - немало больниц и клиник, где можно сделать операцию, однако в других провинциях ситуация куда сложнее. Например, на Острове Принца Эдуарда до 2017 года не было ни одной клиники, куда можно было бы обратиться для прерывания беременности.
В Австралии аборты не делаются за счёт государства и не покрываются учебными страховками. В основном они делаются в частных клиниках и стоят около тысячи австралийских долларов. Законодательство, касающееся абортов, называют "лоскутным". Как и в США, законы меняются от штата к штату. Therefore, often women have to travel hundreds of kilometers to have an operation. Until 2018, abortions were banned in Queensland. In New South Wales, they can be done only if the mother’s life is in danger. In Tasmania, it is possible to terminate a pregnancy according to the law, but not a single clinic operates there.
In Russia, abortion today is officially authorized by law and paid for by the state. They can be performed at the request of the woman for up to twelve weeks, and if there are medical indications, the period is not important. But more and more often women cannot exercise their legal right: different regions continually introduce temporary bans on abortions. In 2012, doctors had the right to refuse an abortion for religious reasons, and in the Belgorod Region women who wish to terminate a pregnancy can be sent as signatures to an Orthodox priest and psychologist. In addition, the ROC repeatedly calls for withdrawal of abortion from the CHI system so that they become available only in private clinics. Whether there is abortion tourism in Russia and how well it is developed is unknown, but the prerequisites for its appearance are already there.
Cover: trac1 - stock.adobe.com
