Abortion in Cartadania

Abortion in Cartadania was a topic of contention for many years, as the country's dominant religious sector, Catholicism, has traditionally been against abortion. Like many topics regarding bodily autonomy, though, Cartadania often has a tug of war to play with legality of certain things within the country, but more often than not, laws based in religion do not pass through the National Congress, or should they find their way into legality, are found to be unconstitutional.

History

In the case of abortion, the federal government first made debate of the topic in April 1960, prior to which, induced abortion legality was determined by the state in which the procedure was performed. The catalyst for the change came from a February 1960 trial in which a São Andreas County Judge charged a woman with a felony for receiving an abortion and fined her €200 (today worth around €2,000) in violation of the ban on abortion in the state. In March, the Supreme Court of Cartadania subpoenaed Ferrufino to Alahuela where she was a party in the case Ferrufino v. São Andreas. In it's trial, the court's bench found 8-1 that the State of São Andreas had violated constitutional separation of church and state by drafting and passing a law based on the Catholic prohibition of abortion. The adjudication, while expunging her felony and ordering the county to backpay her the fine, only nullified the law because it was based in religion. As a result, Congress brought into question the legality of abortion on a legal level. The result was a Congressional decision in which the "abortion shall be the legal right of all individuals based in choice of the expectant individual, whereby an individual may seek the unbiased, educated opinion of a physician". The law further lays out that the guidelines are driven by the Department of Health and Human Services, and its secretary, the Secretary of Humanity.

As of 2028, and since the original decision was passed on 14 September 1960, abortion has been legal nationwide for risk to life, risk to health, mental health reasons, pregnancies as a result of rape or incest, fetal defects, and socio-economic factors, all the while also being available upon request. The primary restriction on abortion is in terms of timeline. While it is performed on an informed consent model during the "open window" (usually the first 18 weeks), it is provided as needed thereafter. Upon the conclusion of the second trimester, most facilities will not usually conduct an abortion out of consideration for the health of the mother. Cartadania does not have a law that determines when a fetus becomes a person, though most philosphers in the country within the field of Bioethics agree that a healthy fetus is not a person until it can fully sustain its own bodily function without medical assistance or intervention. As a result, the general consensus is that a fetus is not a person until birth. In this particular quirk of law, extreme circumstances may warrant an abortion at any time, even in the third trimester, but this is quite rare, and the equipment needed to perform such a procedure so far along is usually only found in extremely populated urban centers.

Since then, it has become a rare topic of discussion and is typically just considered another medical option. Access is guaranteed by law and is available at most hospitals that provide maternal-fetal medicine and most local clinics. Most often cited for the progressiveness of the government is the Burgoignesc Women's Liberation movement. Cartadania's strong ties with Burgundie and Bergendii living within its territory saw a strong push towards modernity.