Caribbean: Accessing Abortion Care in the Commonwealth Caribbean

October 14, 2025:

Congratulations to Tenesha Myrie, an Attorney-at-law from Jamaica and a Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, the University of the West Indies’ Mona Campus, whose article in the Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health section of the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics is now freely accessible online. We are pleased to circulate the following abstract and free access links to the full text:

Tenesha Myrie, “Accessing Abortion Care in the Commonwealth Caribbean,” International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 171.1 (Oct 2025): 471-478 Free Access to PDF.

Abstract: Access to comprehensive abortion care is a vexed issue across the Commonwealth Caribbean. Abortion is criminalized with limited exceptions that have failed to translate to timely, safe, and accessible abortion care. This article examines how Barbados, Belize, Guyana, and St. Lucia address law and policy issues relevant to the implementation of quality abortion care. This article asks two overarching questions:(1) To what extent do the abortion laws align with the World Health Organization’s normative guidance on abortion care? (2) How do abortion laws give effect to State obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill women’s right to health under international human rights law? This research aims to bridge the gap in the current literature in the region by extending the scholarship beyond decriminalization. It provides a principled roadmap for change so that the provision of abortion care aligns with international public health guidance and human rights standards.

The full text of this article is online here: Free Access to PDF.

KEYWORDS: abortion regulation, Commonwealth Caribbean, conscientious objection, mandatory waiting periods, provider restrictions, reporting requirements, third-party authorization

RELATED RESOURCES:

Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health: more than 115 concise articles are online here.

World Health Organization, Abortion Care Guideline (Geneva, WHO, 2022) WHO Guide, online here.

The WHO Abortion Care Guideline: Law and Policy–Past, Present and Future,” by Joanna N. Erdman, in International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 162.3 (Sept 2023): 1119–1124. PDF at Wiley Online.
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Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca. See Program website for our Publications, Abortion Law Decisions and Resources for Research and Teaching, . TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of this blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

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