In the APSA Public Scholarship Program, graduate students in political science produce summaries of new research in the American Political Science Review. This piece, written by Jack Wippell, covers the new article by Nazli Avdan, University of Kansas, Amanda Murdie, University of Georgia, Victor Asal, University at Albany, “A Ticking Time Bomb: Restrictions on Abortion Rights and Physical Integrity Rights Abuses.”
In recent years, many countries have enacted restrictions on abortion rights, sparking intense debates and concerns about human rights. A new APSR study by Nazli Avdan, Amanda Murdie, and Victor Asal explores whether these abortion restrictions could signal a broader decline in human rights protections, particularly physical integrity rights (PIR), which include rights to personal security, freedom from torture, and bodily autonomy.
The authors begin by highlighting global instances where restrictions on abortion rights have coincided with increased authoritarianism and reduced democratic freedoms, and recent notable cases of such rulings such as in Poland, Hungary, and the United States after the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. They argue that restricting abortion rights is not only harmful to women and marginalized groups but also serves as a precursor to broader human rights abuses.
They outline two potential pathways through which such a relationship may emerge. First, abortion restrictions directly serve as a testing ground for authoritarian governments to gauge public response and expand their control over citizens’ rights more broadly. Second, indirectly, these restrictions create greater inequality and societal divisions, weakening support for diversity and tolerance, and undermining collective efforts to resist further human rights abuses.
The authors test their theory using data from approximately 145 countries from 1993 to 2016, measuring abortion rights through a global index that tracks how permissive or restrictive a country’s abortion laws are. Their analysis found a clear relationship: countries that restricted abortion rights saw a noticeable decline in the protection of physical integrity rights over subsequent years. In contrast, countries maintaining or expanding abortion rights tended to see improvements in human rights protections overall.
“This research underscores how abortion rights are deeply interconnected with broader human rights frameworks.”Moreover, the study identifies social (in)equality as an important pathway through which these associations function. Restricting abortion rights increases inequality and discrimination, particularly against marginalized groups, creating environments where broader human rights violations become more likely. This finding implies that restrictions on abortion not only directly signal broader repression but also may indirectly erode social cohesion and civil liberties.
This research underscores how abortion rights are deeply interconnected with broader human rights frameworks. While discussions on abortion typically focus on reproductive and women’s rights, the authors show these rights can significantly impact overall societal well-being and democratic integrity. They argue that respecting abortion rights aligns closely with promoting general human rights and maintaining robust democratic institutions.
These findings thus have significant implications for policymakers, activists, and citizens worldwide. They suggest that defending abortion rights is critical not just for women and marginalized populations but also for preserving broader human rights protections and preventing authoritarian backsliding. The authors caution that restrictions on abortion should not be viewed in isolation but as part of a larger, troubling pattern of governance that could threaten basic freedoms and democracy itself.
- Jack Wippell is a PhD Student in the Department of Sociology at The Ohio State University. His research interests cover political sociology, social movements, and culture, and his current focus is on the emergence, spread and mobilization of far-right extremism across the United States and Europe. He also has interests at the intersection of computational and qualitative methodologies.
- AVDAN, NAZLI, AMANDA MURDIE, and VICTOR ASAL. 2024. “A Ticking Time Bomb: Restrictions on Abortion Rights and Physical Integrity Rights Abuses.” American Political Science Review, 1–18.
- About the APSA Public Scholarship Program.