Abortion in American Samoa

Abortion in America Samoa is legal but has so many restrictions it is effectively illegal. These laws were passed in the 1980s. When the Zika virus hit in 2015 and 2016, women could not get abortions unless they had enough money to fly to Hawaii. In 2018, abortion pills were not available but the morning after pill was.

Terminology
Main article: Abortion

The abortion debate most commonly relates to the "induced abortion" of a pregnancy, which is also how the term is used in a legal sense.[note 1] Some also use the term "elective abortion", which is used in relation to a claim to an unrestricted right of a woman to an abortion, whether or not she chooses to have one. The term elective abortion or voluntary abortion describes the interruption of pregnancy before viability at the request of the woman, but not for medical reasons.[1]

Anti-abortion advocates tend to use terms such as "unborn baby", "unborn child", or "pre-born child",[2][3] and see the medical terms "embryo", "zygote", and "fetus" as dehumanizing.[4][5] Both "pro-choice" and "pro-life" are examples of terms labeled as political framing: they are terms which purposely try to define their philosophies in the best possible light, while by definition attempting to describe their opposition in the worst possible light. "Pro-choice" implies that the alternative viewpoint is "anti-choice", while "pro-life" implies the alternative viewpoint is "pro-death" or "anti-life".[6] The Associated Press encourages journalists to use the terms "abortion rights" and "anti-abortion".[7]

History

In 2016, the Zika virus hit American Samoa particularly hard despite efforts to prevent its spread, with 21 pregnant women known to have contracted the virus in a population of 55,000 people.  Pregnant women across American Samoa were given condoms when seeking prenatal care at four clinics and one hospital starting in 2015 and continuing to 2016.  This was facilitated in part by all prenatal care in American Samoa being subsidized by the government beginning in the summer of 2015, which also increased women seeking prenatal care as they previously waited until the third-trimester to seek care. Pregnant women confirmed as having the Zika virus had few options as the only way to get an abortion is if the life of the mother was at risk and the Zika virus did not qualify as such an exception; if women wanted an abortion, their only real option if they could afford it, and most could not, was to fly to Hawaii.[8]

Legislative history

§ 46.3904, which passed in 1986, said that no physician or hospital employee can be compelled to participate in an abortion procedure if doing so goes against their conscience. Further, such refusals are immune to criminal, administrative or disciplinary action.[9][10] A September 20, 1985 directive from the American Samoa Attorney General stated that elective abortions are unconstitutional and that no such procedures can occur at public hospitals.[9][10] §46.3903 and §46.3903, passed in 1986, both require that the only person who can perform a legal abortion are licensed American Samoan physicians.[9][10] As of 1998, §46.3902 and §46.3903, that were adopted in 1986, made any attempt to terminate a pregnancy except in the case of saving the physical or mental health of the mother a crime.[9][11][10]

Contraceptive history

As of 2014, medicinally induced abortion medications like mifepristone were not available in American Samoa, because Title X funding is not allowed to be used for abortions. The morning after pill was available because it prevented conception from occurring and was not legally considered an abortive agent.[11]

Footnotes
  1. According to the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade:
    (a) For the stage prior to approximately the end of the first trimester, the abortion decision and its effectuation must be left to the medical judgement of the pregnant woman's attending physician. (b) For the stage subsequent to approximately the end of the first trimester, the State, in promoting its interest in the health of the mother, may, if it chooses, regulate the abortion procedure in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health. (c) For the stage subsequent to viability, the State in promoting its interest in the potentiality of human life may, if it chooses, regulate, and even proscribe, abortion except where it is necessary, in appropriate medical judgement, for the preservation of the life or health of the mother.
    Likewise, Black's Law Dictionary defines abortion as "knowing destruction" or "intentional expulsion or removal".


References
  1. Watson, Katie (20 Dec 2019). "Why We Should Stop Using the Term "Elective Abortion"". AMA Journal of Ethics. 20 (12): E1175-1180. doi:10.1001/amajethics.2018.1175. PMID 30585581. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  2. Chamberlain, Pam; Hardisty, Jean (2007). "The Importance of the Political 'Framing' of Abortion". The Public Eye Magazine. 14 (1).
  3. "The Roberts Court Takes on Abortion". New York Times. November 5, 2006. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
  4. Brennan 'Dehumanizing the vulnerable' 2000
  5. Getek, Kathryn; Cunningham, Mark (February 1996). "A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing – Language and the Abortion Debate". Princeton Progressive Review.
  6. "Example of "anti-life" terminology" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  7. Goldstein, Norm, ed. The Associated Press Stylebook. Philadelphia: Basic Books, 2007.
  8. "Cultural factors complicate Zika prevention in American Samoa". NBC News. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  9. Arndorfer, Elizabeth; Michael, Jodi; Moskowitz, Laura; Grant, Juli A.; Siebel, Liza (December 1998). A State-By-State Review of Abortion and Reproductive Rights. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 9780788174810.
  10. "Code Annotated". www.asbar.org. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  11. "EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION IS NOT AN ABORTION PILL". www.samoanews.com. 2014-06-27. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
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