Democracy, Gender, and Abortion Law: A Global Analysis, 1996–2023

How does the quality of democracy shape abortion law? Although liberal democracies are commonly assumed to safeguard civil liberties and human rights, recent restrictions in countries such as Poland and the United States challenge this expectation. This study examines how democratic quality and regime transformation shape the scope and permissiveness of abortion law across 173 countries from 1996 to 2023. Addressing a critical gap in the literature, it draws on longitudinal data from the United Nations, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the V-Dem project. Using ordered logistic regression, I find a robust positive association between electoral democracy and more permissive abortion laws. However, this relationship is conditioned by gendered political inclusion. When accounting for structural factors and introducing an interaction with women’s political participation, the effect of democracy strengthens: countries that are both democratic and inclusive of women in political decision-making are significantly more likely to permit abortion on broader legal grounds. These findings challenge simplified assumptions about the protective function of democracy and underscore the importance of institutional and gendered moderators in shaping reproductive rights.