Today, 76 percent of the world's people live in countries where induced abortion is legal, at least for health reasons, and 39 percent reside in nations where abortion is available up on request. The procedure is legal in nearly every developed country, and although a majority of developing countries prohibit abortion, 67 percent of the residents of the developing world live in countries where it is permitted at least for health reasons. The other 33 percent-more than one billion people, most of living in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the more strongly fundamentalist Islamic nations-have little of no access to legal induced abortion. Although many women around the world are unable to obtain legal abortions when they need them, the current world situation differs considerably from conditions prevailing 50 years ago, when nearly every nation-outlawed abortion. The first definitive steps toward legalization of abortion were taking in Northern Europe during the 1930s and...