Abortion in Iran
According to this article, the Iran Parliament has voted to "liberalize" its abortion laws. Under the new law, abortions will be available in the first four months of pregnancy if the fetus is physically or mentally handicapped, or if the pregnancy endangers the mother's life. For some unexplained reason, "None of the 13 women in the Iranian parliament took part in the debate." The law was approved by just over half of the conservative-dominated parliament, and still has to be approved by the Guardian Council, an unelected supervisory committee which vets all bills to see if they are in line with Islamic law. Previously, abortion was only allowed if the mother's life was endangered.
The law remains highly restrictive, but is more protective of the right to choose an abortion than the position espoused by the right wing of the Republican Party in the US.
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