Abortion in Tunisia

In Tunisia, abortion is legal on request in the first trimester. Later abortions are permitted on physical or mental health grounds. Abortion for minors requires parental consent. A 1973 law requires public medical facilities to provide free abortions on request, but many lack the service or enforce additional requirements. Most abortions are performed at private facilities, which are more permissive. Tunisia's abortion law is the most permissive in the Middle East and North Africa.

Tunisia's abortion law was originally based on that of France, which banned abortion. After the independence of Tunisia, political leaders advocated for legal abortion to lower the population growth rate. President Habib Bourguiba passed a 1965 law permitting women with five children to receive abortions with spousal consent, making Tunisia the first country in the Muslim world to liberalize its abortion law. A 1973 amendment extended legal abortion to all women and lifted the requirement for spousal consent. The Office national de la famille et de la population (ONFP) began providing free abortions under a program to decrease birth rates, which was replaced in the 1990s with reproductive and sexual health programs. Medical abortion was approved in 2001 after a series of tests. By the Tunisian Revolution of 2011, increasing conservatism and an economic crisis led to a decline in abortion access. Some facilities stopped providing the service, and conscientious objection to abortion became common. The ruling Ennahda party opposed abortion, and a member of the party, Najiba Berioul, unsuccessfully proposed a ban in 2013. Later governments supported abortion, and the country signed and ratified the Maputo Protocol in the 2010s.

Medical abortion is the most common method in public facilities, while surgical abortion is more common in private facilities. Only private facilities provide abortions after the first trimester. Despite the legality of abortion, many women are denied access. Many medical providers have negative attitudes about it, contributing to false interpretations of the law. Tunisia has a taboo surrounding abortion, and many women are unaware it is legal. Much of the country opposes abortion on Islamic grounds, especially under the Maliki school of jurisprudence. A few activist groups, including the Tunisian Organization of Democratic Women, advocate for abortion access in the country.