Reported By: Mikaylla Nicole M. Alcairo 

While the island awaits the outcome of an existing lawsuit, many in Guam remain adamant about their opinions regarding reproductive rights. In Guam, the reported abortion rates have gradually increased since it was first recorded in 1993. However, in 2018, it dropped below 100 abortions, coinciding with the same year the last provider retired. Abortion statistics from 2019-2021 have not been recorded.  

Due to the island’s predominantly Catholic beliefs, many individuals do not take lightly the concept of abortion.  

Christy Alcantra, an active individual in the Catholic Church, comments, “Whatever side we take on abortion, facts must be taken as they are. In all successful abortion procedures, one innocent person is killed. Even in the least complicated procedure of taking abortion pills. Termination of pregnancy is a more popular way of saying killing a very young human being.” 

However, there are also many that support it or are known to be “pro-choice.” Famalåo’an Rights is a local pro-choice activist group that promotes reproductive equity by emphasizing the importance of having access to reproductive health care and education.  

“We’re not saying if you’re pregnant and you’re not ready, [then] get an abortion. We’re saying if you’re pregnant and you’re not ready, or if you are ready and you’re thinking about it, you should be able to exercise the choice. Just like you have a choice everywhere else,” states Kiana Yabut, original member of Famalåo’an Rights. 

 In January 2021, the American Civil Liberties Union and two Hawaii-based Guam-licensed doctors filed a lawsuit against Guam government for failing to provide abortion access to the island. Guam has not had an abortion provider since the last one retired and left the island in 2018.  

ACLU is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that serves to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country, as stated in their website. 

A few months after the lawsuit, the District Court of Guam agreed to a partial settlement on March 5. The settlement entails that “one of the two laws challenged in the filing, a 1978 law that requires abortions be ‘performed’ in a clinic or hospital, cannot be used to restrict access to medication abortion,” according to the ACLU. 

National statistics retrieved from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website display a steadily decrease until 2018 when it rose by 1%. The following year, there was another 1% increase. It is important to note that the data collected is from voluntary reporting and may not account for the unreported abortions.