Abortion in American Samoa
Pregnant women across American Samoa were given condoms when seeking prenatal care at four clinics and one hospital starting in 2015 and continuing to 2016.Pregnant women confirmed as having the Zika virus had few options as the only way to get an abortion is if the life of the mother was at risk and the Zika virus did not qualify as such an exception; if women wanted an abortion, their only real option if they could afford it, and most could not, was to fly to Hawaii.[1] A September 20, 1985 directive from the American Samoa Attorney General stated that elective abortions are unconstitutional and that no such procedures can occur at public hospitals.[2][3] Legal code section 46.3904, which passed in 1986, said that no physician or hospital employee can be compelled to participate in an abortion procedure if doing so goes against their conscience, and that such refusals are immune to criminal, administrative or disciplinary action.[2][3] As of 1998, legal code sections 46.3902 and 46.3903, which were adopted in 1986, made any attempt to terminate a pregnancy except in the case of saving the physical or mental health of the mother a crime.