Here are some of the countries where having a uterus can be dangerous

Nearly two years ago Texas congressman Steve Stockman tweeted that "if babies had guns, they wouldn't be aborted." 

While the remark was widely condemned by pro-choice advocates and rational, thinking people alike, it served to highlight that even in the 21st century women are still fighting for the most basic of reproductive rights: The choice to have a baby or not.

More from GlobalPost: This map shows you all the places where the pill is free 

It's a battle that is not just being waged in the United States. 

As this map published by the Center for Reproductive Rights shows, many countries still severely restrict, or even totally ban, a woman’s right to access safe and legal abortion.

Source: Center for Reproductive Rights.

Laws that limit or prevent legal abortions contribute to the deaths of tens of thousands of women every year, mostly, but not exclusively, in the developing world.

The World Health Organization has described the phenomenon as a “preventable pandemic.” And while legalization of abortion would go a long way toward reducing that death toll, it won't necessarily bring it down to zero.

“Legalization of abortion on request is a necessary but insufficient step toward improving women’s health; in some countries, such as India, where abortion has been legal for decades, access to competent care remains restricted because of other barriers,” the WHO said, highlighting poverty, weak health care systems and social attitudes toward women.

“The underlying causes of morbidity and mortality from unsafe abortion today are not blood loss and infection but, rather, apathy and disdain toward women.”

Here are eight countries where women face some of the hardest fights for their reproductive rights.

1. El Salvador

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Abortion is illegal under all circumstances in El Salvador — even if the life of the woman is at risk. So draconian are the country’s pro-life laws that even women who lose their unborn babies during medical emergencies can be jailed. Such is the case for 17 women, known as “Las 17,” who are serving jail sentences of up to 40 years for allegedly murdering their fetuses after suffering miscarriages, stillbirths or other life threatening complications. Carmen Guadalupe Vasquez, one of Las 17, was granted an unprecedented pardon last month.

2. Malta

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In 2014 Malta recognized same-sex partnerships and allowed gay couples to adopt children, a relatively progressive policy on family planning. But abortion? No way. That is still banned. Malta is the only European country where abortion is 100 percent illegal — even if the life of the woman is at risk or the unwanted pregnancy is the result of rape.

3. China

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Much has been written about China’s decades-old one child policy, and moves in recent years to ease restrictions on the number of children couples can have. Couples who have no siblings of their own are now allowed to apply to have a second child, but the fact remains that the government still controls — and restricts — the size of families. Break those rules and punishments can range from heavy fines to forced sterilizations and abortions.

4. Ireland

The death in 2012 of Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar, who died after being denied an abortion under the country’s strict pro-life laws, sparked outrage across Ireland and forced the government to relax restrictions. Under the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act, which came into force in 2014, doctors are now allowed to perform an abortion if the life of the mother is at risk. But most reasons for seeking an abortion remain illegal. That means Irish women who have been raped or who are carrying a non-viable pregnancy still go abroad or resort to dangerous methods (like drinking bleach) to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

5. United States

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Since the Supreme Court handed down its landmark Roe vs Wade decision in 1973, women in America have had the legal right to seek an abortion in the early stages of pregnancy. But, thanks to the efforts of politically influential pro-life campaigners, that right is getting harder to exercise. “At least half” of US states have imposed “excessive and unnecessary regulations on abortion clinics,” according to the Guttmacher Institute. The result has been a reduction in the number of medical centers offering abortion services, with an astounding 89 percent of counties having no abortion clinic at all. And it gets worse. Earlier this year the House of Representatives passed a law that bans federal funding of abortions.

6. Honduras

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Thousands of girls and women are raped in Honduras every year. But rape survivors who become pregnant as a result of their sexual assault are not allowed to get a legal abortion or even take a morning-after pill. That’s because authorities in the strongly Roman Catholic country believe the rights of an unborn child should be “protected by law at all costs.” That means any method to terminate a pregnancy is considered illegal and carries a multi-year jail sentence.

7. Haiti

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The impoverished Caribbean country, which was flattened by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake in 2010, also bans the termination of a pregnancy under any circumstances.

8. Kenya

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Unsafe abortion is the “leading cause” of maternal death in Kenya, despite a relaxation of laws in 2010 that gave doctors more wiggle room to determine if a pregnancy should be terminated. A study conducted by Kenya’s Ministry of Health in 2012 shows 266 women die per every 100,000 unsafe abortions, which the ministry said was “disproportionately high” for the region. Lack of access to safe abortion facilities and the high rate of unplanned pregnancies were cited for the deaths.