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| © Richard Lord |
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A new report by the Guttmacher Institute shows that the number of abortions occurring annually between 1995 and 2003 dropped significantly as contraceptive use increased in most countries. However, this improvement did not affect all regions equally: while the number of abortions overall declined, the number of unsafe abortions has remained relatively constant. These occur almost exclusively in developing countries with restrictive laws.
According to the report, “Abortion Worldwide: A Decade of Uneven Progress,” the decline in abortion comes even as more countries are liberalizing their abortion laws – 19 countries since 1997. While a country’s decision to reduce legal restrictions on abortion has little impact on abortion rates, it significantly affects women’s access to safe abortion care.
In countries where abortion is legally restricted, desperate women are likely to turn to traditional health providers using unsafe methods, to medical providers with inadequate training, or even attempt to do the procedure themselves. As a result, Guttmacher reports global estimates of approximately 70,000 deaths and 5 million hospitalizations each year. An additional 3 million women are estimated to have severe complications without ever being seen by a healthcare worker.
The new report makes three key recommendations:
• Expand access to modern contraceptives and improve family planning services.
• Expand access to legal abortion and ensure that safe and legal abortion services are available to women in need.
• Improve the coverage and quality of postabortion care, which would reduce maternal deaths and complications from unsafe abortion.
The report was released a day before the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) released a new policy on abortion, stating, “First, it is a right. Women have the right to reproductive health choices. Second, it is necessary. 20% of pregnancies globally end in induced abortion; unsafe abortion accounts for 13% of all maternal deaths and the hospitalisation of a further five million women every year due to serious health complications.” DFID’s statement reaffirms its commitment to support programs that make safe abortion care more accessible in countries where abortion is legal. In countries with restrictive laws and high rates of deaths and injuries from unsafe abortion, DFID will support efforts to increase understanding of the issue and reform abortion laws and policies.
The new policy stands in stark contrast to that of the United States, where a longstanding law (called the Helms Amendment) prevents U.S. foreign assistance from being used to support safe abortion care, even when it is legal, and where other federal funding restrictions limit access to legal abortion for low-income American women. “I hope that the Guttmacher report will be widely disseminated, including in the United States,” said Ipas Executive Vice President Barbara Crane. “We have a lot of work to do right here at home.”
For more information, contact media@ipas.org