The Center for Reproductive Rights' global delegation was in attendance at the United Nations General Assembly last month to discuss key sexual and reproductive health and rights issues. An updated report shows how European countries continue to show progression in abortion rights reforms. While in the United States, a devastating decision came in from the Georgia Supreme Court where they allowed a six-week ban on abortion to stay in effect.

United Nations

The Center Engages with Policymakers Around the World at UNGA

Policymakers from countries across the world gathered in New York last month for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The UNGA is the largest gathering of government leaders each year and Center staff from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States were in attendance. They were able to engage with leaders and urge them to include sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) as part of their international commitments. Topics discussed included universal health care and human rights standards relating to SRHR, leadership for the realization of SRHR in Africa and the anti-rights movement across the globe and how to push back against it.

United States

Georgia Supreme Court Allows Six-Week Abortion Ban to Remain in Effect

Last week, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled to allow a six-week ban on abortion to remain in effect while the case continues in the trial court. Georgia's abortion ban was blatantly unconstitutional when enacted in 2019, and a trial court deemed it unenforceable. But the Georgia Supreme Court's ruling allowing the ban to remain in effect concluded that the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade effectively erased that history. The Center will continue to fight on behalf of Georgians' fundamental rights.

Europe

European Abortion Laws: A Comparative Overview

As the United States regresses on abortion rights, several European countries have enacted progressive reforms to their abortion laws or taken steps to remove harmful regulatory barriers that obstruct access to legal abortion. You can see an overview of abortion laws and policies in all 47 European countries in a recently updated report by the Center. Today, almost all European countries allow abortion on request or on broad social grounds, at least in the first trimester of pregnancy.

"For over a year, Georgians have been denied the freedom to chart their own lives and futures. It is outrageous that the Georgia Supreme Court is allowing these harms to continue in clear violation of the state constitution... But we refuse to back down—we will keep fighting to protect Georgians' fundamental rights."

—Alice Wang, staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights