Imagine you need an abortion in a country where it’s a crime. A broker leads you to a supposed secret clinic, but when you arrive, you see a dilapidated building with ripped black plastic covering the windows. Scared you’ll risk your life if you have an abortion in this place, you refuse to go in—and the broker chases you down the street demanding to know why you’re leaving.

This harrowing experience really happened to Marcia Soumokil, our Ipas Indonesia country director, when she and her husband sought to end an unwanted pregnancy. “I’m a medical doctor—I should have had better access, better information, but even I didn’t,” she recounts.

This is what happens when abortion is a crime. Women and girls around the world face frightening, humiliating and life-threatening situations when they seek to end unwanted pregnancies.

As International Safe Abortion Day approaches on September 28, we’re raising awareness of why access to safe, legal abortion is so important. You can help: Read Marcia’s full story. Then share it with your family and friends—so others can see the real human impact when abortion is a crime.