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Team,
Today, on International Safe Abortion Day, we want to share something with you. For over 20 years, we have been tracking abortion laws in countries all over the world, and we put it all into an interactive map for advocates and human rights champions like you to use.
Time and again, it has been proven that abortion, when provided by a qualified medical professional, is one of the safest medical procedures. But every year, an estimated 23,000 women die from unsafe abortion, and tens of thousands more experience significant health complications. The majority of these injuries and fatalities occur in regions with the harshest abortion laws—and we know why. Legal restrictions on abortion do not stop women from seeking out this care, they only make it more dangerous by forcing women to turn to unqualified providers.
Today, 90 million women of reproductive age live in countries that ban abortion entirely.
«Find out which countries still ban abortion»
Despite the restrictive laws in some parts of the world, the overwhelming global trend has been towards the liberalization of abortion laws. In fact, nearly 50 countries liberalized their abortion laws in the past 25 years, while only a small handful have made them more restrictive. There is a growing global consensus that abortion is both a human right and a public health imperative.
«View 25 years of progress»
Abortion laws are an indicator of gender equity, reflecting whether women and girls have the opportunity to direct the course of their own lives.
The World Abortion Laws Map is updated in real time, so that you can keep an eye on how countries are protecting—or denying—reproductive rights around the world.
«See how your country stacks up»
In solidarity,
Katherine Mayall
Director of Capacity Building
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