Dear Colleague,

As abortion pills have increasingly supplanted surgical methods, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been at the forefront of getting these pills into the hands of doctors, nurses, midwives, and even patients themselves, all around the world.  There is a place for self-management of certain aspects of health care, but the use of the "self-care" model for abortion raises numerous problems.

In this Definitions article, C-Fam's Director of Government Relations, Alexis Fragosa, and I review the WHO's recent work promoting "self-care" for "sexual and reproductive health," including abortion, and consider how the campaign to maximize the availability of abortion—even where illegal—could cause great harm to women, and, of course, the unborn.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Oas, Ph.D.
Director of Research

The concept of “self-care” to support good health is not new.  From good nutrition and hygiene to the self-administration of over-the-counter drugs to the self-management of long-term conditions through prescribed medication, individuals and families around the world are making use of information and products that can improve their health while reducing or avoiding the need to visit clinics and consult directly with doctors. Read more >>>