Team,

For decades, the overwhelming global trend in reproductive rights has been towards liberalization of abortion laws and increased access to abortion services. Since 1994, 59 countries have liberalized their abortion laws.

Next week, on September 28, we will celebrate International Safe Abortion Day and the global progress we have seen, but we also recognize that millions of people around the world—including in the United States—are denied the fundamental human right to safe and legal abortion.

These are uncertain times, but we are certain that reproductive rights are fundamental human rights, and we are committed to advancing these rights around the world.

But first, let's talk good news. Here are just a few recent advancements in abortion rights our team is celebrating.

• A landmark ruling by the High Court of Kenya affirmed in early 2022 that abortion care is a fundamental right under the constitution. This ruling was made in a case brought by the Center and the Reproductive Health Network Kenya.
  
  
• Longstanding advocacy efforts by the Center and regional partners resulted in the government of Nepal agreeing to decriminalize abortion and ensure the protection of sexual and reproductive rights of girls and women. The Center and its partners are working to make certain that this commitment results in meaningful legal and policy reform.
  
  
• In February 2022, the Constitutional Court of Colombia issued a landmark ruling to decriminalize abortion up to 24 weeks of gestation. Colombia became the eighth country in Latin America and the Caribbean to decriminalize abortion in early stages of pregnancy. The Center was one of five organizations that worked to draft the lawsuit seeking to eliminate abortion as a crime, reduce barriers to legal abortion care, and end the risk of criminal prosecution of people seeking abortion care and of health care workers providing care.

While we celebrate advancements around the world, we are in the depths of our fight for reproductive autonomy in many places. Since 1994, four countries have regressed on abortion rights: El Salvador, Nicaragua, Poland, and the United States.

Each of these countries has removed legal grounds for abortion care—as the U.S. Supreme Court did in June when it revoked the constitutional right to abortion and cleared the way for states to ban abortion entirely.

To find out details about abortion laws and policies in all countries, explore the Center's interactive World Abortion Laws map here.

In solidarity,

Center for Reproductive Rights