Securing the Right to Safe and Legal Abortion: Perspectives from the Guttmacher-Lancet Commission

AbstractIn recognition of the need to take a more holistic approach to sexual and reproductive health and rights, the Guttmacher-Lancet Commission on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights convened in 2016. Composed of 16 experts from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America, the Commission set out to gather the most current evidence on sexual and reproductive health and rights at the global level, with the aim of driving transformational change through policy and political action. Its resulting report, released in May 2018, reveals enormous gaps in sexual and reproductive health and rights worldwide, and quantifies the toll those gaps take on individuals, countries and regions as a whole. The Commission ’s report presents a new, comprehensive definition of sexual and reproductive health and rights, which integrates the full range of people’s sexual and reproductive health needs and is grounded in human rights principles. It also presents a package of essential sexual and reproductive health int erventions, including the right to safe abortion care. This commentary focuses on the inclusion of safe abortion as a fundamental component of sexual and reproductive health. It describes global trends in abortion legality and safety, as well as barriers to the provision of abortion services. Finall y, it highlights the status of the right to safe abortion in the international human rights framework.
Source: The Guttmacher Institute - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: news