ASIA – Putting rights, choices and investment at the heart of bodily autonomy and sexual health

Shobha Shukla
Sept 27, 2026

Bodily autonomy and sexual health are often framed as matters of individual health, personal choice and human rights. But the latest evidence from the Adding It Up 2024 report by Guttmacher Institute shows that meeting sexual and reproductive health needs is not merely a health expenditure—it is a smart investment that can save lives, reduce unintended pregnancies and generate significant economic returns.

Main findings of this report that were presented by Dr Elizabeth A Sully, Guttmacher Institute’s Director of International Research, during a SHE & Rights session organised ahead of World Contraception Day and International Safe Abortion Day, examine the need, impact, and cost of investing in sexual and reproductive healthcare across 128 low- and middle-income countries: 36 countries from Asia, 53 countries from Africa, 23 countries from Latin America and Caribbean and 8 countries each from Europe and Oceania regions.

Continued; https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=features.Spotlight_On_Women.Putting_rights_bodily_autonomy_sexual_health_By_Shobha_Shukla

27.09.2026

Adding It Up

Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women

Dr Elizabeth A Sully

Family Planning Investment Impact Calculator

Guttmacher Institute

International Safe Abortion Day

Riju Dhakal

SHE & Rights

World Contraception Day

Beyond unmet need: Putting rights, choice, and investment at the center of sexual and reproductive health and rights

Sep 23, 2026
by Shobha Shukla

Ahead of World Contraception Day (26th September) and International Safe Abortion Day (28th September), “we demand accessible, safe, legal, and stigma-free abortion care for all. Safe abortion is an essential and lifesaving aspect of sexual and reproductive healthcare and a fundamental human right, as well as central to reproductive freedom and justice. It is also a cornerstone of gender equality and the human right to health and achieving the SDGs. Access to a full range of proven contraception options is also critical, along with other sexual and reproductive health services,” said Shobha Shukla, Coordinator and Host of SHE & Rights and Executive Director, CNS.

“With just 51 months left to deliver on the SDG goals and targets of gender equality and health rights, not only is the progress way off the mark (if any), but attacks against bodily autonomy and gender and health rights have been growing around the world. Women’s bodies, bodily autonomy, sexual health and rights, and reproductive health and rights and freedom and justice have been a ground of war by patriarchy and its allies for a long time,” added feminist leader Shobha Shukla.

Continued: https://theforefrontmagazine.com/beyond-unmet-need-putting-rights-choice-and-investment-at-the-center-of-sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-rights/

A New Tool to Support Global Safe Abortion Advocacy

Floriane Borel, Jessica D. Rosenberg, Elizabeth A. Sully, Margaret Giorgio, Guttmacher Institute
April 27, 2026

Access to safe abortion care is an essential component of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Ensuring this access globally is vital to protecting the health, lives and well-being of millions of people, eliminating preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, and upholding the reproductive autonomy of individuals to make decisions about their own bodies, fertility and future. Abortion care is proven to be extremely safe and effective, yet it remains prohibited or restricted in many countries and severely underfunded, despite being clearly documented as a cost-effective health intervention. New data from the Guttmacher Institute illustrate how improved provision of safe abortion care can effectively reduce health system costs.

Guttmacher’s new Safe Abortion Calculator is a tool to help advocates, policymakers and program implementers better visualize the health and economic impacts of expanding access to safe abortion care within the health system and provide easily accessible evidence to support their advocacy and decision-making.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/2026/04/new-tool-support-global-safe-abortion-advocacy

27.04.2026

Commentary

1994 International Conference on Population and Development

Adding It Up

Guttmacher Institute

ICPD Programme of Action

safe abortion advocacy

Safe Abortion Calculator

Adding It Up 2024: Investing in Sexual and Reproductive Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries in Asia

Guttmacher Institute
January 2026

The Adding It Up study examines the need for, impact of and cost of fully investing in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care—services that ensure people can decide whether and when to have children, experience safe pregnancy and delivery, have healthy newborns, and have a safe and satisfying sexual life.

Access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services is recognized as a fundamental human right, essential for achieving gender equality and enabling individuals to make autonomous decisions about their own bodies, health and futures. Realizing this right for all women, especially those facing systemic barriers, upholds human dignity and advances equity across communities.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/adding-it-up-2024-investing-sexual-and-reproductive-health-asia

26.01.2026

Guttmacher Releases Most Comprehensive Evidence to Date on Global Family Planning Gaps, Investment and Economic Returns

Two new studies show dual impact of family planning: saving lives and driving women’s economic empowerment

November 3, 2025

Today the Guttmacher Institute unveiled findings from two groundbreaking research initiatives revealing the most comprehensive evidence to date of the transformative impact of family planning on women’s lives—underscoring the urgent need for sustained investment in global sexual and reproductive health. The new evidence has been released at the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP), which kicked off today in Bogotá, Colombia.

The two complementary studies—Adding It Up and FP-Impact—demonstrate that investing in comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care delivers immediate, life-saving benefits while simultaneously functioning as economic “seed funding” that expands national workforces and generates sustained economic returns.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2025/guttmacher-releases-most-comprehensive-evidence-date-global-family-planning-gaps

Meeting Women’s Modern Contraceptive Needs Could Yield Dramatic Benefit

September 9, 2020
By Deekshita Ramanarayanan

“Achieving true progress on sexual and reproductive health and rights requires a comprehensive approach and a commitment to tackling deeply entrenched inequities and injustices of which marginalized communities continue to bear the brunt,” said Dr. Herminia Palacio, President and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute. She spoke at a recent Wilson Center event where speakers analyzed findings from the Guttmacher Institute on the state of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) globally.

The current COVID-19 pandemic threatens to roll back progress made towards SRHR. “A growing body of evidence shows that the pandemic is already limiting access to sexual and reproductive health care worldwide, especially in low- and middle- income countries,” said Sarah Barnes, Project Director of the Maternal Health Initiative at the Wilson Center. These impacts go unrecognized because they are indirect results of health system disruption rather than the direct impact of a virus, said Zara Ahmed, Associate Director of Federal Issues at the Guttmacher Institute.

Continued: https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2020/09/meeting-womens-modern-contraceptive-yield-dramatic-benefit/