Nepal’s abortion law gaps draw global attention

At Women Deliver 2026, Nepal’s legal progress on reproductive rights was acknowledged—but weak implementation, legal contradictions, and social barriers drew sharp concern.

By REPUBLICA
May 1, 2026

MELBOURNE, May 1: Nepal’s abortion laws came under global scrutiny as rights advocates called for full decriminalization during the Women Deliver 2026 conference in Melbourne, held from April 27 to 30.

A Nepal-focused session on the final day spotlighted both the country’s progress and persistent gaps in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). While speakers acknowledged Nepal’s relatively progressive legal framework, they warned that weak implementation and conflicting laws continue to put women at risk.

Continued: https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/nepals-abortion-law-gaps-draw-global-attention-12-10.html

Nepal – Amendment to abortion law imperative, as 52% abortions are still unsafe

The Rising Nepal
Sat, 14 March 2026

While the Constitution guarantees safe motherhood and reproductive health as fundamental rights for women, abortion is still viewed as a crime in many places. This mindset is having a direct impact on women, and adolescent girls.

Rina Sah, 30, (name changed) from Saptari district in Madhes Province, recently went through a painful experience.

Already a mother of two, Sah had no intention of conceiving again, but she became pregnant unintentionally. She realised that she was pregnant when the pregnancy had reached around two and a half months.

Continued: https://risingnepaldaily.com/news/77102

14.03.2026

News

abortion law reform

Forum for Women Law and Development

Nabin Kumar Shrestha

Rekha Jha

Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights Act

Nepal – Rights activists urge full decriminalisation of abortion

By Ram Kumar Kamat
Feb 16, 2026

KATHMANDU – Shradha Adhikari, who is a nurse with Sunaulo Parivar Nepal clinic in Kathmandu that provides reproductive health services, including safe abortion, feels pride for having an opportunity to providing safe abortion services to women and girls who would otherwise have opted for unsafe practices leading to risk of her life.

She, however, lives in constant fear of facing criminal cases for providing abortion service. Some of my friends, who have provided safe abortion services, have been asked to report to police or record their statement in the court and I always fear that I might face the same situation, Adhikari added.

Continued: https://thehimalayantimes.com/ampArticle/1036749

Contraceptive shortages are driving up abortions in Nepal

Abortion rate has risen by over 31 percent in four years, and experts say unsafe abortions could put maternal health at risk.

Arjun Poudel
January 2, 2026

Amid a shortage of family planning commodities, including birth control shots and implants, health facilities across the country are reporting a sharp rise in abortions.

According to data provided by the Ministry of Health and Population, 105,099 women terminated their pregnancies in the fiscal year 2023-24, up from 94,463 in the fiscal year 2022-23. In the fiscal year 2021-22, a total of 90,733 women underwent abortion, while the number stood at 79,972 in the fiscal year 2020-21.

Continued: https://kathmandupost.com/health/2026/01/02/contraceptive-shortages-are-driving-up-abortions-in-nepal

02.01.2026

Family Planning Association of Nepal

maternal mortality

Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights Act

UN Population Fund

unintended pregnancies

Nepal – Legal error in women’s rights: criminalization of abortion!

May 27, 2025
Prakash Dhaulakoti

While safe abortion is being established as a reproductive right of women all over the world, in Nepal, the social stigma imposed on women due to abortion has not decreased.

The current law reflecting the patriarchal social thinking and its influence also hinders the rights of women over their own wombs

An 18-year-old girl from Dailekh and a 17-year-old boy from Dolpa, who were studying at Birendranagar in Surkhet, were in a relationship for about one and a half years. Taking precautions, the girl suddenly became pregnant last May.

Continued: https://ekantipur.com/en/News-Folder/2025/05/27/legal-error-in-womens-rights-criminalization-of-abortion-50-16.html

27.05.2025

Commentary

Gauri Pradhan Shrestha

Meera Dhungana

patriarchal abortion law

Prakash Dhaulakoti

Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights Act

How a second Trump presidency is likely to threaten abortion rights and women’s healthcare globally

November 15, 2024
Michael Jennings

In the aftermath of the US election, much focus has been on the consequences for abortion rights across the US, and whether this will affect state-led initiatives to roll back restrictive legislation.

What has received much less attention is what will happen next to abortion services, sexual and reproductive health, and health more widely across many parts of the world, as a direct result of a decision President Trump is likely to take on his first day in office.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/how-a-second-trump-presidency-is-likely-to-threaten-abortion-rights-and-womens-healthcare-globally-243346

Nepal – Decrminalise abortion: Rights activists

By Ram Kumar Kamat
Mar 18, 2023

Kathmandu – Article 38(2) of the constitution ensures the right of every woman to safe motherhood and reproductive health thereby acknowledging the right to safe abortion as part of reproductive health right, but in practice, women have not been able to enjoy this right, due to criminalisation of abortion and a number of restrictive measures.

Executive Director of Forum for Women, Law and Development Sabin Shrestha said Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights Act, which was brought to enable women to enjoy their reproductive health rights, conversely prohibited abortion after 28 weeks of pregnancy.

Continued: https://thehimalayantimes.com/sports/decrminalise-abortion-rights-activists

18.03.2023

News

Centre for Reproductive Rights

decriminalisation of abortion

Prabhakar Shrestha

Sabin Shrestha

Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights Act

Legal Yet Limited: Abortion Rights in Nepal

Gaps in Access and Equity Pose Challenges to Reproductive Rights

Shivani Mishra, Associate, Women's Rights Division
June 13, 2022

Following the deaths of countless women who had undergone unsafe abortions, Nepal legalized the procedure in 2002. In 2018, Nepal’s government went further to protect women, enacting legislation that recognizes seeking abortion as a fundamental human right. But more needs to be done to expand safe abortion access across the country.

Nepal’s abortion law permits women to seek abortion for any reason up to 12 weeks of gestation, and up to 28 weeks in cases of rape or incest. Abortion is also legal up to 28 weeks of the pregnancy if a licensed medical practitioner identifies a risk to the woman’s mental or physical health or if the fetus is “likely to become non-viable.”

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/13/legal-yet-limited-abortion-rights-nepal

13.06.2022

Featured

News

Human Rights Watch

Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights Act

Nearly half of the pregnancies in Nepal are unintended, UN agency says

Half of the 1.2 million pregnancies in the country were unintended and nearly 359,000 ended in abortion in 2017.

Arjun Poudel
March 31, 2022

Nearly half of the pregnancies in Nepal are unintended and close to two-thirds of them ended in abortion, according to a recent report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The UNFPA’s “State of World Population 2022” report titled, “Seeing the Unseen”, says half of the 1.2 million pregnancies in 2017 in Nepal were unintended and nearly 359,000 were aborted.

Continued: https://kathmandupost.com/health/2022/03/31/nearly-half-of-the-pregnancies-in-nepal-are-unintended-un-agency-says

Nepal – Women still unable to enjoy reproductive health rights

Women still unable to enjoy reproductive health rights

Published: December 21, 2018

It has already been four months since the Parliament passed Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights Act, but due to lack of effective implementation many women across the country are not able to enjoy these rights.

The act has legalised abortion and it has the provision for free abortion service at all public health facilities. This law makes abortion legal for all cases up to 12 weeks’ of gestation on request, up to 28 weeks’ gestation in cases of rape or incest, and at any time if the pregnancy poses a danger to the woman’s life, or physical or mental health, or in case of foetal abnormality.

Continued: https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/women-still-unable-to-enjoy-reproductive-health-rights/

21.12.2018