Building on C4W: Strengthening Midwifery Education for Family Planning and Comprehensive Abortion Care

ICM
15 September 2026

The Collaborate for Women: Abortion and Contraception Care Together (C4W) initiative is continuing its work to expand access to high-quality Family Planning (FP) and Comprehensive Abortion Care (CAC) for women and girls through stronger collaboration between midwives and obstetrician-gynaecologists (OB/GYNs).

In this second phase, which is continuing throughout 2026, ICM is collaborating with the World Health Organization’s Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP/WHO) and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) to provide technical assistance through ICM’s national member associations in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Continued: https://internationalmidwives.org/building-on-c4w-family-planning-and-abortion-care/

15.09.2026

Commentary

C4W initiative

Collaborate for women: Abortion and Contraception Care Together

International Confederation of Midwives

International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

midwifery and abortion

midwives and abortion

World Health Organization

India – Tamil Nadu Speaker joins Catholic anti-abortion rally — ‘Life begins at conception’

JCD Prabhakar’s appearance at the National March for Life brings an explicitly Catholic anti-abortion argument into Tamil Nadu’s political arena, where reproductive rights have rarely been organised along religious lines

Arun Janardhanan
Aug 11, 2026

The Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, JCD Prabhakar, joined a Catholic anti-abortion gathering in Chennai Sunday and declared that “life begins at conception”, placing one of the state’s highest constitutional office-holders alongside a movement seeking to persuade Indians to reconsider abortion through the moral theology of the Catholic Church.

Prabhakar, 73, a ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA from Thousand Lights, was addressing the fifth National March for Life, organised at Stella Maris College by CHARIS India under the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. More than 5,000 people attended, according to organisers. According to Prabhakar, the gathering was deliberately held around August 10, the date on which India’s Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act was enacted in 1971– a law that established a legal framework for abortion and was significantly liberalised by amendments in 2021.

Continued: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chennai/jcd-prabhakar-tamil-nadu-assembly-speaker-anti-abortion-march-for-life-chennai-10826965/

11.08.2026

News

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India

JCD Prabhakar

Joseph Vijay

March for Life

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

Tamil Nadu

World Health Organization

Global – Law and policy practice guide for quality abortion care

7 May 2026
World Health Organization | Publication

Unsafe abortion and restrictive legal environments remain significant contributors to preventable morbidity and mortality, underscoring the need for evidence-based, rights-aligned frameworks to ensure access to quality abortion care. This document presents operational guidance developed to support Member States in reforming, interpreting and implementing laws and policies grounded in international human rights law and principles, in line with the recommendations on abortion care.

The guide outlines a structured, iterative approach to law and policy reform organized into four interconnected phases: understanding the current legal and health context, designing appropriate interventions, implementing reforms, and reviewing outcomes.

continued: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240121102

07.05.2026

Research

abortion care guidance

Law and policy practice guide for quality abortion care

safe abortion guidelines

World Health Organization

Global

Ethiopia – A health worker’s journey in providing comprehensive abortion care

How HRP’s training programme supports safer services around the world

5 May 2026
World Health Organization

For nearly ten years, comprehensive abortion care has been available at Jemo Health Centre on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. Tewodros Tibebu, a health care worker at the centre, has worked in comprehensive abortion care for four years.

While comprehensive abortion care has been widely legal in Ethiopia since 2005, access remains challenging. Tewodros says he sees every day how social barriers delay care.

Continued: https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/a-health-worker-s-journey-in-providing-comprehensive-abortion-care

05.05.2026

Commentary

Jemo Health Centre

Tewodros Tibebu

World Health Organization

Learning to deliver comprehensive abortion care

How the new HRP comprehensive abortion care learning programme supports safe and rights‑based practice

World Health Organization
28 April 2026

A new HRP (the UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction) learning programme, available as a WHO Academy course, supports health workers providing abortion care to do so safely, respectfully and with quality. The new four-part learning programme on comprehensive abortion care brings key elements of comprehensive abortion care together in one coherent learning pathway.

Abortion is a common health intervention. It is very safe when carried out using a method recommended by the Abortion care guideline, appropriate to the pregnancy duration and by someone with the necessary skills. However, around 45% of abortions are unsafe.

Continued: https://www.who.int/news/item/28-04-2026-learning-to-deliver-comprehensive-abortion-care

28.04.2026

Commentary

Antonella Lavelanet

Comprehensive Abortion Care

post-abortion care

UNFPA

WHO Abortion Care Guideline

World Health Organization

Global

Clinical

Health

Philippines – Unintended pregnancies, abortions persist in PH despite total ban

Cristina Eloisa Baclig
April 09, 2026

Abortion is illegal in the Philippines in all circumstances. Yet data and personal accounts suggest the procedure persists, often in secrecy and, in many cases, under unsafe conditions.

A recent analysis by University of the Philippines Diliman associate professor and Inquirer data scientist Dr. Rogelio Alicor Panao, drawing from World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, found that unintended pregnancies and abortion remain closely intertwined even where the procedure is criminalized.

Continued: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2209231/unintended-pregnancies-abortions-persist-in-ph-despite-total-ban-2

‘No Woman Should Lose Her Life, Giving Life’

17/02/2026
Kerry Cullinan

Over 60% of maternal deaths in 2023 took place in countries and territories experiencing conflict or institutional and social fragility, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) technical brief published on Tuesday.

“In 2023, an estimated 260,000 women died from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Around 160,000 of those deaths occurred in settings experiencing conflict or institutional fragility,” Jenny Cresswell, WHO sexual and reproductive health scientist, told a media briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

Continued: https://healthpolicy-watch.news/no-woman-should-lose-her-life-giving-life/

17.02.2026

News

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Jenny Cresswell

maternal mortality

United Nations Children’s Fund

United Nations Population Fund

World Health Organization

Understanding Abortion Care: WHO Guidelines, Global Health Impact, and Access Challenges

January 3, 2026

Abortion remains one of the most common medical procedures worldwide, yet access to safe, respectful, and evidence-based care varies dramatically across different regions. The World Health Organization (WHO) provides comprehensive guidelines to ensure that abortion services meet international health standards while protecting women’s rights and wellbeing. This article examines the current state of abortion care globally, drawing from WHO’s latest recommendations and research.

The Global Scale of Abortion - The statistics surrounding pregnancy and abortion reveal a significant public health reality. Approximately 121 million pregnancies occur unintentionally each year worldwide. Of these unintended pregnancies, 60 percent end in induced abortion. Overall, three out of every ten pregnancies globally conclude with an induced abortion, making it a routine aspect of reproductive healthcare that affects millions of women annually.

Continued: https://observervoice.com/understanding-abortion-care-who-guidelines-global-health-impact-and-access-challenges-in-2025-170509/

03.01.2026

Commentary

barriers to abortion

BRIDGES initiative

Global Abortion Policies Database

maternal mortality and morbidity

Sustainable Development Goals

World Health Organization

We Care: building evidence for safer abortion services

18 December 2025
World Health Organization

Expanding access to safe, comprehensive abortion care presents a critical opportunity to protect the health and rights of millions of women worldwide. By leveraging data and innovative tools, a silent challenge is transformed into actionable solutions that save lives and promote equity.

Through the work of BRIDGES for comprehensive abortion care, HRP (the UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction) is working with ministries of health, country offices and civil society organizations to not only collect, but also use local data to improve access to comprehensive abortion care. Called We Care (Workshops for Evidence for Complications of Abortion Reduction), the project makes use of the World Health Organization (WHO)-supported nationally representative health facility surveys, known as Harmonized Health Facility Assessments (HHFA). Already implemented in more than 20 countries, and growing, these surveys offer countries a powerful tool to strengthen their health systems. While the surveys include quality abortion care questions, most countries were not using the nationally representative abortion data.

Continued: https://www.who.int/news/item/18-12-2025-we-care--building-evidence-for-safer-abortion-services

Uganda – Our Constitution Leaves Girls Unprotected, The Results Are Fatal

Thursday, December 11, 2025
By Moses Paul Odongo

Recently, while perusing the Daily Monitor of November 18, 2025, I came across an article on page 25 written by Olivier Mukaaya, titled “Abortion crisis as girls turn to unsafe practices.”

As I read it carefully, word for word, I found myself tearing up as I reflected on what the 19-year-old girl in the story went through. She had already endured the trauma of sexual assault. When she later discovered she was pregnant, fear, shame and the weight of that experience overwhelmed her.

Continued: https://nilepost.co.ug/opinions/309754/our-constitution-leaves-girls-unprotected-the-results-are-fatal

11.12.2025