How dangerous are unsafe abortions? WHO report paints a grim picture

A WHO report reveals that 73 million abortions occur annually, with unsafe procedures causing severe physical complications, mental trauma, and major public health burdens

Tisha Elizabeth Jacob
December 10, 2025

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that around 73 million induced abortions take place across the globe each year. Six out of 10 (61 per cent) of all unintended pregnancies, and 3 out of 10 (29 per cent) of all pregnancies, end in induced abortion.

While one might look at abortion as a matter of individual choice, it is also a public health issue that affects communities and countries.

Lack of access to safe, affordable, timely and respectful abortion care, and the stigma associated with abortion, pose risks to women’s physical and mental well-being throughout their lives. Estimates from 2012 also indicate that in developing countries alone, 7 million women per year were treated in hospital facilities for complications of unsafe abortion, WHO reported.

Continued: https://www.theweek.in/news/health/2025/12/10/how-dangerous-are-unsafe-abortions-who-report-paints-a-grim-picture.html

10.12.2025

News

abortion as public health issue

abortion stigma

maternal mortality

World Health Organization

Global Approaches to Abortion as Health Care

Rebecca Reingold, Associate Director / Sarah Wetter, Senior Associate / Ava Sack, Former Extern
November 20, 2025

By characterizing abortion as health care, international organizations have pushed back against the rise in abortion exceptionalism. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes that “[a]bortion is a simple health care intervention.” Human rights bodies similarly stress that realizing the right to health requires treating abortion like other essential reproductive health services. Abortion care should meet the four essential elements of the right to health’s “AAAQ framework” — namely, it should be available, accessible, acceptable, and of quality.

While various jurisdictions (including some states in the United States) continue to criminalize and heavily restrict access to abortion, numerous countries have adopted laws and policies that align with WHO recommendations and human rights frameworks. In the process, they have taken incremental steps towards embracing abortion as health care across areas, including facilities and providers, medication, patient decision-making, financing, and destigmatization.

Continued: https://oneill.law.georgetown.edu/global-approaches-to-abortion-as-health-care/

20.11.2025

Commentary

abortion exceptionalism

Ava Sack

Rebecca Reingold

Sarah Wetter

World Health Organization

Nigeria’s Proposed Abortion Law: A Step Backward in a Public Health Crisis

By Shalom Tewobola
Nov 2, 2025

In a country where an estimated 1.25 million unsafe abortions occur annually, Nigeria’s Senate is considering legislation that would make a dire situation catastrophic. The Criminal Code Amendment Bill 2025, which recently came before the Senate for concurrence, proposes a ten-year jail term for anyone supplying drugs or instruments to procure abortions. This represents more than a threefold increase from the current three-year penalty. But as confusion erupted among lawmakers over the bill’s vague language during Tuesday’s plenary session, a more fundamental question emerged: are we criminalizing healthcare itself?

Senate President Godswill Akpabio suspended consideration of the bill and referred it to the Committee on Judiciary and Legal Matters after senators couldn’t agree on what constitutes an “unlawful abortion.” When lawmakers themselves cannot determine the boundary between criminal acts and medical care, how can doctors be expected to navigate these waters while a patient hemorrhages before them?

Continued: https://culturecustodian.com/nigerias-proposed-abortion-law-a-step-backward-in-a-public-health-crisis/

The Ripple Effects of the U.S. Retreat from International Reproductive Care

U.S. cuts to global health funding are putting reproductive rights, healthcare access and human rights at risk worldwide. Human rights experts discuss exactly what’s happening—and what would stop the suffering.

10/19/2025
by Jaime M. Gher, Payal Shah and Floriane Borel

The U.S. has long been the largest donor to global health programs, but under the Trump administration, that support is rapidly disappearing. The resulting funding cuts are devastating reproductive health access, disease prevention efforts and human rights around the world.

In this Q&A, global health and human rights experts Jaime M. Gher, Payal Shah and Floriane Borel break down the global ripple effects—and the urgent need for action.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2025/10/19/usa-trump-international-global-health-aid-cuts/

PORTUGAL – Experts call for a review of abortion law

The Portuguese Contraception Society (SPDC) has warned that Portugal maintains one of the "most restrictive" deadlines in Europe for access to voluntary termination of pregnancy, advocating for the extension of the abortion deadline to at least 12 weeks.

By TPN/Lusa
Sept 27, 2025

"We have a maximum period of 10 weeks, which will place us among the countries with the most restrictive rules, along with Slovenia, for example, while most other European countries set limits of 12, 14, or more [weeks]," SPDC president Amália Pacheco told Lusa on the occasion of World Safe Abortion Day.

For the gynaecologist, this situation reveals "the urgent need" to review Portuguese legislation at this time, aligning it with "all scientific evidence," the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), and the commitments made at the European level.

Continued: https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2025-09-27/experts-call-for-a-review-of-abortion-law/891181

27.09.2025

News

abortion law reform

Amália Pacheco

International Safe Abortion Day

Portuguese Contraception SocietyPortuguese Contraception Society

World Health Organization

Global Abortion Rights Advance Amid Legal Battles In 2025

International Safe Abortion Day highlights new legal victories and ongoing challenges as countries grapple with access, safety, and human rights.

27 September 2025

On September 28, 2025, International Safe Abortion Day resonated with new urgency across continents, as advocates, lawmakers, and health professionals spotlighted both the progress and persistent barriers surrounding abortion access worldwide. At the heart of the global conversation: the simple but powerful assertion from the World Health Organization that abortion is not only one of the world’s most common health care services, but also an essential one. Yet, as statistics and recent court decisions show, the safety and accessibility of this service depend heavily on where a person lives—and the laws that govern their bodies.

According to the World Health Organization, nearly 30% of all pregnancies globally end in abortion. But the legality of abortion doesn’t necessarily dictate how often it happens. What does matter, and often with life-or-death consequences, is whether those abortions are carried out safely. The numbers are sobering: almost half of the world’s 73 million annual abortions are considered unsafe, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths every year and accounting for up to 13% of maternal deaths worldwide. The World Health Organization defines unsafe abortion as any procedure performed by someone lacking the necessary skills, in an environment that doesn’t meet minimum medical standards, or both.

Continued: https://evrimagaci.org/gpt/global-abortion-rights-advance-amid-legal-battles-in-2025-504283

27.09.2025

Commentary

International Safe Abortion Day

World Health Organization

Five Wins to Celebrate this International Safe Abortion Day

September 28 is International Safe Abortion Day, a chance to shine a light on the crucial role that accessible, quality abortion care plays in global health. These five wins for abortion rights are proof that a better future is not only possible—it’s already in the making.

Center for Reproductive Rights
09.26.2025

Abortion is one of the world’s most common health care services. It’s considered an essential service by the World Health Organization—and when carried out properly, it’s also a safe and simple one.

Almost 30% of all pregnancies end in abortions, and they happen all around the world: in places where they’re legal, restricted, and altogether banned. In fact, the legal status of abortion makes little difference in overall abortion rates.

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/five-wins-international-safe-abortion-day-2025/

KENYA / RWANDA – Rwanda offers good lesson on how to address teenage pregnancy crisis

by Kavutha Mutua
Sep 25, 2025

World Contraception Day will be marked tomorrow. The day highlights one of the most important yet neglected issues in public health: The right of every individual to access safe, affordable, and informed contraception. This year’s theme, ‘A Choice for All-Agency, Intention, Access,’ reminds us that contraception is not just about preventing pregnancy. It is about agency over one’s body, the ability to plan one’s life with intention, and access to choices without discrimination, barriers, or stigma.

Continued: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/opinion/article/2001530288/rwanda-offers-good-lesson-on-how-to-address-teenage-pregnancy-crisis

25.09.2025

comprehensive sex education

Kavutha Mutua

World Contraception Day

World Health Organization

New digital tools expand access and enhance quality in comprehensive abortion care

23 September 2025
World Health Organization

Abortion is a safe procedure when carried out in line with evidence-based practices, many of which are reflected in the World Health Organization’s Abortion care guidelines. However, half of abortions that occur around the world are unsafe, meaning the procedure is carried out by a person lacking the necessary skills and/or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards. Life-threatening complications that may result from unsafe abortion include haemorrhage, infection, and injury to the genital tract and internal organs.

“The problem is that many healthcare providers in some high-need countries have not had the opportunity to receive the formal education they need to provide family planning and comprehensive abortion care, but are then put in a situation where they are expected to provide essential care,” said Ulrika Rehnström Loi, technical officer and midwife at WHO. It is crucial that health workers providing safe abortion care have the skills to use recommended methods, manage pain and complications, and provide accurate information and counselling. They must also ensure care is respectful, confidential, rights-based, and linked to post-abortion and contraceptive services.

Continued; https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/new-digital-tools-expand-access-and-enhance-quality-in-comprehensive-abortion-care

23.09.2025

Commentary

Antonella Lavelanet

digital tools for abortion care

Family Planning and Abortion Care Toolkit

Nani Kaway

Ulrika Rehnström Loi

UN’s Special Programme in Human Reproduction

World Health Organization

Transforming abortion care starts with education

Global partners unite to strengthen collaboration and build a skilled, respectful rights-based health workforce

22 September 2025
World Health Organization

As countries strive to improve access to quality family planning and comprehensive abortion care, competency-based education for key health care providers is emerging as a critical strategy to ensure they are not only knowledgeable, but also practically equipped to deliver respectful, women-centered, rights-based care to everyone, everywhere.

Why competency matters
A recent three-day convening brought together midwives, obstetrician-gynaecologists, civil society representatives, and global health experts from six countries – Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Nepal, and Sierra Leone for the first high-level meeting of the Collaborate for Women, Abortion and Contraception Care Together (C4W ACCT) initiative.

Continued: https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/transforming-abortion-care-starts-with-education

22.09.2025