Celebrating Women's Lives Becoming Safer

January 22, 2007

Washington, DC, January 22, 2007 – Today marks the 34th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing women’s right to safe abortion in the United States. While the debate about the right to abortion continues to rage on here in the U.S., a number of countries are recognizing that access to safe abortion can save women’s lives. PAI hails these efforts and urges more countries to consider taking such life-saving actions.

Last May, a decision by the highest court in Colombia – where all abortions had previously been banned – legalized abortion in cases of rape or when the health of the woman or the fetus is in danger. In July, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health began allowing abortion in cases where the health of the woman or fetus is in danger, in cases of rape or incest, and in cases where a woman is physically unable to raise a child due to age or mental or physical disability. And Great Britain created the Global Safe Abortion Fund (now called the Safe Abortion Action Fund) offering NGOs grants for safe abortion advocacy, service provision or research - to help stem the damage done by the U.S.’s Global Gag Rule, which prohibits U.S. funding of any group that provides abortion services, counseling or referral.

And on February 11, Portugal will be holding a referendum on whether to decriminalize abortion; current law states that women can be jailed for up to three years for seeking an illegal abortion. With between 20,000 and 40,000 Portuguese women obtaining clandestine abortions every year, the passing of this referendum could drastically decrease the number of hospitalizations and deaths that result from septic or incomplete abortion.

Tragically, last year also witnessed the passage of Nicaragua’s total ban on abortion and the beginning of debates in the Polish Parliament to pass a constitutional amendment banning abortion. Draconian laws like these only serve to put women at an even higher risk of maternal mortality.

Complications from unsafe abortion account for approximately 70,000 deaths a year. PAI urges governments to expand access to safe and legal abortions to women who need them and comprehensive sex education, contraceptives and counseling to all women and men in a real effort to make abortions more rare.

Saving women's lives depends on it.

Population Action International (PAI) works to improve individual well-being and preserve global resources by mobilizing political and financial support for population, family planning and reproductive health policies and programs.