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It means that abortion is simply one of many health services that people should be able to access to ensure their physical and mental health. It means that abortion should not be separated from other health services, nor should it be regulated differently, stigmatised or difficult to access. It means that people must have access to trained providers and accurate information about abortion so that they do not resort to unsafe methods that put their health and lives at risk. And, thanks to the revolutionary medical breakthrough of abortion by pill, it means that people can safely manage an abortion with pills at home.
Everyone who can become pregnant has the right to determine their own future. Abortion is essential health care because so many people around the world need it every day, for reasons no one could list. This is because all people have the right to control their own reproductive lives, which involves ongoing decisions about: their sexual health and relationships, contraception and the freedom to have or not to have children.
People need abortions because of crises such as: natural disasters, conflicts and wars, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. And people need abortions no matter how legally restricted this medical care is, because the right to individual bodily autonomy cannot be governed by others.
But depending on where you live in the world, abortion access and care varies widely. In some countries, such as El Salvador and Honduras, abortion is completely banned and people are routinely prosecuted and imprisoned for seeking or providing this essential medical care. In the United States, access to abortion is a constitutional right, but that did not stop the state of Texas from recently enacting a near-total ban on abortion, and other states are likely to follow suit.
However, in much of the rest of the world, the encouraging trend is the expansion of access to abortion in recognition of the inalienable human right to bodily autonomy. In recent years, we have seen abortion rights expand in places like Ireland, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Thailand and Argentina. And the global movement for abortion access continues to grow. A surge in activism in Latin America, for example, resulted in Mexico's Supreme Court ruling this month that laws criminalising abortion are unconstitutional. In fact, since 1994, more than 40 countries have liberalised their abortion laws.
So on this International Day for Safe Abortion, and every day, we work hard to spread this truth to ensure that it becomes a reality: abortion is essential health care, it is a human right, and it is a crucial component of reproductive justice for all.