Abortion
- Guided by paragraph 8.25 of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action,
UNFPA does not support or promote abortion as a method of family
planning. It accords the highest priority and support to voluntary
family planning to prevent unwanted pregnancies so as to eliminate
recourse to abortion. UNFPA supports governments to strengthen their
national health systems to deal effectively with complications of unsafe
abortions, thereby saving women’s lives.
- UNFPA does not
promote changes to the legal status of abortion, which are
decision-making processes that are the sovereign preserve of countries.
But UNFPA opposes any form of coercive abortion and the discriminatory
practice of prenatal sex selection, in line with the consensus of the
1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development
(ICPD).
- Since some 13 per cent of maternal deaths are due to
unsafe abortion, its impact on women’s health, lives and well-being
should be addressed, as agreed at the Cairo Conference. Post-abortion
care should be provided. Where abortion is legal, national health
systems should make it safe and accessible, as agreed by United Nations
Members.
- Find more guidance on this subject in the UNFPA Issue Brief: Unsafe Abortion (https://portal.myunfpa.org/web/myunfpa/issue-briefs/-/wiki/Main/Unsafe+Abortion)
