GLOBAL ABORTION FACTS AT A GLANCE

^{Abstracted from Guttmacher Institute’s Induced Abortion Worldwide 2022 Fact Sheet}

Global Abortion Data

• Approximately 3 in 10 pregnancies globally end in induced abortion (WHO 2024).
• 60% of the world’s population live where abortion is broadly legal; 40% live under restrictive laws (CRR 2022a).
• Legal restrictions do not decrease abortion rates, but make abortions much less safe, and many global organizations have called for decriminalization (FIGO 2022, WHO 2022).
• Many people are denied abortion even where it is legal (ANSIRH).

Contraceptive Use

• Globally, about half of all people capable of pregnancy want to avoid a pregnancy; of these, about 75% are using contraceptives (UN 2022).
• A greater proportion of people in non-industrialized countries have an unmet need for contraception, leaving many at risk for pregnancy (Guttmacher 2020).
• Reducing the unmet need for modern contraception globally can decrease rates of maternal and infant mortality (Guttmacher 2017).

Safety Of Abortion

• Abortions are safer where laws are less restrictive and also in countries with higher gross national incomes (Guttmacher 2022).
• Unsafe abortion is considered as either a) a procedural abortion performed by a person lacking the necessary information or skills or b) one that occurs in an environment not conforming to minimal health standards,  c) both (WHO 2024).
• Stigma is a recognized contributor to maternal morbidity and mortality from unsafe abortion, even where abortion is legal (Seewald 2019).
• There are ~39,000 deaths per year from unsafe abortions (WHO 2021), which equates to 5-13% of maternal deaths worldwide. This is likely an underestimate.

World’s Abortion Laws

• In 1994, 179 countries signaled their commitment to prevent unsafe abortions and reduce pregnancy-related mortality by signing the first international consensus document recognizing reproductive rights as human rights (CRR 2020).
• The last 25 years have seen an overwhelming global trend toward the liberalization of abortion laws, with nearly 50 countries worldwide enacting laws expanding legality and only 4 rolling back legality (CRR 2020).
• Abortion legality by country is summarized in the map below.
• Abortion rates tend to be higher in countries that restrict abortion access than those that do not (Bearak 2020).

The World’s Abortion Laws