The “Abortion Rights: A Global Human Rights Imperative” session, celebrating the first anniversary of the SHE & Rights initiative, brought together diverse voices ahead of key international events like the 80th United Nations General Assembly.
The central message woven throughout the session was that abortion rights are human rights, an essential component of sexual and reproductive health and deeply intertwined with bodily autonomy, freedom, and gender equality.
Speakers at the session unequivocally asserted that abortion is healthcare and access to it is a human rights issue. Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, emphasized that safe abortions save lives and are critical for reproductive autonomy and bodily integrity.
Discriminatory practices and laws not only violate the rights of women and people needing abortions but also worsen health inequalities. Kelcey Armstrong-Walenczak of the Global Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion (CeHDI) clarified that the right to health, enshrined in international law, obligates states to “respect, protect, and fulfill” health services, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare.
This means removing legal barriers, safeguarding individuals from discrimination, and actively ensuring services are available, accessible, acceptable, and of good quality. Safe abortion care fits directly into this framework.
Global Challenges and Coordinated Pushbacks
Despite these clear mandates, the global health landscape is challenging, marked by regressive policies, a retreat from multilateralism, politicization of health issues, and anti-science rhetoric. Tomoko Fukuda of IPPF noted that opposition to gender equality and human rights is growing stronger and more organized.
In Africa, Nelly Munyasia of Reproductive Health Network Kenya highlighted that despite regional and international treaties like the legally binding Maputo Protocol, governments often fail to implement commitments fully.
Anti-rights and anti-gender groups, often using “religious” or “culture” as justifications, are actively infiltrating political spaces, technical working groups, and even the judiciary to restrict abortion rights. These groups also conduct surveillance on providers and organizations, contributing to widespread stigma that prevents women from accessing services and instills fear in healthcare providers.
Dr. Mabel Bianco, a physician activist from Argentina, recounted the historical struggle in Latin America, where the Catholic Church actively opposed sexual and reproductive health. She noted that restrictive laws in the past led to high maternal mortality and morbidity rates. She also observed a recent backlash in Argentina, with the elimination of Ministries for women, gender, and diversity, leading to declining funding despite progressive laws.
Dr. Suchitra Dalvie of Asia Safe Abortion Partnership connected these challenges to deeper systemic issues like patriarchy, capitalism, colonization, rising fascism, ableism, and cisgender heteronormativity hegemony. She pointed out that many Asian countries, once colonized, still operate under obsolete penal codes that criminalize abortion, even as colonizing nations have advanced their own laws. She also highlighted the rise of pronatalism driven by market forces and capitalist structures, pressuring people to have more children for labor.
The Power of Advocacy and Intersectional Approaches
The sources underscore that ensuring safe abortion rights is a multigenerational advocacy effort. Dr. Bianco shared the success of establishing September 28th as Safe Abortion Day in 1990 to advocate for decriminalization and access to safe services.
Argentina, after a long struggle, finally passed a safe abortion law in 2020, demonstrating the power of persistent activism. Key advocacy demands include comprehensive sexuality education, women’s right to decide, access to a full range of sexual and reproductive health services, and safe abortion laws to prevent maternal deaths.
A significant development highlighted by Nelly Munyasia is the domestication of WHO guidelines in Kenya to develop reproductive health self-care guidelines, empowering women with autonomy to manage safe abortions at home, reducing costs and increasing agency.
Similarly, Dr. Bianco hailed medical abortion as a great feminist success, allowing women to decide “when, where and how” to have a safe abortion in early pregnancy.
Shobha Shukla, coordinator of SHE & Rights, emphasized the enduring legacy and resilience of the feminist movement in fighting for rights. She noted that despite historical progress, there are “UNKEPT promises” and a growing need for sustained media engagement on gender equality and human rights to health. The SHE & Rights Media Initiative was launched to address this, and the 2nd Edition of SHE & Rights Media Awards 2025 was announced to further encourage reporting.
The speakers collectively stressed the need for a united, intersectional, intergenerational, and cross-movement solidarity to counter the coordinated backlash against reproductive rights. Dr. Suchitra Dalvie powerfully quoted Audre Lorde, stating, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives,” advocating for contextualizing the fight for safe abortion rights within broader intersectional realities like poverty, disability, and violence. She also called for moving beyond mere “choice and rights” to a framework of reproductive justice, demanding equity and ensuring freedom from coercion and violence in bodily decisions.
The overarching call is for governments to be held accountable for their commitments to gender equality and the human right to health, making abortion, including self-care, safe, legal, available, accessible, and affordable by eliminating all restrictive and criminalizing laws. This is not a request but a demand for a fundamental right, crucial for advancing equity, dignity, and justice for all, especially marginalized groups.
