Making the case:

Supporting access to safe abortion at

CARE

Jesse, Jodi, Mary, Madhu, Chris, Christina, CARE Aus, CARE Norway, CARE Tanzania…

Health Equity Unit meeting

April 2013

Sensitive issues have Intellectual and

emotional aspects

1. Handle a few common intellectual

objections to taking on safe abortion

2. Explore a few of our

beliefs, attitudes, assumptions that

underlie our opinions of safe abortion–

tension or alignment with CARE’s

commitments?

January 31, 2014

1

A short list of objections

• There’s no need

• It’s illegal

• Donor’s won’t fund it

• It’s not CARE’s niche

January 31, 2014

2

“There‟s no need”

• Universal phenomenon: Documented through recorded

through history, occurs in all countries, across

class, culture, married and unmarried women, from young

to old

• Globally, unsafe abortion accounts for 13% of all

maternal deaths and leaves 5 million women with

permanent or temporary disability, including infertility.

• UNSAFE versus SAFE abortion: safe abortion is safe.

The US death rate from safe abortion is .6/100,000

procedures, the same as shot of penicillin: 98% of

abortion-related death occurs in the developing worldJanuary 31, 2014

3

“There‟s no need” (2)

Wanted pregnancy:

• Pregnancy threatens the life or health of a woman

• Fetus has abnormalities

Unwanted pregnancy:

• Lack of access to family planning

• Contraceptive method failure

• Rape or coercion

• Pregnancy is not supported by partner, family, community

• Personal reasons

January 31, 2014

4

“It‟s „illegal.”

Safeabortion permitted

Woman’s life

Physical health

Mental health

Rape or incest

Fetal impair

Econ/ social

On request

Number of countries

189 130 125 94 88 66 55

Percent of world’s population

99 78 75 72 64 61 40

Only 5 countries ban abortion entirely: Chile, El Salvador,

Nicaragua, Malta and the Holy See

Grounds on which abortion is legally permitted, 2007, 194

countries:

“It‟s illegal” (2)

• International human rights instruments uphold a

women‟s right to safe abortion:

• Right to life, right to health, right to equality, right to self-

determination, right to freedom from torture and cruelty, right to the

benefits of scientific progress

• Abortion law reform expanded over the last 15+ years: 26

countries have removed restrictions– Benin, Burkina

Faso, Cambodia, Chad, Colombia, Ethiopia, Niger, Mali,

Nepal…

January 31, 2014

6

“Donors won‟t fund it”

Donors ≠ US government

Confusion and chilling effect of restrictive US policies

Global gag rule (Mexico City Policy) only applies to non-US

NGOs use of their own funding, and is not in force now;

Helms Amendment does apply to US organizations, but not to

funds that organizations receives from other sources, and not to

abortion services in the case of rape, incest or life of the woman

Private foundations DO fund safe abortion

Other bi-lateral donors DO fund comprehensive SRH

services, including safe abortion

January 31, 2014

7

“It‟s not CARE‟s niche”

• No, it‟s not our niche

BUT

• Safe abortion rights are highly

politicized, contested rights and

denial of those rights harms women

• We are a global, interdependent CARE

that has committed to putting the

needs and rights of poor women and

girls at the center of our work

• We can create a space to advance

these rights

January 31, 2014

8