Abortion/Female Healthcare Legislation, Access, and Rights Around the World

A woman in Afghanistan is pregnant and can barely afford the blue burka that by law, must cover herself from head to toe. She does not have access to abortion. If and only if giving birth will end her life, is she legally permitted to receive such healthcare. A 15 year old girl in Honduras is raped by her uncle. She is not granted the same level of self autonomy as her friend in Afghanistan because even if giving birth means she is going to die, she is not allowed to choose her fate. If she decides to terminate her pregnancy illegally, she will face three to six years in prison. A woman in Florida has cancer, but at her last chemo session, she discovers she is seven weeks pregnant. This not only means an increased risk in fetal abnormalities and miscarriages, but also an increased risk in maternal mortality. Unfortunately for her, she lives in one of the 18 states in the US where getting an abortion (after six weeks) is outlawed.

  These three stories depict the very real realities of women all over the world, where their choice over what happens to their body is taken from them. Not only does this injustice deny women access to safe healthcare, but it also sets the dangerous notion that a woman’s body is not hers, and is instead up for political debate. Due to this unethical medical obstruction, global estimates suggest that 45% of all induced abortions are unsafe, performed using dangerous methods and by untrained people [2].

Abortion is not the only healthcare women across the world are denied. An estimated 500 million women and girls lack access to menstrual products and basic sanitation facilities globally. In the United States alone, approximately 16.9 million menstruating individuals experience period poverty or struggle to afford these supplies [5]. Between 10-36% of women in countries such as Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria do not have access to sanitary pads. When without such resources, women in Kenya rely on pieces of blanket, chicken feathers, old rags, newspapers, and mud, as if such materials are reasonable alternatives [7]. To make matters worse, Kenya is one of the 44 countries that ban abortions (only available in life and death scenarios). This means a pregnant woman in Kenya would be forced to birth her daughter into a world where “chicken feathers” are considered suitable healthcare resources for menstruation; the very cycle that enabled the pregnancy in the first place. The very cycle that enables mothers to be deprived of their choice to raise their daughters in a pandemic of women’s healthcare poverty.

Whether or not a woman lives in Kenya or France should not define the accessibility of their reproductive healthcare. Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to global ethical concerns regarding women's health and it is clear that something needs to be done.

Designed by: Elizabeth McBrayer

Reviewed by: Leya Edwards-Headen

References

[1] Abortion law: Global comparisons | council on foreign relations. (2024, March 7). Cfr.Org. https://www.cfr.org/articles/abortion-law-global-comparisons

[2] Abortion Rights - MSI reproductive choices. (2025, January 22). MSI Reproductive Choices. https://www.msichoices.org/what-we-do/abortion-rights/

[3] Center for reproductive rights. (2010). Kenya’s abortion provisions. Center for Reproductive Rights. https://reproductiverights.org/maps/provision/kenyas-abortion-provisions/

[4] Malleret, C. (2024, April 24). Honduras referred to UN human rights committee over total abortion ban. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/apr/24/honduras-referred-to-un-human-rights-committee-over-total-abortion-ban

[5] Sacca, L., Markham, C. M., Gupta, J., & Peskin, M. (2023). Editorial: Period poverty. Frontiers in Reproductive Health, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/frph.2023.1140981

[6] Sune Engel Rasmussen. (2019, March 4). “I am a criminal. What is my crime?”: The human toll of abortion in Afghanistan. The Guardian. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/apr/26/human-toll-abortion-afghanistan

[7] What is period poverty? (2021, September 16). Www.Medicalnewstoday.Com. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/period-poverty#in-the-global-south

[8] World’s abortion laws - center for reproductive rights. (2025, May 22). Center for Reproductive Rights. https://reproductiverights.org/maps/world-abortion-laws/