Questions about abortion
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What Is Abortion?
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy, either spontaneously (when it occurs without any intervention or procedure, also known as miscarriage) or induced (the intentional termination of an intrauterine pregnancy through a medical or surgical procedure). It is a medical procedure that forms part of the right to health of women and other people with the capacity to gestate—the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified comprehensive abortion care as an essential health service.
- economic marginalization,
- lack of access to reproductive health information, and/or
- contexts of social inequality.
The issue of abortion is also a matter of reproductive justice, insofar as it requires recognizing the structural factors—social, political, and economic—that condition people’s ability to exercise control over their reproductive lives.
From a human rights perspective, it is necessary to guarantee access to quality health services, including abortion procedures, for women and other pregnant people. For this to be a reality, abortion must no longer be regulated in criminal codes; instead, it should be addressed exclusively through health regulations and public policy. This would ensure the provision of information on the subject and the issuance of guidelines that guarantee comprehensive, safe, and high-quality care. Until this is a reality, both the physical health of women and other pregnant people, as well as their social and psychological well-being, remain at risk.
Abortion is an event that can occur in the reproductive lives of women and other people with the capacity to gestate. For this reason, health services must provide timely, non-discriminatory care to those who decide to terminate a pregnancy.
