Devex: Opinion: Time to put abortion top of the SRHR agenda
Anu Kumar, president and CEO of Ipas

“…Reducing the burden of unsafe abortion on women, their families, health care providers, and often fragile health care systems is a challenge — yet one that can be met. This is why Ipas — in partnership with the Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women, Center for Reproductive Rights, CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality, Marie Stopes International, Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice, SPECTRA, and Vecinas Feministas por la Justicia Sexual y Reproductiva de America Latina y el Caribe, a network of feminists working for sexual and reproductive justice in Latin America and the Caribbean — co-drafted the Global Declaration on Abortion. The declaration, signed by more than 350 organizations, calls for governments, United Nations agencies, civil society organizations, health providers, the private sector, and the donor community to follow these five recommendations: 1. Decriminalize … 2. Integrate … 3. Educate … 4. Promote equality … 5. Be inclusive … Abortion is health care. And health care is a human right. We will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals without making abortion safe, legal, available, accessible, and affordable. It is time the broader development community recognizes this…” (12/9).