Project Syndicate: Normalizing Abortion
Françoise Girard, president of the International Women’s Health Coalition

“…Abortion is a safe procedure that becomes hazardous wherever it is legally restricted. … [C]ontrary to popular opinion, criminalization does not reduce the number of abortions; it only makes having one more dangerous. … [R]ights activists around the world are demanding changes to national abortion laws, and since 2000, more than 30 countries have liberalized their approach. … It is time for governments to listen to the millions of women who are demanding reproductive justice and bodily autonomy. Laws must recognize and guarantee a woman’s right to sexual and reproductive care. Services must be made financially and medically accessible. And women everywhere — regardless of age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation — must have access to safe abortion services…” (9/25).