Sharing Responsibility: Women, Society and Abortion Worldwide

Whether and in what circumstances abortion should be legal is highly debated in many parts of the world, with arguments based on religious, moral, political, human rights and public health grounds. Given the emotionality of the debate, it is crucial to shed light on why, how many and under what conditions women around the world have abortions. With the best available information, individual countries and the international community can engage in a balanced discussion of how to both reduce the levels of unintended pregnancy that lead to abortion and deal with the sometimes deadly consequences of unsafe abortion for women in many of the world's poorest countries.