WHO calls for removal of
all laws restricting abortion
WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 6 (C-Fam) The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the removal of any legal or policy norms that could impede access to abortion, at any stage of pregnancy and for any reason.
Building on its technical guidelines on "safe abortion" released earlier last year, WHO published a guidance document on establishing an "enabling legal and policy environment" for abortion.
The first recommendation is the complete decriminalization of abortion. In many countries, abortion is considered a criminal offence, with exceptions in specific circumstances, such as rape, threats to the health or life of the mother, or fetal complications. WHO is calling on countries to completely remove abortion from criminal law, including by ensuring that laws against manslaughter
or fetal endangerment are not used in abortion cases.
The WHO also discourages "ground-based approaches" in which abortion is legal in particular circumstances, and instead recommends that abortion "be available at the request of the woman, girl or other pregnant person." Gestational age limits are also discouraged, as is conscientious objection by health care providers, as they "impede access to abortion and negatively impact the enjoyment of human rights."
WHO also recommends not imposing waiting periods and authorization from a third party, or requiring approval from a group of doctors or a judge, parent or spouse before an abortion.
Countries are urged not to restrict "who can provide and manage abortion" in a way that is "inconsistent with WHO guidelines." The UN Health Agency's guidelines on abortion have continually expanded, encompassing doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists who prescribe abortion pills, and even pregnant women themselves under the name "self-care."
Not only are a wide range of health care providers considered by WHO to be capable of providing abortions, but they may be prohibited from saying no; The guidelines recommend that "comprehensive abortion care be protected from the obstacles created by conscientious objection.
Further affirming its commitment to ensuring that abortionists are not in short supply, WHO has released a two-part toolkit on family planning and training on "complete abortion" in health worker education. In addition to ensuring they acquire medical skills, the toolkit aims to ensure they have the "right" attitudes. One such aspect is "values clarification and attitudinal transformation," a term promoted by the abortion organization Ipas (www.ipas.org), which produces toolkits for breaking down health workers' objections to abortion.
WHO is also seeking to firmly integrate abortion into more widely used health systems. The guidelines state that one of the potential barriers to access to abortion is "the inability to ensure sufficient funding for the provision of abortion care through public health systems" as well as "institutional-level policy that is more restrictive than the law." This could apply to both secular and religious hospitals and clinics, especially those operated by religious institutions that oppose abortion, such as Catholic providers that operate around the world and provide necessary care to many of the world's poorest people.
In its earlier guideline on abortion, published in March last year, the WHO recommended
"a complete ban on institutional demands of conscience."
In all of this, WHO continues to ignore the global consensus of 1994, where nations agreed that abortion is not a human right, and that the legal status of abortion belongs solely to national governments.
Building on its technical guidelines on "safe abortion" released earlier last year, WHO published a guidance document on establishing an "enabling legal and policy environment" for abortion.
The first recommendation is the complete decriminalization of abortion. In many countries, abortion is considered a criminal offence, with exceptions in specific circumstances, such as rape, threats to the health or life of the mother, or fetal complications. WHO is calling on countries to completely remove abortion from criminal law, including by ensuring that laws against manslaughter
or fetal endangerment are not used in abortion cases.
The WHO also discourages "ground-based approaches" in which abortion is legal in particular circumstances, and instead recommends that abortion "be available at the request of the woman, girl or other pregnant person." Gestational age limits are also discouraged, as is conscientious objection by health care providers, as they "impede access to abortion and negatively impact the enjoyment of human rights."
WHO also recommends not imposing waiting periods and authorization from a third party, or requiring approval from a group of doctors or a judge, parent or spouse before an abortion.
Countries are urged not to restrict "who can provide and manage abortion" in a way that is "inconsistent with WHO guidelines." The UN Health Agency's guidelines on abortion have continually expanded, encompassing doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists who prescribe abortion pills, and even pregnant women themselves under the name "self-care."
Not only are a wide range of health care providers considered by WHO to be capable of providing abortions, but they may be prohibited from saying no; The guidelines recommend that "comprehensive abortion care be protected from the obstacles created by conscientious objection.
Further affirming its commitment to ensuring that abortionists are not in short supply, WHO has released a two-part toolkit on family planning and training on "complete abortion" in health worker education. In addition to ensuring they acquire medical skills, the toolkit aims to ensure they have the "right" attitudes. One such aspect is "values clarification and attitudinal transformation," a term promoted by the abortion organization Ipas (www.ipas.org), which produces toolkits for breaking down health workers' objections to abortion.
WHO is also seeking to firmly integrate abortion into more widely used health systems. The guidelines state that one of the potential barriers to access to abortion is "the inability to ensure sufficient funding for the provision of abortion care through public health systems" as well as "institutional-level policy that is more restrictive than the law." This could apply to both secular and religious hospitals and clinics, especially those operated by religious institutions that oppose abortion, such as Catholic providers that operate around the world and provide necessary care to many of the world's poorest people.
In its earlier guideline on abortion, published in March last year, the WHO recommended
"a complete ban on institutional demands of conscience."
In all of this, WHO continues to ignore the global consensus of 1994, where nations agreed that abortion is not a human right, and that the legal status of abortion belongs solely to national governments.
