Policies Programme And Services For Comprehensive Abortion Care In South East Asia Region

Of the estimated 55.9 million abortions that occurred worldwide each year from 2010 to 2014, a large majority (about 49.3 million) were reported in developing countries as compared to 6.6 million in developed countries. An estimated 45% of all women worldwide who terminated a pregnancy had an unsafe abortion, translating to more than 25 million unsafe abortions per year. Unsafe abortion accounts for 8-11% of maternal deaths globally. Over the past decade, there have been major contextual changes globally. On the one hand, more countries have expanded the legal grounds for abortion. Medical abortion (MA) has revolutionized access to safe abortion by providing a non-invasive alternative to surgical methods of abortion, particularly in countries where abortion services are highly restrictive or not legal. On the other hand, some countries including the United States and several countries in the former Soviet Bloc or zone of influence with broadly liberal laws have added restrictions that hamper access to legal procedures, thereby restricting women's access to safe and legal abortion care. The overall objective of this exercise is to present an overview of the legal and policy context of abortions in the countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia (SEA) Region, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.