title: Evidence supporting broader access to safe legal abortion.
abstract: Unsafe abortion continues to be a major cause of maternal death; it accounts for 14.5% of all maternal deaths globally and almost all of these deaths occur in countries with restrictive abortion laws. A strong body of accumulated evidence shows that the simple means to drastically reduce unsafe abortion-related maternal deaths and morbidity is to make abortion legal and institutional termination of pregnancy broadly accessible. Despite this evidence, abortion is denied even when the legal condition for abortion is met. The present article aims to contribute to a better understanding that one can be in favor of greater access to safe abortion services, while at the same time not be "in favor of abortion," by reviewing the evidence that indicates that criminalization of abortion only increases mortality and morbidity without decreasing the incidence of induced abortion, and that decriminalization rapidly reduces abortion-related mortality and does not increase abortion rates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, State University of Campinas, Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Center for Research in Reproductive Health, Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: afaundes@uol.com.br.
authors.forename: Anibal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Faúndes
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Iqbal H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Shah
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000941:ethics / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D000029:Abortion, Legal / Q000941:ethics / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008428:Maternal Mortality / Q000639:trends; D011247:Pregnancy
keywords: Abortion law; Abortion-related maternal mortality; Access to safe abortion; Prevention of induced abortion; Unsafe abortion