When the International Conference on Population and Development met in Cairo in 1994, it was one of the first times the global community formally recognized that reproductive health is inextricably linked to human rights and well-being. Medical organizations had already lobbied for the inclusion of postabortion care and family planning into global health systems. The new paradigm became that women—and those assigned female at birth—deserve personal autonomy to determine if and under what circumstances they become sexually active, or become parents. 

Reproductive rights became a principal component of gender equality and was integrated into all policies at the United Nations. This paper describes the historical context of how it happened and the legal principles of reproductive rights across different contexts. Others have argued that countries promoting sexual and reproductive rights for all result in greater peace and societal thriving and should be integrated into national and foreign policies. 

Almost half of all pregnancies are unintended and approximately 60% of these pregnancies end in abortion, according to the World Health Organization and Guttmacher Institute. The United States is one of very few countries (like Poland, El Salvador, and Nicaragua) to reverse gains in reproductive rights. Most countries in the world are liberalizing access to abortion according to The Center for Reproductive Rights. 

70,000 women die and 5 million suffer from temporary or permanent disability from unsafe abortion in low-income nations each year. First trimester uterine aspiration and medication abortion has a mortality rate of 0.1/100,000 where abortion is accessible, legal, and safe. This risk is far lower than the risk of dying from a full-term pregnancy.

Despite the commonality of pregnancy loss via miscarriage or abortion, it is considered a polarizing topic by many and the silence has contributed to misinformation and trauma from these experiences. While one pregnancy loss occurs spontaneously (miscarriage) and the other is induced (abortion), the clinical management of both in the first trimester of pregnancy is almost identical. Laws or lack of adequate health services restricting access to abortion will impact the treatment of those having miscarriages. More information about the treatment of miscarriage and abortion is available at the Reproductive Health Access Project.

Activist organizations and academic institutions have a history of sharing evidence-based information to help those with unwanted pregnancies get access to abortion, regardless of the laws. Indeed, innovations in telehealth, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and expansions in the provider pool of those conducting miscarriage treatments and abortions, have improved access to quality pregnancy loss care. Advancements like these bring us closer to a world where everyone has the safe, competent, and compassionate sexual and reproductive health care they deserve. 

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