Unsafe illegal abortions are killing poor women in Latin America and the Caribbean. Will this be the fate of women in the U.S.?

September 28 is the Day for the Decriminalization of Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean, established in 1990 at the Fifth Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Meeting.

September 28, 2004 is still a day when poor women continue to die from unsafe illegal abortions. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, millions of abortions are performed every year, most of them under unsafe, clandestine conditions. Although many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean permit abortion under a limited set of circumstances, complications from unsafe abortion still account for nearly one-third of all maternal deaths in the region. Ensuring women's access to safe and legal abortion will save the lives of 5,000 women every year, most of whom are poor, adolescents, or mothers of three children or more.

These women are among the 220 million people living in poverty in the region.  Alleviating poverty and increasing access to safe abortion services where they are legal are primary actions stipulated during the Cairo Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the Beijing Women's Conference and ratified by all governments in the region, including the U.S. government.

However, in Latin American and Caribbean countries and in the U. S., even when abortion is legally permitted, safe abortion services may often be inaccessible, especially for women who are poor, young, or live in rural areas. We join millions of women from Latin America and around the globe to demand women's right to decide for themselves, to call upon societies to respect their decision, and to urge governments to guarantee safe and legal abortion services for all women who need them.

Adapted from a joint statement by the International Women's Health Coalition (IWHC), Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC), Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), Family Care International (FCI), Ipas, and International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR), September 28, 2004.

More about the regional campaigns and networks IWHC supports in Latin America>>