Global leaders call for end on abortion barriers

Belgium’s Prime Minister, Alexander de Croo, and five other government ministers from European countries have signed an open letter demanding an end to all legal barriers to abortion.

The letter has been signed by ministers from France, Canada, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands have raised their voices to support women’s right to safe and legal abortion.

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Along with other 29 politicians, the letter senders asked for re-introduction of legal abortion clinics, which, they believe, were being targeted by misinformation leading to closure.

"No woman should be forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term; and no woman should die due to pregnancy or childbirth. The foundation of a fair and equal world for women and girls in all their diversity is the right to decide about their own bodies. Every woman everywhere has the right to safe, legal abortion, maternal and obstetric healthcare, comprehensive sexuality education and contraception," the letter reads.

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It further highlights the problems that women are facing and the negative impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on women’s health.

"Right now, across the world, women and girls are routinely denied full access to their sexual and reproductive rights and freedoms. The disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly on women’s economic empowerment, and increased sexual and gender-based violence, makes the need to secure gender equality more pressing than ever," the letter explains.

They also stressed that the road to safe abortions is only if the anti-abortion campaigns are silenced by giving a legal nod to abortions all around the world.