The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) overturned ‘Roe v Wade’ on Friday, the 1973 landmark judgement that made abortion a constitutional right. (Photo: AP)
The decision has sparked a debate among women rights activists across the world, with India not being far behind, and with gender and reproductive health experts terming the new ruling as “regressive” and “conservative”. (Photo: AP)
Public health experts have said that reproductive rights not being a part of fundamental rights may lead to similar interpretations in different countries and it will lead to more unsafe and unregulated abortions worldwide. (Photo: AP)
According to the United Nations Population Fund, at least 45 per cent of all abortions across the world are unsafe and becoming one of the leading causes of maternal death. Since 1994, four nations, now including the US, have rolled back abortion rights. The US is by far the richest and most influential nation to do so. The other three nations to restrict abortion rights are Poland, El Salvador and Nicaragua. (Photo: AP)
According to a recent Lancet study, the abortion rate dropped by 43 per cent in the decades between 1990-1995 and 2015-2019 in settings where abortion is broadly legal, excluding China and India. In contrast, the abortion rate increased by about 12 per cent “in countries that highly restrict access to abortion." (Photo: AP) (With inputs from Neetu Chandra)