This map, from the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), spotlights abortion laws around the world. CRR found that about 40 percent of the global population lives in regions with "restrictive" abortion laws, while roughly 66 countries either ban abortion care entirely or permit it only when a woman's life is in danger.
While speaking with Refinery29, Katherine Mayall, global advocacy advisor at CRR, said despite these bans and other abortion restrictions, there also have been efforts in several countries to improve women's access to the procedure. For example, Mozambique in 2014 enacted a law allowing abortion care in the first trimester without restrictions.
Mayall said, "I think there is an increasing recognition that women's right to make decisions about their reproductive autonomy is central to their well-being and has serious implications for their ability to pursue education, economic opportunity, to raise their families, and to make decisions about their personal lives" (Fenton, Refinery29, 4/11).
