Every minute, around the world 190 women face an unplanned pregnancy, 40 women undergo unsafe abortions and one pregnant woman will die. Access to comprehensive family planning services — the focus of this year’s United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) World Population Day — could make these numbers a thing of the past.
“Now is the time to accelerate action to ensure that health services reach women in the communities in which they live,” said UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid in a statement. “When a woman can plan her family, she can plan the rest of her life.”
The ability to plan the number and spacing of children is an internationally recognized, fundamental human right. However, an estimated 200 million women — most living in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America — say they want to delay or prevent pregnancy but are unable to do so.
“It is ironic that the same groups that oppose abortion rarely step up and support better access to contraception,” said Ipas Executive Vice President Barbara Crane. “Ipas partners around the world are there to support women who voluntarily decide to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, but we are frustrated that so many women still lack access to basic contraceptive information and services and to the social support they need to effectively use contraceptives.”
Limited access to contraception leads to high rates of unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion — an estimated 19 million annually under dangerous conditions or by unskilled providers. Unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal mortality in many parts of the world — resulting in close to 67,000 deaths each year. These deaths are all the more tragic because they are preventable. Increased access to family planning means fewer unintended pregnancies, fewer abortions and, ultimately, fewer maternal deaths.
Use of modern contraceptives has increased significantly in the past 30 years. Even in under-developed regions, more than half of couples use modern contraceptive methods. Yet, extreme poverty and deep social inequalities between men and women make regulating fertility a considerable challenge. Government policies, cultural norms and partners’ decisions often have a greater effect on women’s use of contraception than their own personal preferences.
“The benefits of family planning remain out of reach for many, especially for those who often have the hardest time getting the information and services they need to plan their families, such as the poor, marginalized populations and young people,” said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a statement.
Maternal mortality rates are a stark indication of the profound disparities between rich and poor countries. The majority of the 536,000 maternal deaths that occur each year are in developing countries — however, in industrialized nations, where access to contraception and high-quality obstetric care is widespread, pregnancy-related deaths, including deaths from unsafe abortion, are rare. As part of its model of woman-centered, comprehensive abortion care, Ipas fully supports access to high-quality, voluntary family planning services — not only for its effects on unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion, but also because it ensures women are afforded the highest standard of health and human dignity.
Despite its potential to promote human rights and improve maternal health — Millennium Development Goal five — family planning has fallen behind as an international development priority.
“Urgent action is needed because the goal to improve maternal health is generating the least resources and lagging the furthest behind,” said Obaid. “Maternal death and disability could be reduced dramatically if every woman had access to health services throughout her life cycle, especially during pregnancy and childbirth.”
Meeting the need for comprehensive reproductive health care, including appropriate, effective family planning, could reduce maternal mortality by nearly 75 percent. Access to contraceptives also can significantly reduce infant mortality, empower women, slow population growth, ease pressure on the environment and break cycles of poverty.
However, a lack of high-level political and financial investment means that global population assistance is $550 million less than what is currently needed. Investment in family planning services is at a critical juncture, as demand is estimated to grow by 40 percent over the next 15 years.
“We call on all governments to ensure universal access to reproductive health by 2015 and to back up this promise with political commitment and financial investment,” said Obaid. “It is time to make reproductive health a priority.”
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