Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Editorial
. 2020 Mar 17;19(1):39.
doi: 10.1186/s12939-020-1157-1.

Reproductive health and the politics of abortion

Astrid Blystad  1   2 , Haldis Haukanes  3 , Getnet Tadele  4 , Karen Marie Moland  5   6
Affiliations
Editorial

Reproductive health and the politics of abortion

Astrid Blystad et al. Int J Equity Health. .

Abstract

This editorial provides an overview of a thematic series that brings attention to the persistently deficient and unequal access to sexual and reproductive health services for young women in sub-Saharan Africa. It represents an effort to analyze the multifaceted relationship between laws, policies and access to services in Ethiopia, Zambia and Tanzania. Using a comparative perspective and qualitative research methodology, the papers presented in this issue explore legal, political and social factors and circumstances that condition access to sexual and reproductive health services within and across the three countries. Through these examples we show the often inconsistent and even paradoxical relationship between the formal law and practices on the ground. Particular emphasis is placed on safe abortion services as an intensely politicized issue in global sexual and reproductive health. In addition to the presentation of the individual papers, this editorial comments on the global politics of abortion which represents a critical context for the regional and local developments in sexual and reproductive health policy and care provision in general, and for the contentious issue of abortion in particular.

Keywords: Abortion law and policy; Contraception; Ethiopia; Sexual and reproductive health; Sub-Saharan Africa; Tanzania; Youth; Zambia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

References

    1. Graff A, Kapur R, Walters S. Introduction: gender and the rise of the global right. J Women Culture Soc. 2019;44(3):541–560. doi: 10.1086/701152. - DOI
    1. Paternotte D, Kuhar R. Disentangling and locating the “global right”: anti-gender campaigns in Europe politics and. Governance. 2018;6(3):6–19.
    1. Redden M. Trump expands policy that bans US aid for overseas abortion providers the Guardian. 2017.
    1. Moland K, Haukanes H, Tadelle G, Blystad A. The paradox of access – abortion law, policy and misoprostol Tidsskrift for den norske legeforening (Norwegian). J Norwegian Med Assoc. 2018(2). - PubMed
    1. Brooks N, Bendavid E, Miller G. USA aid policy and induced abortion in sub-Saharan Africa: an analysis of the Mexico City policy. Lancet Global Health. 2019. - PubMed

Publication types