Calculate the health and economic impacts of expanding access to safe abortion care across 117 low- and middle-income countries. This interactive tool can be used by advocates and policymakers to build the case for investing in safe abortion care.
Global Abortion
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Measuring Abortion Incidence and Unintended Pregnancy
The Guttmacher Institute has produced model-based estimates of unintended pregnancy and abortion incidence for 150 countries and territories worldwide. These estimates enable trend assessment at the country, regional and global level, complemented by country-level studies that generate context-specific data from individual countries.
Our research examines global, regional and subregional trends in rates of undesired births between 1975 and 2024, highlighting the contributions of abortion and contraception in enabling women to exercise reproductive agency.
View detailed estimates of unintended pregnancy and abortion over time for 150 individual countries and territories.
Calculate the health and economic impacts of expanding access to safe abortion care across 117 low- and middle-income countries. The calculator estimates the cost to provide safe abortions, along with the number of women in need of postabortion care and the cost to provide it, for a given percentage of abortions provided through safe abortion care in a selected country or region.
Our country-level resources examine abortion incidence, postabortion care and related issues within specific national contexts.
Key Global Abortion Issues
The following highlights some of the significant abortion issues shaping the global landscape, including medication abortion, abortion in humanitarian contexts, the global gag rule, abortion safety, postabortion care and abortion policy.
Guttmacher partners with local institutions to conduct country-level studies on the quality of and access to comprehensive abortion care, offering nuanced, context-specific insights.
Medication abortion is a method of terminating pregnancies as an alternative to surgical procedures. We produce data on medication abortion with in-country partners, including analysis of local restrictions and barriers to access.
This body of work examines how knowledge, perceptions, social norms and self‑efficacy shape women’s access to safe abortion care in marginalized or low-resource settings.
The “global gag rule,” also known as the Mexico City Policy, is a US policy that has been implemented under Republican presidents since 1984. It generally prohibits international nonprofit organizations receiving US foreign assistance from providing, counseling on or advocating for abortion services—even with their own, non-US funds.
In 2026, the Trump administration expanded the policy, extending its reach to include activities related to gender equity and those that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. It also broadened the scope of the policy beyond global health to apply to most non-military foreign assistance, including humanitarian and development programs such as food aid, education, and water and sanitation. The updated policy further expands its reach to include certain US-based organizations and may affect foreign governments receiving US assistance.
Our experts monitor the ongoing developments of this policy and its effects on global sexual and reproductive health, including abortion rights and access.
Safe abortions are those that follow the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines and standards. WHO defines an unsafe abortion as a pregnancy that is terminated “either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards, or both.”
Our resources explore the incidence, methods and access to safe abortion care in a range of countries.
As defined by the World Health Organization, postabortion care is the “provision of services after an abortion, such as contraceptive services and linkage to other needed services in the community or beyond. It can also include management of complications after an abortion.”
Our research examines the availability and methods of postabortion care.
How Laws Shape Abortion Access
Abortion laws vary widely across countries, with profound implications for access, safety and reproductive rights. Tracking legal changes over time helps illuminate trends and inform policy and advocacy efforts. Below is a selection of Guttmacher's research on abortion laws and policy, from global trends to country-level cases.
Explore Guttmacher’s Global Abortion Resources
The Guttmacher Institute conducts global research on abortion and offers peer-reviewed studies, policy analyses and tools to assess the impact of investing in safe abortion care.