Susheela Singh (Scholar Emerita) urges Ecuador’s Constitutional Court to decriminalize abortion, citing evidence that restrictive laws lead to unsafe procedures, higher maternal deaths and costly complications, while legal access would save lives and reduce health care costs.
Abortion is health care, not a crime - Ecuador
Transcript: The Constitutional Court of Ecuador must consider scientific evidence in favor of decriminalizing abortion to protect the lives of women and girls.
My name is Susheela Singh, Scholar Emerita at the Guttmacher Institute and I contributed an amicus brief to the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court in a historic case that seeks to decriminalize abortion.
Abortion is a common occurrence across the globe, including in Ecuador. Abortions are very safe when performed according to WHO guidelines, but they tend to be less safe when laws are restrictive. Millions of women around the world experience complications from unsafe, clandestine abortions.
In Ecuador, we estimate that medical care for these complications cost US$3 million in 2019 and this is only for the women who were able to get treatment. If abortions were legal and safe, women, families and health budgets would benefit from a dramatic reduction in maternal deaths and post-abortion care costs.
Judges must recognize this reality and rule in favor of decriminalizing abortion.