Statement on Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision


ACCESS Health International believes in the right to access high-quality healthcare for all people to live healthy and productive lives. Restricting access to safe and legal abortion services significantly jeopardizes a person’s physical and mental health.

In the US, a 1973 court ruling Roe v. Wade made access to safe and legal abortion a constitutional right for all American women. That life-saving right has now been stripped. The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will have a profoundly negative effect on women and their families in the US, and widespread public health consequences. Over decades, researchers have found that restrictive abortion laws do not result in fewer abortions. Instead, such laws will only serve to increase rates of unsafe abortions. Banning abortion in the U.S. will likely lead to a 21% increase in pregnancy-related deaths. 

US policy yields influence well beyond their geographic borders and overturning Roe v. Wade has obliterated decades of progress towards safe and accessible reproductive health services for women globally. Denying any person safe abortion care keeps people and families in poverty and creates barriers to the workplace and pursuing higher education.