Abortion Access Today: Global Insights and Comparisons
Buffett Symposium
While dozens of countries have liberalized laws governing access to abortion over the past quarter-century, a handful of nations have reversed course, including the U.S. Today, two in five women of reproductive age live in countries with restrictive abortion laws, and even in countries where abortion is broadly legal, access varies dramatically based on individual circumstances.
Where is abortion access heading globally, and what factors are influencing trajectories in different regions? What can we learn from the strategies making significant impacts in different global contexts? When and how has abortion—a very private issue—become a matter of foreign policy?
Our 2024–25 fall quarter Buffett Symposium convened leading strategists, researchers, medical practitioners and human rights advocates from Colombia, Ireland, Kenya, Poland and the U.S. to discuss abortion access around the world. These leaders explored the dynamics behind increased liberalization and ongoing challenges to access, offering insights on movements for and in opposition to safe and legal abortion. Read below the video to learn more about the panel discussions and featured speakers.
00:06:28 - Global Restrictions in Abortion Access
- In recent decades, only four countries have restricted or reversed the legality of abortion: El Salvador, Nicaragua, Poland and the U.S. The panelists who joined us to discuss these outliers in global trends toward liberalization are Krystyna Kacpura, President of the Foundation for Women and Family Planning (FEDERA) in Poland; Katherine Mayall, Director of Strategic Initiatives within the Legal Strategies, Innovation & Research unit of the Center for Reproductive Rights; Caitlin Bernard, Assistant Professor of Clinical Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Indiana University School of Medicine and one of only two physicians still performing abortions in Indiana; and moderator Katie Watson, Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
01:37:20 - Global Expansions in Abortion Access
- Five dozen countries have liberalized their abortion laws in recent decades, representing notable victories of activists in nearly every continent. The panelists who joined us to discuss their strategies and the variations in access that remain were Catalina Martinez, Vice President of the Latin America & the Caribbean unit of the Center for Reproductive Rights; Evelyne Opondo, Director of the International Center for Research on Women's Africa offices; Camilla Fitzsimons, Associate Professor of Adult and Community Education at Maynooth University in Ireland and author of Repealed: Ireland's Unfinished Fight for Reproductive Rights; and moderator Sarah Rodriguez, Associate Professor of Instruction at the Northwestern University Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences' Program in Global Health Studies.
03:04:54 - Global Trajectories of Abortion Access
- Panelists discussed the political, geopolitical, cultural and legal factors shaping divergent paths in abortion access and what they reveal about the underlying forces at play and future trajectories worldwide. Moderated by Deborah Cohen, Director of Northwestern University's Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and Richard W. Leopold Professor of History at the Northwestern University Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences.