The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) made a call on Wednesday in favor of the right to abortion, coinciding with the possibility that the Supreme Court of the United States questions it.
“Restricting access to abortion does not reduce the number of procedures, but rather leads women and girls to undergo unsafe procedures,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Twitter, without directly mentioning the United States.
“Access to safe abortions saves lives,” added the WHO chief.
In the United States, the Politico website revealed an internal document Monday that suggests a majority of Supreme Court justices are willing to bury the Roe v. Wade Act of 1973, which protects the right of American women to terminate their pregnancies.
The Supreme Court confirmed the authenticity of the text – a draft judgment dated February – but stressed that it did not represent a “final” decision.
Tedros said Wednesday on Twitter that “women should always have the right to choose when it comes to their bodies and their health.”
According to the WHO, unsafe abortions cause some 39,000 deaths worldwide each year and mean that millions of women are hospitalized for complications.
Most of these deaths are concentrated in low-income countries – more than 60% in Africa and 30% in Asia – and among the most vulnerable people.
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