Reproductive health and human rights

Reproductive health programs should adopt an approach based on human rights at the levels of clinical management as well as national policy, especially those programs responsible for abortion and post-abortion care. Resource-poor women face greater maternal mortality and morbidity, suffer continuous risk because of a lack of access to adequate reproductive health services, and are likelier than more affluent women to resort to unsafe, inaccessible, and/or unaffordable abortion services. The public health and medical communities are highly effective when providing safe abortion procedures and treatment in the event of complications. Efforts must be continued to develop strategies to prevent unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and abortion-related deaths; to treat abortion complications; to broaden the types of medical and health professionals who are allowed to perform abortions; and to enhance training for abortion providers. (C) 2003 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.