“Explore legal barriers to accessing self-managed abortion in 35 countries and select U.S. states with this new online tool. Medications like misoprostol and mifepristone offer people a safe, private, and effective way to self-manage their abortion outside a clinical setting during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. And recently, the World Health Organization recognized self-managed abortion as a critical way to promote autonomy, privacy, and decision-making in sexual and reproductive health. Yet, legal and policy barriers that prevent people from accessing self-managed care persist in countries around the world.

In a new online tool, Self-Managed Abortion: The Global Legal Landscape, the Center for Reproductive Rights is mapping and analyzing the laws and policies that impact whether and how people can self-manage their abortions in 35 countries and four U.S. states. This resource offers users a better understanding of the barriers blocking access to self-managed abortion, as well as a roadmap for shaping laws and practices that support reproductive autonomy and expand access to self-managed abortion care.  Although supportive policies for self-managed care exist, the analysis shows that even in places with supportive abortion laws, numerous barriers undermine people’s ability to legally self-manage abortion.

To learn more about the legal and policy barriers to self-managed abortion and how they impact access globally, explore the new resource here.  With the resource, you can click through the analysis country-by-country, by region, or by metric. A companion to the Center’s World Abortion Laws Map, this new resource offers a deeper dive into the laws that shape access to safe self-managed abortion care.