At a time when the world’s attention is fixed on the 80th United Nations General Assembly and the upcoming International Safe Abortion Day on September 28, 2025, the debate over abortion rights is reaching new levels of complexity and urgency. The issue now spans not only the deeply personal realm of bodily autonomy and health but also the intricate legal battlegrounds between states and nations. From the halls of the United Nations to the courtrooms of New York, the fight over abortion rights and access to safe abortion care is shaping up to be one of the defining human rights struggles of our era.
During the SHE & Rights Anniversary Special session, held in anticipation of Contraception Day and Safe Abortion Day, Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right To Health, delivered a powerful opening address. She stated, “Sexual and reproductive health rights are an integral element of the right to health. Yet we know when we are speaking specifically about abortion care, that obstacles exist. They are interrelated and entrenched and operate at different levels in clinical care, at the level of health systems and in the underlying determinants of health. Abortion is health care. Access to abortion is a human rights issue. Full stop.” According to CNS (Citizen News Service), Dr Mofokeng’s remarks set the tone for a session focused on the theme “Abortion rights are human rights,” hosted by a coalition of global health and rights organizations.
The urgency of the moment was underscored by Kelcey Armstrong-Walenczak, Senior Advocacy Manager at the Global Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion (CeHDI). Armstrong-Walenczak pointed out that international law, as recognized in the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, obligates states to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to health. “Safe abortion care sits squarely within this framework. Without it, the right to health cannot be fully realised,” she explained. Armstrong-Walenczak emphasized that these are not optional or negotiable points, but legal obligations. She warned of a “rise of regressive policies that are rolling back hard-won rights” and the increasing politicization of health issues, which, she said, “cost lives” and “deepen inequalities.”
These global calls for action are not just theoretical. They echo the lived experiences and hard-fought victories of activists on the ground. Dr Mabel Bianco, a pioneering physician and founding president of FEIM (Foundation for Studies and Research on Women) in Argentina, recounted the history of Safe Abortion Day, which was first observed on September 28, 1990, as a day for united advocacy for decriminalizing abortion and improving access to safe abortion services. “Not giving safe abortion rights is State’s violation of women’s rights,” Dr Bianco asserted, highlighting the direct link between restrictive abortion laws and high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity.
Dr Bianco’s advocacy, according to CNS, has spanned decades. She recalled the resistance faced from powerful institutions, particularly the Church, and the painstaking efforts required to build a scientific evidence base linking restrictive laws to poor health outcomes. “It was necessary to push the medical doctors and researchers to generate robust scientific evidence base to demonstrate the association between these restrictive laws that criminalise abortion or other sexual and reproductive health services with high rates of maternal mortality,” she said.
The struggle for recognition of reproductive and sexual health rights at major international conferences, such as the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994 and the Fourth UN World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, marked significant milestones. Yet, as Dr Bianco noted, “Despite important recognitions of reproductive and sexual health and rights back then, we are still fighting to change laws to decriminalise safe abortion rights and make it a reality for all women.”
Argentina’s experience is a case in point. After years of advocacy and setbacks—including a failed attempt to pass a safe abortion law in 2018, which was rejected by the Senate largely due to opposition from the Church—Argentina finally passed a landmark safe abortion law in 2020. Dr Bianco celebrated the advent of medical abortion pills, which, as she put it, allow women to “decide when, where and how to get a safe abortion,” ideally within the first 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy. She stressed the importance of comprehensive sexuality education for children and adolescents, and the ongoing need to fight for bodily autonomy and women’s agency.
“No more anyone should die or suffer sexual and gender-based violence. No more femicides. Not having legal and safe abortion rights for all is also a form of violence, it violates the human rights of women and specifically young women,” she declared. Dr Bianco’s words resonate with activists worldwide, as the battle for safe abortion rights continues to rage, especially in regions where restrictive laws persist and opposition remains fierce.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the abortion rights debate has taken on a new and contentious legal dimension. According to The New York Times, America’s battle over abortion has “entered an intense phase of legal maneuvering over a deeply fraught issue of states’ rights: Whether states must honor one another’s abortion laws.” At the heart of this conflict are abortion shield laws, adopted by at least eight states that support abortion rights. These laws protect healthcare providers who prescribe abortion pills by telemedicine and send them to patients in states where abortion is banned. Officials in these shield-law states are barred from cooperating with subpoenas, extradition requests, or other legal actions initiated by states with bans—a sharp break from traditional interstate legal cooperation.
The stakes are high, with more than 100,000 patients each year reportedly receiving abortion pills from providers in shield-law states. States with abortion bans, frustrated by their inability to stop this practice, have begun searching for ways to challenge or circumvent the shield laws. The conflict is now poised for a major constitutional showdown in a New York court, a case that could ultimately land before the U.S. Supreme Court.
On September 8, 2025, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced her intervention in a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The suit, which originated in December 2024, targets a New York doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills to a patient in Texas. Paxton’s legal argument is that New York’s abortion shield law constitutes a “policy of hostility to the public acts/statutes of a sister state” and violates the Constitution’s Full Faith and Credit Clause, which generally requires states to respect each other’s laws.
This case is about more than just legal technicalities—it’s about whether states that support abortion rights can protect their residents and healthcare providers from the reach of states with abortion bans. The outcome could reshape the landscape of reproductive rights and interstate legal cooperation in the United States for years to come.
As the world marks Safe Abortion Day and global leaders gather to reaffirm their commitments to human rights, the stories from Argentina to New York serve as a stark reminder: the fight for safe, legal, and accessible abortion care is far from over. It is a battle being waged in courtrooms, legislatures, clinics, and communities around the world—one that will define the future of health, autonomy, and justice for generations to come.
