Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters Podcast22 Aug 2025

Global progress in abortion law reform since ICPD

In this episode of the SRHM Podcast, host Eszter Kismödi speaks with Katie Mayall, Laurenne Ajayi, and Caitlin Gruer—authors of the article Global progress in abortion law reform: a comparative legal analysis since the International Conference on Population and Development. Together, they unpack three decades of global shifts in abortion law, drawing on unique legal mapping by the Center for Reproductive Rights.

The conversation explores key findings, including the surge of countries adopting abortion on request in recent years, the influence of feminist and intersectional movements, and the role of courts and constitutions in shaping access. The guests also discuss regional patterns, from the momentum of Latin America’s “green wave” to restrictive backlashes in places like the US, Poland and Nicaragua.

As they highlight, while more than 825 million women of reproductive age now live in countries that have liberalised their laws since ICPD, one in four still live under highly restrictive regimes. The episode closes with a reflection on both the progress to celebrate and the urgent need for vigilance, coalition-building, and a vision of true reproductive autonomy where abortion is not only legal, but fully accessible as a human right.

Useful links:

Read the full paper: Global progress in abortion law reform: a comparative legal analysis since the International Conference on Population and Development (1994–2023) at srhmjournal.org.
See our call for papers on 'Ensuring access to abortion as a matter of rights, equity and justice' at srhm.org/call-for-papers

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(91)

Making rights real: Abortion access after legal reform in Benin

A conversation between Laura Ferguson, Ramatou Ouedraogo, Njeri Mbuthia, Jonna Both and Vanessa Sekpon. On Safe Abortion Day, 28 September, SRHM explores what happens after abortion rights are recogni...

28 Sep 47min

Building a Future HIV Response

If we designed the HIV response around the girls who need it most, what would we do differently?A conversation between Laura Ferguson (SRHM), Serah Malaba (Tiko) and Lindsay Hayden (Elton John AIDS Fo...

16 Sep 51min

Rethinking how we fund the fight against child marriage

In the latest episode of the SRHM Podcast, SRHM Chief Executive Eszter Kismodi speaks with Lara van Kouterik, Interim Co-CEO and Director of Strategy, Evidence and Impact at Girls Not Brides, about wh...

21 Aug 22min

Future-Proofing: The Professionalization of an Anti-Rights Youth Generation

In this episode, Eszter Kismődi and Jamie Vernaelde, Senior researcher at Ipas, explore how anti-rights movements cultivate young people’s involvement from an early age, using schools, universities an...

14 Aug 51min

Call for Proposals – Resisting Erasure: Communities Reclaiming Knowledge Production

Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) knowledge production spans a wide range of methodological approaches and perspectives. Yet one set of voices and views that have been missing in discou...

31 Juli 28min

Emotional capitalism and artificial intimacy: Have you paid the subscription to your partner?

What does intimacy mean in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence?This discussion brings together critical perspectives on the rise of AI companions, chatbots and other technologies th...

10 Juli 59min

S*x in the Shadows of Big Tech

During a time of authoritarianism, digital surveillance, and increasing criminalisation, this webinar explores how social media shadowbanning and deplatforming affect sexual health educators, sex work...

26 Juni 1h

The Next Wave: How Religious Extremism Is Regaining Power

In this episode of the SRHM Podcast, Eszter Kismődi and Neil Datta, Executive Director and founder of the European Parliamentary Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF), take a deep dive into th...

19 Juni 1h 11min