Over the past 30 years, more than 60 countries and territories have liberalized their abortion laws. Only four have regressed, including the United States. Abortion rights are increasingly becoming recognized as fundamental human rights for millions of people worldwide. The global landscape of abortion rights continues to evolve in 2024, with new legislation and feminist movements fighting for better access. Let's take a trip around the world to see the latest developments.

The enshrinement of the right to abortion in the French Constitution has been a historic demand of feminist organizations since I can remember. But for the past decade, this demand has had little resonance with the French population. Many felt that the Constitution would not have to be invoked to defend this right. I would even go so far as to say that many thought that this right was not at risk. But then, two years ago, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade and everything changed. Millions of people suddenly realized that, unfortunately, the right to abortion can be won and then lost. It's an ongoing battle. On 28 February, France’s Parliament will make its final decision on whether or not to pass the constitutional abortion bill. To succeed, we need the support of the international community.   The COVID crisis and the need to expand access to abortion To understand the impact of the US Supreme Court's decision on France, it is necessary to look at the context of abortion rights advocacy in our country. During the COVID crisis, the Mouvement Français pour le Planning Familial - commonly known as 'Le Planning Familial' - joined forces with feminist associations, health professionals and Members of Parliament to ensure access to abortion care during lockdown. Our mobilization triggered an increase in media coverage of the issue: women of all ages began to share their own abortion stories. Thanks to their courage, we managed to bring to light the existing obstacles to access abortion in France. We focused our advocacy on one main barrier: the legal time limit - 12 weeks of pregnancy - to access abortion. We knew that some women would not be able to get an abortion within this time because of the lockdown.  Pregnant women reached out to us by calling our national hotline and our local centers as they were unable to leave their homes because of domestic violence, as well as minors. We knew that, by the time the lockdown was over, they would have exceeded the abortion time limits and would be forced to continue through pregnancies against their will. Over the months, our advocacy campaign evolved into a demand for a legal change to permanently extend the time limit for accessing abortion care in France. It was a long political battle. We celebrated a great victory on 2 March 2022: abortion time limits were extended by two weeks. It was at this point that we saw a significant increase in support: French people who had previously been silent on the issue of abortion began to speak out.  Meanwhile, the anti-choice and anti-rights groups intensified its attacks against us. In the space of a few months, they broke down the doors, the windows and the locks of many of our local centers. Online and in-person threats were sent to our members across France.

Today, on International Women’s Day, France has made it clear to the world that they stand shoulder to shoulder with women and girls in support of their non-negotiable freedoms by committing to enshrining abortion as a fundamental human right within the French constitution. We applaud President Macron for this decision.  We want to thank our Member Association, Mouvement Français pour le Planning Familial and the feminist movement for never giving up the fight for women and people who want to end their pregnancy on their own terms with dignity, care and respect.  This momentous decision comes at a time when safe abortion care is under attack at an unprecedented level in the global north. We hope this decision inspires other nations to do more to protect the privacy, dignity and human rights of women and girls from political extremists who seek to force women and girls into giving birth.  We need more courage and action from the national leaders to protect and support women and girls. If you are a politician who believes in human rights; act now without fear. If you are someone who can vote or organize; demand more of your government, take to the streets, let them hear your voice, take your pen to the ballot if they do not listen.  IPPF will continue to work with activists, feminist movements, politicians and communities to protect and advance abortion care without apology and without fear. Today and every day we stand with women and girls, everywhere.    

Alice Ackermann is twenty years old; she’s the youngest IPPF executive committee member. Her convictions on women’s rights and sexual health are visceral. “I am angry”, she says when asked what drives her, “but, it is a positive anger”.  An early introduction to gender injustice Alice was born in the eastern, middle-sized city of Strasbourg to a Jewish Orthodox family. “It was so obvious to me, from the onset, that my three brothers and I were not treated in the same way” she says, explaining how the religious rites of passage – circumcision and bar mitzvah – gave importance to the different stages of her brother’s development. For girls, there was nothing. Her elementary education, in a Jewish school, was delivered in the same spirit: “we were considered lesser pupils”. She rebelled from a very young age; before she turned 10 she was called a feminist as an insult. Alice says this experience shaped what still drives her today: a clear conception of the injustice that is done to women and their rights. She was later, at her demand, transferred to a secular school, where she was confronted for the first time with, “something more violent”.   “When we were teenagers, my friends were sharing their experiences about being kissed without consent, and so many girls talked about being raped, but were not calling it that because it was so hard to put a name on it”, Alice recalls.  After hearing about her friend’s experiences, she was determined to do something about it.  Starting her own feminist club When the local sexual and reproductive healthcare organization gave a sexuality education session at her school, she asked if she could join as a volunteer but was told she was too young. Not one to be discouraged easily, Alice began organising demonstrations and awareness raising campaigns in Strasbourg on topics such as street harassment or the different shapes and sizes of vulvas. When she started high school a year later, she created a feminist club and organized debates and open conferences on the history of the SRHR movement. That’s also when she started, along with other student members of the club, doing peer-to-peer sex education. It was immediately effective: “the students felt free to ask questions, debate among themselves and talk about what they witnessed.”   Peer-to-peer education works She says the reason peer-to-peer works so well has to do with empowerment. “When you are young and being discriminated against, you are very vulnerable,” she explains. “What happens with peer-to-peer is that people look at you and realise that they can take action and have knowledge too. Every time I do a session people come to me afterwards and say ‘you are so young, how can you be doing this? How can I do it too?’"  The sessions worked so well the local sexual and reproductive healthcare organization in Strasbourg got on board. They provided her with training and she became, at 16 years old, their youngest volunteer. Alice continues to work as a comprehensive sexuality educator and she holds a paid job as a counsellor at one of Le Planning Familial's call centers in Paris.    SRHR rights on a global scale At last year’s G7 conference, Alice worked with other feminist activists to influence the recommendations put forward by the governments attending. “It’s hard” she says, “What’s harder is that, on the global scale, things don’t always appear to be changing for the better.” She says during the G7 conference, the American and Italian governments were not interested: “It’s really simple, if you talk about SRHR (sexual and reproductive health and rights) during a meeting, they just walk out. Donald Trump did it in Canada last year.” As someone whose commitment to feminism is motivated by her own life experience, Alice is acutely aware of the importance of coordinating international advocacy to a grassroots approach. That’s why she is not considering quitting counselling or peer-to-peer education. “I wish I were less of an exception, we need to have more young people involved in every level of the organization.” As a newly-appointed executive committee member, she is on a mission to change that.   As a regional youth representative of IPPF and a member of several feminist organisations, Alice advocates for women’s reproductive rights and youth empowerment at the national and international level. She’s also studying history at Paris University.