Research on Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean. A Renewed Agenda to Inform Public Policy and Advocacy (executive summary)

The issue of abortion in Latin America has occupied an increasingly important place in academic work and public debate, particularly in agendas and public policies, for over two decades. The recent excellent publication by the Latin American Consortium against Unsafe Abortion (clacai), Investigacion sobre aborto en America Latina y el Caribe. Una agenda renovada para informar politicas publicas e incidencia, whose executive summary is presented below, provides a detailed account of the scientific evidence available in the region on this topic in the period from 2009 to 2014. On the basis of the latter, it proposes thematic priorities that should be investigated in the near future. This publication is an extremely valuable input that contributes to understanding and disseminating the status of abortion in the region, its causes and consequences and the obstacles women face in their decision to terminate their pregnancies. It also details the positions of the various stakeholders for or against the legalization of abortion and actions in the institutional, private and public spheres that influence and participate in this process. These aspects are also present in the public debate in many countries in other regions.