Roundtable on Safe Abortion in Armenia
On September 28, members of the Pan-Armenian Family Health Alliance held a roundtable in Yerevan, coordinated by the Family Health Care Network. The participants stated that there are still social, financial and physical barriers in Armenia for access to comprehensive safe abortion care and post-abortion contraception, especially for sexually active unmarried, rural, low income, and disabled women. These main causes of unregistered self-induced, unsafe and life-threatening abortions for girls and women in Armenia have to be urgently removed through provision of information on available family planning and safe abortion services, reducing the cost, changing public attitudes and behaviours, improving the quality of abortion care and physical access for vulnerable groups. The participants of the roundtable made a public statement calling on the United Nations, its agencies and human rights bodies, and all national leaders – both governmental and non-governmental – to stand up for safe abortion for everyone with an unwanted pregnancy who requests it. This statement was shared through social media and the press and has been submitted for the attention of Special Rapporteur Mr. Dainius Pūras, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.