Fighting for abortion rights in Ecuador

Writing in RH Reality Check, Heather Sayette of Planned Parenthood Global/Latin America examines how Ecuador's newly re-elected President Rafael Correa this week "voiced unconditional support for contraception, including emergency contraception." She continues, "This unprecedented support for access to sexual and reproductive health care is particularly welcome." However, despite other advances on gender equality and social services spending, "widespread disparities and inequalities in access to health care remain, and access to safe or legal abortion services is nonexistent," she writes. Sayette describes various efforts to change abortion laws in the country, adding, "While the Ecuadoran government has made dramatic increases in health-care spending, large-scale improvements to eliminate health disparities and unequal access to services are still needed -- and the restrictive abortion law has got to go." She continues, "Both globally and within Ecuador, we must keep up the fight and make it unacceptable for this or any government to continue to ignore the rights of women" (4/4).