Zika countries must lift bans on contraception and abortion, says UN chief

Countries with the Zika virus should allow women to use contraception and to have abortions, the top United Nations human rights official said on Friday. Laws restricting access to sexual health services should be reviewed, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, said in a statement. It would ensure they were in line with “human rights obligations” as well as safeguarding health, he added. "How can they ask these women not to become pregnant, but not offer… the possibility to stop their pregnancies?“ his spokeswoman, Cecile Pouilly, added.

In situations where sexual violence is rampant, and sexual and reproductive health services are criminalised, or simply unavailable, efforts to halt this crisis will not be enhanced by placing the focus on advising women and girls not to become pregnant

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein

Thousands of cases of Zika virus, which is linked to birth defects in babies, have been reported across south and central America. The commissioner insisted that governments must "ensure women, men and adolescents have access to comprehensive and affordable quality sexual and reproductive health services and information, without discrimination”. This included contraception – including emergency contraception – maternal healthcare and safe abortion services. "Laws and policies that restrict (women’s) access to these services must be urgently reviewed in line with human rights obligations in order to ensure the right to health for all in practice,“ he added.

zika