Good Practice Guide for abortion care from 20 weeks of pregnancy. Executive Summary – English version

Abstract

This Good Practice Guide (GBP) was developed based on discussions held at an in-person regional meeting in Bogotá in April 2024. Thirty-two specialists from different disciplines from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru participated in this meeting. The situations in which girls, adolescents, women, and other people with childbearing potential require abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy are diverse: sexual violence or coercion; the time required by each person to make decisions; barriers to accessing the health system; lack of information; difficulties in transportation; situations of extreme vulnerability that affect autonomy; health problems that arise or worsen as pregnancy progresses; the impossibility of extrauterine fetal survival detected as pregnancy progresses; among others. The main objective of this GBP is to offer guidance to health care teams and professionals who provide safe abortions after 20 weeks and to provide tools so they can better respond to the expectations and needs of those seeking them and those providing care.