The WHO abortion care guideline: Law and policy—Past, present, and future

Abstract

In the 2022 Abortion Care Guideline, the World Health Organization (WHO) undertook systematic evidence reviews of seven law and policy interventions to assess their health and social impacts. Distinct recommendations were formulated for each. The present article highlights how the Guideline reconceptualizes abortion regulation as a complex structural intervention that shapes clinical care and service delivery and distributes risks and resources within these systems and in the care relations that define them. It then presents the Guideline recommendations and summarizes their evidence base, drawing on recent legal and policy developments to emphasize their real‐world significance. The article concludes by anticipating the future of abortion law and policy, focusing on service delivery innovations and diverse care models, drug regulation and the supply of abortion pills, and protective interventions crafted in the context of political crisis and immediate need that serve policy objectives and take regulatory forms different from the past.