Table 3 Commitments made by different stakeholders to address abortion related harms

Tutors from health professional institutions

(a) To include detailed content of safe abortion and unsafe abortion context, VCAT and AHR in training curricula

(b) To start providing this content to their trainees

(c) Competence-based training on abortion care and family planning

(d) Committed to include awareness of the legal, regulatory and policy framework on abortion in training curricula

(e) Commitment to provide training on elective therapeutic abortions where indicated by laws and regulations

Media (print, broadcast, and social media bloggers)

(a) To start providing balanced and positive empathetic and non-judgmental stories about abortion to the public

(b) To promote open discussion on abortion related issues

Policy makers in Ministries of Health

(a) To change the scope of practice for midlevel providers to include postabortion care

(b) To update patient management guidelines to include abortion care

(c) To provide abortion care within the full extent of the law and policies

(d) To update the SRH policy guidelines

(e) To include competence-based counseling training to providers

Policy makers from Ministry of Education and Gender, Labor and social Welfare

(a) To generate policies on adolescent SRH issues

(b) To promote access to age-appropriate adolescent sexuality education

(c) To promote strategies that address negative socio-cultural and gender factors that contribute to root causes of abortion

(d) To promote strategies that address abortion stigma

Judicio-legal department (police officers, prison officers and judges)

(a) To support positive legal reforms related to abortion care

(b) To support decriminalization of abortion care

(c) To stop penalizing healthcare providers who offer postabortion care

Politicians (parliamentarians and district local government officers)

(a) To support positive law reforms related to abortion care

(b) To support policies that address the root causes of abortion

(c) To support all policies on provision of family planning and postabortion care

(d) To promote strategies that address negative socio-cultural and gender factors that contribute to root causes of abortion

(e) To promote strategies that address abortion stigma

Religious leaders

(a) To support provision of postabortion care

(b) To support policies that emphasize primary prevention of abortion harms, especially religious guidance on behaviors, parenting and addressing negative socio-cultural practices

(c) To reduce stigma on health-seeking behavior

(d) For most groups, to support family planning including after abortion (postabortion family planning)

(e) To support counselling at all levels, including for unwanted pregnancy clients to accept the situation and opt for antenatal care

(f) To support strategies that provide rehabilitative counseling after abortion

Healthcare providers (district health officers and health workers working in both public and private healthcare institutions

(a) To provide non-judgmental postabortion care

(b) To support contraception including postabortion

(c) To provide non-judgmental counseling to all clients

(d) To support efforts that address abortion stigma

(e) To support policies that improve access to postabortion care irrespective of the circumstances of abortion

(f) To provide abortion care within the legal and policy framework

(g) To generate and use quality abortion data that informs practice and policy on abortion care

(h) To participate in discussions that promote reduction of abortion stigma

Traditional and cultural leaders, traditional birth attendants and herbalists

(a) To support policies and strategies that address abortion stigma

(b) To provide timely referral of abortion patients

(c) To promote access to family planning including postabortion

(d) To promote partnerships with the formal healthcare system

Members of civil society organizations

(a) To support open discussions on abortion

(b) To address abortion stigma through community mobilization

(c) To promote access to abortion care within the legal and policy framework

(d) To promote policies that address the root cause of abortion

(e) To promote access to SRH information for clients

(f) To promote progressive decriminalization of abortion care

Village health teams

(a) To support policies and strategies that address abortion stigma

(b) To promote access to counseling and antenatal care for women with unplanned or unwanted pregnancy

(c) To provide timely referral of abortion patients for care or counseling

(d) To promote access to family planning including postabortion

(e) To promote linkages between with the formal healthcare systems, the communities and service providers withing the community

The public

(a) To promote open discussion about abortion issues

(b) To promote access to family planning and postabortion care

(c) To address or mitigate abortion stigma