This guide is a resource for future health professionals who want to learn about and engage in abortion issues. Abortion is a critical but often neglected area of women’s rights, women’s health and health science education. The guide was developed for health sciences students—including students in medicine, nursing, midwifery, pharmacology, public health and other related fields—and can be adapted for other audiences too. Experienced facilitators can use the resources and tools in the guide to effectively facilitate workshops on abortion.

Five learning modules provide students with a well-rounded introduction to safe abortion and surrounding issues:Introduction to abortion places abortion in the broader context of sexual and reproductive health and explores how unsafe abortion affects women and societies.Human rights, gender and abortion discusses rights-based perspectives of abortion as well as gender norms, discrimination and social factors that influence women's abortion rights and access.Barriers to safe abortion and strategies to address them presents barriers that women and adolescents encounter when seeking safe abortion and identifies ways future and practicing health professionals can reduce those obstacles.Comprehensive abortion care introduces essential elements of woman-centered comprehensive abortion care, including counseling and safe abortion methods. Note: This module—and this guide overall—demystifies clinical aspects of abortion but does NOT prepare students for abortion service delivery.Youth act for safe abortion provides various strategies for advancing abortion rights and increasing women's access to safe services—and builds skills in advocacy, peer education and abortion accompaniment.