The objective of this guideline is to present the complete set of all WHO recommendations and best practice statements relating to abortion. While legal, regulatory, policy and service-delivery contexts may vary from country to country, the recommendations and best practices described in this document aim to enable evidence-based decision-making with respect to quality abortion care.

This guideline updates and replaces the recommendations in the following previous WHO guidelines:

Safe abortion: technical and policy guidance for health systems, second edition (2012) Health worker roles in providing safe abortion care and post-abortion contraception (previously known as the “task sharing” guidance) (2015), and Medical management of abortion (2018)