Preventing State Harassment of Abortion Providers: The Work of the Legal Support Network in Latin America and East Africa

Access to safe abortion care is threatened, especially in legally restrictive settings, when providers are harassed or prosecuted on spurious charges. Legal networks have been working with safe abortion providers in Latin America since 2006, and in East Africa since 2010, to short-circuit this intimidation and protect access to quality information and abortion care. Planned Parenthood Global has nurtured these networks, now operating in nine countries. This paper describes this unique, prevention-focused legal strategy, with an eye toward analyzing its effectiveness, sharing the model and lessons learned with an interested audience, and encouraging replication. Prevention-focused legal networks for abortion providers have been effective in reducing police harassment, offering providers the information and skills they need to stand up to intimidation, and keeping safe abortion services available to those who need them. In the few cases of prosecution, providers have access to competent defense counsel through the networks. This model has also enabled better coordination between advocacy efforts on behalf of abortion rights, empowered health care providers, and increased access for women. Providers in other countries might explore whether and how creating local legal networks would offer similar protections.