Numerical data plays an essential role across various sectors, from public health to social movements. Data gives us evidence and helps us to understand the patterns, challenges, and needs that drive societal change. But the use of such data goes beyond plain information. For activists, data is a tool for creating compelling narratives about topics like abortion, and understanding social problems behind individual experiences that can be addressed with concrete policies.
Data promotes Gender Equity
Why data is important for Gender Equity
Gender data is a crucial part of understanding reproductive rights and abortion access. Metrics help identify areas that require more attention and enable the adequate allocation of resources. As feminist activists, we collect and present data to reveal inequalities, track progress, and identify solutions. Gender data highlights power dynamics, ensuring that marginalized voices are heard and that their experiences are represented in the data that shapes policy. At the same time, we must be critical of the lack of gender-sensitive information, which often overlooks the realities of those most marginalized.
How Data Drives Change
Data provides visibility
Knowledge Gaps are an act of silencing
AbortionData exists because data also has a political dimension, and its lack is a form of political control. The absence of numbers on abortion worldwide is not a mere oversight—it is a deliberate act of silencing that serves to perpetuate stigma and silence, leaving reproductive health care marginalized and misunderstood. By keeping data hidden within political or academic niches, societies are kept in the dark about the reality of abortion, preventing public conversations about the need for safe, legal, and accessible care.
Abortion is not a taboo subject—it happens all the time, even in countries with restrictive laws. By democratizing the data, we are showing the world that safe abortions are a part of daily life, not isolated events. We are calling for the systematic collection and dissemination of abortion data in every country to ensure that the topic is acknowledged and understood comprehensively.
Our mission is clear: to make abortion data accessible to everyone. We want to ensure that the public and policymakers alike have the information needed to make informed decisions about reproductive rights.
Data moves policies
The potential of data: real-life examples
Data transforms personal stories into social issues that can be addressed through policy change. When Serena Williams shared her childbirth complications in a commentary on CNN in 2018, discussions quickly picked up on the high maternal mortality rates among Black women. Organizations and researchers followed up with actual numbers, proving that Black women are three to four times more likely to suffer pregnancy and labor complications than white women. In consequence, several bills of the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act were signed under the Biden administration, aimed at improving maternal health and closing gender gaps. There are not many stronger messages than personal stories backed by data to bring about real change.
Another example: Colombia has recently gained attention as one of the pioneering countries in Latin America to decriminalize abortion up to 24 weeks. The new laws are no coincidence, but rather a true achievement of gender advocates over a significant period of time. In 1989, the Guttmacher Institute analyzed women’s treatments for abortion complications, access to contraception, and medical service availability and, as a result, estimated that 400,000 Colombian women undergo unsafe abortions annually. The data unveiled striking patterns of social injustice, emphasizing that unsafe abortions disproportionately impact marginalized women, especially those belonging to lower socioeconomic backgrounds. This study gave activists and organizations the evidence needed to push for abortion decriminalization in their demanda causa justa before the Colombian Constitutional Court.
How Can We Use Data Effectively?
To use data effectively in abortion activism, it’s important to:
Data requires context
We follow a critical approach
Data is powerful, but it’s essential that we remain critical of the data we collect and use. We must not fall into the trap of believing that numbers always tell the whole truth. Data has context, and understanding that context is crucial to avoid misinterpretations.
Data is not objective
While numbers are often presented as objective, they are the result of human decisions—what is measured, how it is measured, and why. For example, data on abortions in certain countries may not reflect the full reality simply because not all types of abortion are recorded (such as those carried out outside public health systems).
Bias in data
Every choice in data collection is imbued with a worldview. When data on femicide or gender violence is collected, the terms used to define those events can influence how victims are perceived and what decisions are made. A piece of data can be incomplete or even biased, depending on how terms are defined, how cases are classified, and what is left out of data collection.
Example: A study on abortion might exclude the experiences of transgender or non-binary women, making a significant portion of the affected population invisible.
The power of data in activism
As activists, we must remember that data can be used both to tell stories of struggle and to perpetuate injustices. How data is presented can change the narrative: Do we focus on progress or on persistent gaps? Do we tell the story of people who have access to safe abortions or those who do not? These perspectives determine the message we send.
Data needs you!
Advocacy relies on global abortion data
The absence of reliable abortion data worldwide keeps the issue in the shadows. It prevents proper policy development, marginalizes certain groups, and upholds stigma. This is why we believe that abortion data must be collected, analyzed, and shared across the globe—so that we can advocate for reproductive justice, dismantle stigma, and make abortion safe and accessible for all.
We call on activists, policymakers, and organizations worldwide to advocate for the collection of abortion data—because only when we have the facts can we truly challenge the stigma and work toward creating a world where all people have access to the reproductive care they deserve.
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