An estimated 121 million pregnancies per year take place in the bodies of women who did not choose pregnancy or motherhood, who were not planning to have a child at that time, with that partner, in those circumstances. Nothing is more fundamental to bodily autonomy than the ability to decide whether or not to become pregnant. Yet for too many, the most life-altering reproductive choice is no choice at all.

Girls should not be sacrificed for her family’s economic salvation, poverty being a driver of child marriage. Let a girl be a girl. And let a woman’s wedding day be unforgettable for the right reasons, with tears shed for joy to celebrate beginnings, not for sorrow to mourn endings. 

This year’s report makes the case for a world in which each individual is free to choose their reproductive future in a world of 8 billion.