United Nations human rights experts are calling on countries across the world to repeal restrictive abortion laws and policies, saying that doing so would save the lives of almost 50,000 women a year. At present, restrictive laws apply to 40 per cent of world’s population. In countries that prohibit abortions, women who get them may be subjected to prosecution and imprisonment. "Criminalisation of abortion and failure to provide adequate access to services for termination of an unwanted pregnancy are forms of discrimination based on sex," the experts said in a joint statement.