The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) presents itself to the world as a scientific entity dedicated to maternal and gynecological health. However, our latest report, researched and compiled by Population Research Institute’s Ibero-American office, reveals a very different reality: far from focusing on medical research or disease treatment, FIGO operates as a tool of population control, with a particular emphasis on the active promotion of abortion.
The report, titled “FIGO: USAID Funding and the Promotion of Abortion in Ibero-America, Europe, and Asia,” is based on official evidence provided by FIGO itself. Throughout its pages, our team documented actions, statements, and publications that reveal a clear political agenda: to decriminalize abortion in every country and ensure unrestricted access to the procedure. Rather than a medical organization, FIGO acts as an ideological advocacy platform serving the abortion industry.
At first glance, FIGO appears to be a legitimate medical entity: it brings together national gynecology and obstetrics societies from over 130 countries. The inclusion of terms like “Federation” and “International” gives it an air of official status, resembling a multilateral organization. This facilitates its advocacy work for legal abortion in contexts where access to information is limited or lacks transparency.
However, a brief look at its website confirms that much of its content revolves around population control. FIGO not only openly promotes abortion but also trains health professionals to perform it and pushes for legal reforms to eliminate any existing restrictions.
While millions of women around the world face urgent gynecological diseases — such as cervical cancer or sexually transmitted infections — FIGO concentrates its main efforts on organizing forums, publishing guidelines, and financing campaigns to promote abortion as the central axis of its global agenda.
As noted in our report, FIGO’s influence goes far beyond public statements. This organization works directly with pro-abortion governments and national medical societies to push for abortion decriminalization. In countries with legal restrictions — such as Peru, Colombia, or Brazil — it deploys advocacy strategies, trains medical personnel, and promotes the mass distribution of abortion drugs such as misoprostol and mifepristone.
A key element in this network of influence is funding. FIGO has received significant sums of money from international entities, such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which in October 2024 approved a grant of $89 million.
The report also documents how FIGO operates in different regions of the world. In Ibero-America, its strategy focuses on partnering with local medical societies that push for legislative changes to expand abortion access. In countries like Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Mexico, FIGO has collaborated with national groups to promote legal reforms and train doctors in abortion practices.
In Africa, the tactic is different. FIGO has directed its efforts toward training healthcare professionals to perform abortions in rural or hard-to-reach areas. It has also promoted the sale of abortion pills without medical supervision and trained traditional doctors to expand access to these procedures.
In Europe, its focus is on influencing international organizations. FIGO has issued statements condemning the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States, has pressured governments to remove any abortion restrictions, and has promoted its narrative in institutions such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization.
One of the most alarming aspects of the report is how FIGO not only promotes abortion but also seeks to protect those who perform it illegally. It has issued recommendations for doctors not to report out-of-framework abortions to authorities, has promoted self-managed abortions without medical assistance, and has pressured for the elimination of conscience objections in professional medical practice.
Moreover, FIGO has defended the practice of late-term abortions, including methods such as fetal asystole induction— which consists of injecting a substance into the fetus’s heart to cause death. In countries like Brazil, it has criticized the Federal Council of Medicine for banning this procedure, arguing that any restriction on abortion violates human rights.
The evidence gathered in this report proves our conclusion that FIGO is not a scientific or medical organization in a strict sense. It is a deeply ideological entity, with activism centered on the global decriminalization of abortion. Its agenda leaves no room for debate, nor for consideration of other medical or ethical views regarding prenatal life.
This PRI report is a key document for understanding how FIGO operates and what impact it has on the laws of different countries. Its presence in Ibero-America, Europe, and Africa is neither accidental nor neutral; it has a well-structured strategy to legalize unlimited abortion worldwide.
In light of this situation, it is urgent for governments, the medical community, and civil society to become aware of FIGO’s influence in public policy. It is time to question its role in shaping laws that directly affect the lives of millions of women and unborn children around the world.
