The United Nations has urged states to remove “unnecessary restrictions on abortion” and provide access to safe abortion services, in a report by the U.N.’s International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) 2014.

“The fundamental rights to life and to security of the person, as well as freedom from cruel and inhumane treatment, and from discrimination, among others, means unnecessary restrictions on abortion should be removed and governments should provide access to safe abortion services, both to safeguard the lives of women and girls and as a matter of human rights of: respect, protection and fulfillment, including the right to health,” the ICPD said in its report.

The report also stated that “in all cases where abortion is not against the law, it must be safe,” adding that concrete measures were urgently needed to ensure all women have ready access to safe, high-quality abortion services. “The more restrictive legislation on abortion is, the more likely abortion is to be unsafe and to result in death,” it said, citing the World Health Organization (WHO).