Every year, almost 42 million women have an abortion, according to the United Nations. The international organization also notes that every eight minutes, a woman in a developing country dies from complications stemming from an unsafe abortion.

The majority of unsafe abortions are performed in Africa, according to the World Health Organization.

Before the G8 meeting in Halifax, Canada's federal government said that while it would support family-planning measures, including contraception, it would not fund abortions in its child and maternal health-care initiative for developing countries.

Some critics have derided the position, though Ottawa remains firm.

"We're saying that we're using the definition in our discussions of family planning, which does not include abortion," said International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda Monday in Halifax.

Here is a map showing the legal status of induced abortions around the globe (information appears as the mouse rolls over a country).