A toxic culture of disinformation and misinformation around abortion, circulating not just online but within families, communities and social groups, is creating additional barriers for women seeking care, the Executive Director of the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) said.

Kobe Smith told Ignite News that dozens of women are accessing abortion services at the organisation each week, but misinformation and stigma may be causing some to delay seeking care.

"We also need to do a bit more on addressing the toxic culture around disinformation and misinformation, not just online, but in our communities, in our homes, in our families, in our social groups," he said, adding that such barriers prevent women from exercising their legal right to abortion.

Smith said some women are unsure where to access abortion services, whether they can afford them and what options are available as their pregnancy progresses.

"The number one (they) don't know where to go to have an abortion. They perhaps don't know that it is affordable. They perhaps don't know that, you know, in terms of gestation period, where you can have right of choice to walk into a center at six weeks pregnant and eight weeks pregnant and get an abortion," he said.

Smith said abortion services are also accessed by young people and survivors of sexual violence who become pregnant from rape, with GRPA providing free care in some such cases while working to keep services affordable more broadly.

He said accurate information is key to helping women understand their options and avoid delays in accessing care.