INVIMA approves mifepristone for abortion in Colombia

INVIMA approves mifepristone for abortion in Colombia
by Safe Abortion
March 31, 2017

On 3 March 2017,  it was announced that Colombia’s Instituto Nacional de Vigilancia de Medicamentos y Alimentos (National Food and Drug Surveillance Institute, INVIMA) had approved the registration of mifepristone in Colombia for use in combination with misoprostol for induced abortion.

According to the Gynuity Health Projects website, mifepristone has been available (up to June 2016) only in Guyana and Uruguay in South America.

Profamilia, Colombia’s national family planning organisation, hope to begin providing the combination method in the second quarter of this year according to Marta Royo, Profamilia’s Executive Director.

Royo reports that in March 2012 Profamilia started all the procedures required in order to introduce mifepristone in Colombia: “It took five years and tons of paperwork, meetings and lobbying, she said, but we made it!!!! We are thrilled at INVIMA´s granting of approval but to be honest, also a little bit scared…. I won’t truly believed it until I see Mifepristona in Profamilia´s clinics and of course other clinics as well.”

SOURCES: El Espectador, 3 March 2017 ; E-mail from Marta Royo, 22 March 2017

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Source: International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/invima-approves-mifepristone-for-abortion-in-colombia/


Argentina: “Belén” acquitted: Tucumán Provincial Supreme Court overturns sentence for aggravated homicid

STOP PRESS: ARGENTINA “Belén” acquitted: Tucumán Provincial Supreme Court overturns sentence for aggravated homicide
by Safe Abortion
March 31, 2017

In 2014, “Belén”, a 27-year-old woman from the province of Tucumán went to her local hospital with a serious vaginal haemorrhage. The duty doctor diagnosed a spontaneous miscarriage, but “Belén” was accused of having disposed of the fetus in a hospital washroom. She was tried and sentenced to eight years in jail for aggravated homicide in a trial riddled with irregularities. She spent more than two years in prison until August 2016, when the Tucumán Supreme Court ordered her release after a long-running, nationwide campaign. Seven months later, the Court has now acquitted her due to the absence of evidence against her.

In overturning the lower court’s decision, the provincial Supreme Court highlighted the importance of patient confidentiality, the rights of women who have undergone an abortion and the right of women to be treated with dignity and not subjected to violence.

Her lawyer, Soledad Deza, told El País, that the ruling will set a precedent that will help to prevent other women from being treated as she was: “This ruling provides justice twice over: for Belén and all other women who do not want to be mothers who have a spontaneous or induced abortion. I believe this ruling will encourage women to use the public health system because they now know they will not be arrested when they leave.” She said Belén is also considering whether to bring legal action against the state for the time she has lost, the violation of her rights, the loss of her freedom and for changing the course of her life.

SOURCE: El País, 28 March 2017 (in English) ; Absuelta una joven argentina que estuvo dos años presa por un aborto (en español) ; PHOTO

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Source: International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/stop-press-argentina-belen-acquitted-tucuman-provincial-supreme-court-overturns-sentence-for-aggravated-homicide/


Namibia: Editorial … Abortion is Not the Only Killer

Editorial ... Abortion is Not the Only Killer
Opinions - Editorials | 2017-03-31 11
Editorial

'500 WOMEN die from abortion every year.' Perhaps such should be the news headlines to make Namibians understand we have a crisis, and all because of a lack of empathy.

Health minister Bernard Haufiku tried this week to highlight the magnitude of the problem when he announced that more than 7 300 women were treated at state health centres last year due to “illegal abortions” gone wrong. Haufiku said the figure could be as high as 10 000 –– at least 27 cases a day.

The minister called for “decriminalisation” of abortion, which is outlawed by legislation dating back to 1975. We can only imagine the minister is treading carefully for fear of a backlash from zealots, who view the issue as nothing but a callous crime commited by pregnant women.

Continued at source: The Namibian: http://www.namibian.com.na/52924/read/Editorial--Abortion-is-Not-the-Only-Killer
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Veteran women’s rights campaigner Diane Munday recalls the stark reality of backstreet abortions in the UK

Veteran women's rights campaigner Diane Munday recalls the stark reality of backstreet abortions in the UK

What an illegal abortion was like in the 1960s, reveals 86-year-old activist

Veteran women's rights campaigner Diane Munday recalls the stark reality of backstreet abortions in the UK

Kashmira Gander
Thursday 30 March 2017

Diane Munday didn’t know what an abortion was until she was in her early twenties. But the need to quickly and safely terminate a pregnancy became a very personal reality for her when she sought out an abortion in 1961, while it was still illegal in the UK. Six decades later at the age of 86, she has made an indelible mark on British society as a pioneering campaigner for women's rights.

“It was illegal. People were sent to prison for having and carrying out abortions. It was never a word that was said. But having an abortion was a common experience for many. But I didn’t even know what it was to think about it,” she tells The Independent.
Continued at source: The Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/illegal-abortion-1960s-sixties-uk-pro-choice-activist-diane-munday-bpas-a7657726.html


Asia: Meet the ASAP Changemakers IV

Meet the ASAP Changemakers IV

Posted on 30 March, 2017 by Asia Safe Abortion Partnership

Commemorating #IWD2017 we are celebrating work of our young women champions in promoting women’s access to safe abortion in their region. This blog series is an attempt to acclaim their power as #ASAPChangemakers !!

Continued at source: ASAP-Asia: http://asap-asia.org/blog/#sthash.xiPmkHnY.dpuf


Chile: Popaganda: Where Abortion Is Illegal

Popaganda: Where Abortion Is Illegal
by Sarah Mirk
Published on March 30, 2017 at 6:18am

Donald Trump and Mike Pence say they want to ban abortion in the United States. But they seem to have a hazy idea of what that will actually mean. Millions of people around the world know all too well what happens when abortion is criminalized: 25 percent of the world's population lives in countries with very restrictive abortion laws. On this episode, we bring you a dispatch from one such country, Chile, where abortion is completely illegal. While abortion is banned for everyone in the nation, the reality is much different. As three Chilean women explain, whether or not you can safely get an abortion in the country comes down to one thing: money.

Continued at source: Bitch Media: https://bitchmedia.org/article/popaganda-where-abortion-illegal


Canada: Abortion pill available in less than half of all Canadian provinces three months after rollout

Abortion pill available in less than half of all Canadian provinces three months after rollout
Ashley Csanady | March 30, 2017

The abortion pill is available in less than half of all Canadian provinces and territories three months after it first went on sale in Canada.

Medical experts and advocates had hoped Mifegymiso — the official name of the two-medication drug also know as mifepristone or RU-486 — would help close the gaping urban-rural divide in access to abortion care services in Canada. But three months in, experts warn a strict regulatory regime could further entrench that divide and only existing abortion providers will be willing or able to distribute the pill.

Just five provinces and one territory have requested the drug since its late-January launch, according to its manufacturer: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon.

continued: http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/abortion-pill-available-in-less-than-half-of-all-canadian-provinces-three-months-after-rollout


India: Denied abortion after foetus found abnormal, woman says: I wish my baby dies after birth

Denied abortion after foetus found abnormal, woman says: I wish my baby dies after birth

A diagnostic test revealed that the foetus suffered from a birth anomaly called Arnold Chiari Type II syndrome — an underdeveloped brain and a distorted spine

Written by Tabassum Barnagarwala | Mumbai | Updated: March 29, 2017

“What’s the use of diagnostic facilities if we can’t find a solution after diagnosing a defect in the foetus?” asks Dr Nikhil Datar, gynaecologist who counselled the woman.

When she found out last September that she was pregnant, the 28-year-old Mumbai resident was excited, and she quit her job in a private company’s administration department to “solely focus” on her baby. For three years, her husband, a 31-year-old HR manager, had planned for this day.

“Now I wish my baby dies after birth,” she says, her eyes swollen with tears and lack of sleep.

Continued at source: Indian Express: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/denied-abortion-after-foetus-found-abnormal-woman-says-i-wish-my-baby-dies-after-birth-4590054/


Australia: Northern Territory Parliament Passes Bill to Decriminalize Abortion, Improve Access

Australia: Northern Territory Parliament Passes Bill to Decriminalize Abortion, Improve Access

(Mar. 28, 2017) On March 21, 2017, Australia’s Northern Territory Parliament voted to pass the Termination of Pregnancy Law Reform Bill 2017 (NT) (Northern Territory Legislation website). The Bill amends part VI, division 8, of the Criminal Code Act (NT), which currently criminalizes the administration of a drug or use of an instrument with the intention of procuring a woman’s miscarriage. (Criminal Code Act (NT), s 208B, as in force at Nov. 1, 2016, Northern Territory Legislation website.) It also repeals the current provision in the Medical Services Act (NT) that sets out the circumstances in which it is lawful for a medical practitioner to give medical treatment intended to terminate a pregnancy, replacing this with the new abortion law framework provided by the Bill. (Medical Services Act (NT), s 11, as in force July 1, 2014, Northern Territory Legislation website.)

Continued at source: Law Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/australia-northern-territory-parliament-passes-bill-to-decriminalize-abortion-improve-access/


Salvadoran Woman Becomes First Person to Be Granted Asylum Due to Regressive Abortion Laws

Salvadoran Woman Becomes First Person to Be Granted Asylum Due to Regressive Abortion Laws

Mar 28, 2017, 3:34pm Kathy Bougher

After giving birth in the latrine of her home in 2011, an unconscious Maria Teresa Rivera was taken to a public hospital. There, she was accused of provoking an abortion and sent to jail.

Last week, Maria Teresa Rivera of El Salvador was granted political asylum in Sweden based on her imprisonment for abortion-related charges—the first person to receive such protection in history.

Continued at source: Rewire: https://rewire.news/article/2017/03/28/salvadoran-woman-becomes-first-person-granted-asylum-due-regressive-abortion-laws/