Nicaragua: Abortion Ban Threatens Health and Lives

Nicaragua: Abortion Ban Threatens Health and Lives
Publisher: Human Rights Watch
Publication Date: 31 July 2017

Nicaragua's total ban on abortion is putting women and girls' health and lives at risk, Human Rights Watch said today. The country's 2006 law punishing abortion - without any exceptions, even if pregnancies are life-threatening or resulted from rape - has driven abortions underground. The ban has not stopped abortion, but has made it more unsafe.

Women and girls with crisis pregnancies are getting unsafe clandestine abortions. Often too afraid to seek medical care when complications arise from such abortions, some women and girls delay seeking care and do not disclose to doctors the cause of complications. Medical providers, caught in a conflict between the law and medical ethics, have reported women and girls to police for suspected abortions. Under Nicaragua's criminal code, women and girls who terminate pregnancies face sentences of

Continued at source: Ref World: http://www.refworld.org/docid/597f3e094.html


Ireland: Abortion law drafts defended by Harris

Abortion law drafts defended by Harris

Ellen Coyne, Senior Ireland Reporter
July 31 2017, The Times

Simon Harris has said that new abortion laws must be ready to go to fit Leo Varadkar’s timetable for a referendum on the Eighth Amendment.

The health minister defended his decision to start drafting legislation that could legalise abortion in certain circumstances before a special Oireachtas committee has had the time to decide if the constitutional ban should be lifted.

Continued at source: The Times: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/abortion-law-drafts-defended-byharris-mgpqgsbpd


Call on government to make Irish abortion laws reflect that of rest of Europe

Call on government to make Irish abortion laws reflect that of rest of Europe
Saturday, July 29, 2017

Abortion Rights Campaigners say it is time Ireland's abortion laws are brought into line with the rest of Europe.

Campaigners have reacted to comments made by the UN this week which challenged Ireland’s lack of progression on the issue.

The comments came from a United Nation committee which found that Ireland violated the human rights of a woman who had to travel to Britain for an abortion after her baby was diagnosed with a fatal foetal abnormality.

Continued at source: Irish Examiner: http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/call-on-government-to-make-irish-abortion-laws-reflect-that-of-rest-of-europe-799972.html


Ireland: Anti-abortion groups to display graphic images at protests

Anti-abortion groups to display graphic images at protests
Displays due to take place on Dame Street in Dublin, and Belfast and Manchester airports

Sat, Jul 29, 2017
Paul Cullen

Anti-abortion groups plan to display graphic images of aborted babies at events in Dublin, Belfast and Manchester today.

Three groups say they are organising “public education displays” in response to the recent decision of the British government to pay for abortions for Northern Irish women travelling to England.

Continued at source: Irish Times: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/anti-abortion-groups-to-display-graphic-images-at-protests-1.3171304


International law and the provision of abortion services

International law and the provision of abortion services

Kirsten Sjøvoll considers whether the Supreme Court's approach to international law as an aid to interpretation of the ECHR is out of step with Strasbourg, and where this leaves international law as an interpretative aid generally

By Kirsten Sjovoll · On July 28, 2017

In R (A & B) v Secretary of State for Health [2017] UKSC 41 the Supreme Court considered whether the Secretary of State’s failure to exercise his power to require that abortion services be provided through the NHS in England – to women ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland – was unlawful. The question was whether he failed to discharge his duty under the National Health Service Act 2006, s 3 to “take such steps as he considers necessary to meet all reasonable requirements” for services. It also considered whether the continuing failure to provide such abortion services infringed the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR” of “the Convention”), art 14 in conjunction with 8. In particular, the Supreme Court considered to what extent these rights under the ECHR should be informed by other obligations and principles of international law.

Continued at source: Law of Nations Blog: https://lawofnationsblog.com/2017/07/28/international-law-provision-abortion-services/


Indian court rejects abortion for 10-year-old rape victim

Indian court rejects abortion for 10-year-old rape victim

28 July 2017

India's Supreme Court has refused to allow an abortion for a 10-year-old girl, allegedly raped by her uncle, on the grounds that she is too far into her pregnancy.

A doctors' panel told the court that, at 32 weeks, termination of the pregnancy would be "too risky".

Her pregnancy was discovered two weeks ago when she complained of stomach ache and her parents took her to hospital. A lower court had earlier turned down her plea on similar grounds.

Continued at source: BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-40753409


“Niñas, No Madres” (Girls, Not Mothers) regional campaign, Latin America

“Niñas, No Madres” (Girls, Not Mothers) regional campaign, Latin America

by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
July 28, 2017

Planned Parenthood Global, Amnesty International, Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida Mexico (GIRE) and Latin American Campaign against Unsafe Abortion (CLACAI) have joined efforts to raise awareness on forced motherhood and its impact on girls’ lives and futures across Latin America through the “Niñas, No Madres” (Girls, Not Mothers) regional campaign.  The campaign calls for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and safe, legal abortion services to end forced motherhood in girls in Latin America.

In the framework of the International Day of Action for Women’s Health, the campaign launched a call to women to share on social media what was their dream when they were girls, along with a childhood photo. The response was amazing: women from all over the region lit up social media with the hashtag #NiñasNoMadres. The timelines, full of cute pictures, brought attention to the toll that forced motherhood has taken on thousands of girls in the region. More than 40 national and international media outlets published pieces about the campaign, including Huffington Post, BuzzFeed and  AJ+.

Latin America is the only region in the world where births among girls under 15 years old is on the rise. Forced motherhood in girls is an urgent public health and human rights problem.

In Guatemala, five girls under the age of 14 become pregnant every day. In Nicaragua, the number of pregnant girls aged 10-14 years old increased 47% from 2001 to 2009. In Ecuador, pregnancy among girls under the age of 15 has increased by 74% in the last decade. In Peru, every year, more than 1,100 births are to girls 12-13 years old.

Planned Parenthood Global has produced the report “Stolen Lives” in English and Spanish, which summarizes qualitative and quantitative research conducted in Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Peru to document the dire physical, mental, and social health consequences of forced pregnancy on girls living in these countries. This report was used as input for the Hemispheric Report on Sexual Violence and Child Pregnancy recently released by the Organization of American States’ Committee of Experts of the Follow-Up Mechanism to the Belém do Pará Convention (MESECVI), which issues recommendations to States, including “ensuring that all pregnancies in girls are considered high risk and allowing legal termination of pregnancy.”

Join us in demanding a better future for girls in Latin America. Follow the campaign on Facebook @ninasnomadres and visit http://www.ninasnomadres.org for more information.

SOURCE: Planned Parenthood Global, email 17 July 2017

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Source: International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/ninas-no-madres-girls-not-mothers-regional-campaign-latin-america/


India: 10-Year-Old Rape Survivor Can’t Have Abortion, Says Supreme Court

10-Year-Old Rape Survivor Can't Have Abortion, Says Supreme Court

Reported by A Vaidyanathan, Edited by Shuchi Shukla | Updated: Jul 28, 2017 16:28 IST

New Delhi: A 10-year-old raped by her uncle will not be allowed to have an abortion, the Supreme Court ruled today, rejecting the petition by a Supreme Court lawyer. The court said it was basing its decision on the assessment of doctors who said that a medical termination was not safe either for the girl or the foetus. She is 32 weeks pregnant.

The court had earlier this week asked doctors at Chandigarh's PGI to examine the girl to see if an abortion was safe. It has today ordered that proper medical care be provided to the girl child.

Continued: http://m.ndtv.com/india-news/supreme-court-rejects-10-year-old-rape-survivors-abortion-plea-rejected-over-risk-to-her-life-1730408?pfrom=home-topstories


India: Opinion: Denying abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim is to inflict more violence on her

Opinion: Denying abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim is to inflict more violence on her

The Supreme Court denied medical termination of pregnancy after doctors said it was not safe either for the girl or the foetus.

July 28, 2017
Subha Sri B

On Friday, the Supreme Court refused to allow an abortion for a pregnant 10-year old girl who was raped allegedly by her uncle. The Chandigarh resident’s plea for abortion was turned down last week by the district court. News reports also suggest that she had an anomaly in her heart and had to be operated for it three years ago.

The doctors’ panel at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh who examined the girl said that a medical termination was not safe either for the girl or the foetus, NDTV reported.

Continued at source: Scroll.in: https://scroll.in/pulse/845428/opinion-denying-abortion-to-a-10-year-old-rape-victim-is-to-inflict-more-violence-on-her