India – TN woman dies due to botched abortion performed by local quack

TN woman dies due to botched abortion performed by local quack
Sumathi was found dead on the floor of Jayalakshmi’s house, with a foetus lying next to her.

Manasa Rao
Wednesday, February 28, 2018

A 35-year-old woman died in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvannamalai district due to a botched abortion performed by a local quack.

Sumathi, from Kalambur village, was six months pregnant when she decided to approach Jayalakshmi for an abortion. According to sources, Sumathi borrowed Rs 2,000 from her mother and left the house without telling anyone where she was going.

Continued: https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/tn-woman-dies-due-botched-abortion-performed-local-quack-77159


FactCheck: do women in Tasmania have access to safe abortions?

FactCheck: do women in Tasmania have access to safe abortions?

February 28, 2018
Angela Dawson

"People are absolutely appalled that in one of our states women are not getting access to safe terminations, and what I know is that in any decent society we ensure that all women have access to those choices and right now people in Tasmania are being deprived of that." – Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale, speaking at the Tasmanian Greens election launch in Hobart, February 21, 2018

Access to elective abortions has become a key point of policy difference between the Tasmanian Liberal and Labor parties in the state election to be held this Saturday.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/factcheck-do-women-in-tasmania-have-access-to-safe-abortions-92173


Protest against the ‘home abortion’ pill in Scotland is about judging women, not ensuring their safety

Protest against the ‘home abortion’ pill in Scotland is about judging women, not ensuring their safety

February 28, 2018
Carrie Purcell

In October 2017, Scotland became the only part of the UK where women are given the choice to take abortion medication at home.

The decision by the Scottish government means women seeking “early abortion” in the first nine weeks of pregnancy can take the second of two necessary medications at home, rather than in an NHS outpatient clinic. Mifepristone and misoprostol have to be taken one to two days apart which, until now, saw women attending the clinic for two separate appointments.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/protest-against-the-home-abortion-pill-in-scotland-is-about-judging-women-not-ensuring-their-safety-91416


YOUTUBE – AGAIN ! More censorship by YouTube

YOUTUBE – AGAIN ! More censorship by YouTube

by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
Feb 27, 2018

safe2choose reported on 23 February 2018 that their account on YouTube is the newest victim of anti-abortion censorship. The company has already refused their first appeal to have the account reinstated, and they are now planning their next moves. The video that triggered the suspension is a testimonial from a 42 year-old Malaysian woman who thanked safe2choose for supporting her through an abortion. There was no mention at all of the abortion process itself, which really made them ask: how arbitrary can these decisions be?

It seems YouTube does not provide an e-mail address to contact directly – so safe2choose wrote to their Help Center (where their first appeal was made). They had no luck. On their website, YouTube provide a postal address and a phone number.

Continued: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/youtube-again-more-censorship-by-youtube/


Malta – Need to reform abortion law – Nils Muižnieks

Need to reform abortion law - Nils Muižnieks

Monday, February 26, 2018
Nils Muižnieks

When I visited Malta last November, I noted how the very restrictive legislation on abortion jeopardised women’s rights. I was also particularly struck by the lack of an open debate about this issue. It is, therefore, encouraging that some voices are now starting to challenge the taboo that still surrounds discussions on abortion. To increase the chances of this debate leading to positive change for all women, it is necessary that discussions be well informed and avoid misconceptions.

Some argue that access to abortion care is not a matter of women’s human rights. Others, in Malta and elsewhere, question whether this is a human right at all.

Continued: https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20180226/opinion/need-to-reform-abortion-law-nils-muiznieks.671761


Ghana: Side effects of abusing abortion, contraceptive pills peak among teenagers

Side effects of abusing abortion, contraceptive pills peak among teenagers

Monday, 26 February 2018

Health experts are reporting rising incidence of adverse and injurious drug reactions among teenage girls who abuse contraceptives in a bid to prevent pregnancy.

Prolonged use of abortion and emergency contraceptive pills, among other factors, poses a health risk to persons seeking self-prescribed family planning methods.

Continued: https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/health/Side-effects-of-abusing-abortion-contraceptive-pills-peak-among-teenagers-629350


Malta needs to reform laws against abortion, Council of Europe’s Rights Commissioner insists

Malta needs to reform laws against abortion, Council of Europe’s Rights Commissioner insists
New legislation is required to provide abortion care to women who request it

Monday, February 26, 2018

Malta should ensure its ban on abortion does not deprive women of “a range of fundamental human rights”, according to the Council of Europe’s Human Rights Commissioner, Nils Muižnieks.

“From a thorough analysis of human rights standards and jurisprudence applicable to Council of Europe Member States, it is clear to me that women’s human rights cannot be protected without ensuring their effective access to safe and legal abortion care,” Mr Muižnieks writes in the Times of Malta.

Continued: https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20180226/local/malta-needs-to-reform-laws-against-abortion-council-of-europes-rights.671775


Does Morocco’s strict abortion law need reform?

Does Morocco's strict abortion law need reform?
Doctors and activists demand action with over 25,000 unwanted babies born a year and as dangerous abortions continue.

by Ahmed El Amraoui & Maha Naami
Feb 25, 2018

Casablanca, Morocco - About two years ago, Zohra's boyfriend abandoned her when he discovered she was pregnant.

Suddenly, she was faced with an unwanted pregnancy.

In Morocco, abortion is criminalised and punishable by prison and fines, except in the cases of married women whose medical reports prove that the pregnancy carries a physical threat. Even in such cases, a husband's approval is mandatory.

Continued: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/morocco-strict-abortion-law-reform-180224224122230.html


New Zealand – It’s okay to be uncomfortable about abortion

It’s okay to be uncomfortable about abortion

Nicole Skews-Poole | Guest writer
Feb 24, 2018

With the announcement that Labour is moving towards abortion law reform, New Zealand is gearing up to talk about a topic that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. So how can we acknowledge and move past the discomfort towards a law that works?

In case you didn’t realise, abortion is still in the Crimes Act. Provision is available through technicalities and regulated by a set of outdated laws. Patients and healthcare providers are required to jump through hoops and sometimes even lie to obtain permission from two certifying consultants.

Continued: https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/24-02-2018/its-okay-to-be-uncomfortable-about-abortion/


Ireland – Sean Moncrieff: ‘My girlfriend listed all the reasons to have an abortion’

Sean Moncrieff: ‘My girlfriend listed all the reasons to have an abortion’
Sometimes the best we can do is to be kind, if anything that’s what being human means

Feb 24, 2018
Sean Moncrieff

Back in the early 1980s, access to contraception involved visiting a GP, whose job it was to adjudicate if you wanted them for bone fide family planning reasons; whatever they were. But not any GP: people quickly learned that some would be sympathetic, and some would run you out the door.

Then there would be a prescription and a visit to a pharmacy. But not any pharmacy; such was Ireland’s horror at the thought of sex, of talking about it, that many refused to co-operate. There were entire counties free from the diabolic poison of synthetic oestrogen or latex.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/sean-moncrieff-my-girlfriend-listed-all-the-reasons-to-have-an-abortion-1.3393628