Ireland – Dáil votes down proposal to fully decriminalise abortion

Dáil votes down proposal to fully decriminalise abortion
Criminalisation is necessary to protect women from forced abortions, says Minister

Nov 28, 2018
Jennifer Bray

Attempts to fully decriminalise abortion as part of new legislation have failed following a debate in the Dáil.

A number of TDs called on Minister for Health Simon Harris to support amendments to the Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill which would see doctors protected from criminalisation where they act in good faith, and which would drop the current 14 year jail term.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/brexit/d%C3%A1il-votes-down-proposal-to-fully-decriminalise-abortion-1.3713813

Despite Widespread Support for Postabortion Care, Many Countries’ Health Systems Do Not Have the Capacity to Provide Essential Services

Despite Widespread Support for Postabortion Care, Many Countries’ Health Systems Do Not Have the Capacity to Provide Essential Services
New 10-Country Study Identifies Gaps in Postabortion Care

First published online: November 29, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30404-2

There are critical gaps in the provision of postabortion care (PAC) at facilities that offer childbirth delivery services in many countries, highlighting a disconnect between national governments’ commitments to address the consequences of unsafe abortion and the capacity of health systems to provide essential services, according to a new study published today in The Lancet Global Health. “Health Systems' Capacity to Provide Post-Abortion Care: A Multicountry Analysis Using Signal Functions,” by Guttmacher researchers Onikepe Owolabi, Ann Biddlecom and Hannah Whitehead, found an unacceptably low level of appropriate medical care provided to women who experienced complications from abortion or miscarriage and who sought treatment in one of 10 countries across three regions.

Study Summary:
Abortion-related mortality is one of the main causes of maternal mortality worldwide. Laws often restrict the provision of safe abortion care, yet post-abortion care is a service that all countries have committed to provide to manage abortion complications. There is minimal evidence on the capacity of national health systems to provide post-abortion care.

Continued: hhttps://www.guttmacher.org/article/2018/11/health-systems-capacity-provide-post-abortion-care-multicountry-analysis-using

Kenya – Unsafe abortion: ‘It was so painful that I fainted’

Unsafe abortion: ‘It was so painful that I fainted’
(3-minute podcast)

Nov 28, 2018

Authorities in Kenya have banned the international health organisation Marie Stopes from offering any form of abortion services. Marie Stopes says it operates within the law, offering counselling services including post-abortion care. But there are now fears the ban might prompt more women to undergo unsafe back-alley abortions. Beatrice became pregnant while she was still in high school. This is her story. You may find some of what she says distressing.

Continued: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06t10t2

28.11.2018

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Ireland – Nurses campaign to opt out of abortion provision

Nurses campaign to opt out of abortion provision

Wednesday, November 28, 2018
By Evelyn Ring

A group of nurses and midwives has joined GPs in declaring they do not want to participate in providing abortion services. The group, Nurses & Midwives4Life Ireland, says if a woman opts for a surgical termination, they will be asked to provide the pre-operative care, to which they object.

Last month, hundreds of anti-abortion GPs voiced their concerns about the new laws and asked Health Minister Simon Harris not to rush legislation through.

Continued: https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/nurses-campaign-to-opt-out-of-abortion-provision-888378.html

Why The Abortion Rate In Pakistan Is One Of The World’s Highest

Why The Abortion Rate In Pakistan Is One Of The World's Highest

Diaa Hadid
Nov 28, 2018

When at 19 Mehnaz became pregnant for the fifth time, she panicked. She already had four daughters, and her husband was threatening to throw her out if she had another. So she did what millions of Pakistani women do every year: She had an abortion.

Like many of those women, her abortion was partly self-administered. "I kept taking tablets — whatever I laid my hands on," she says. "I lifted heavy things" — like the furniture in her tiny living room. She drank brews of boiled dates — many Pakistanis believe the beverage triggers labor.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/11/28/661763318/why-the-abortion-rate-in-pakistan-is-one-of-the-worlds-highest

USA – Everything You Need To Know About Self-Managed Abortion

Everything You Need To Know About Self-Managed Abortion

Meera Shah
Nov 28, 2018

The coat hanger is a symbol of an era before Roe vs. Wade, when abortion was illegal and people tried managing it with the only means they knew: a straightened coat hanger used to dangerously induce a termination that would often result in hemorrhage, and sometimes death. While outdated, the symbol of the coat hanger is a persistent reminder that when abortion is illegal or out of reach, people will find other means to terminate their pregnancies. Today people have safer means of self-managing abortion.

Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion in all 50 states in the United States in 1973, but it didn’t give everyone an unfettered right to access it, either without burden or significant obstacles

Continued: https://jezebel.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-self-managed-abortion-1830471836

USA – With abortion clinic restrictions tightening, women want more access at home

With abortion clinic restrictions tightening, women want more access at home
Medication abortion likely meets the FDA criteria for OTC use, but women are still required to get it at a clinic

by Antonia Biggs • Daniel Grossman
November 28, 2018

The website Aid Access recently began offering women in the U.S. the option to obtain an abortion in the privacy of their own homes. U.S. women who are unable to overcome the significant barriers to accessing abortion in a health care setting or prefer the convenience and privacy of home-based care can use the site to purchase a medication abortion product online. While this may seem like a radical approach by U.S. standards, it is likely safe for most women, and especially helpful for women living far from an abortion facility.

The launch of Aid Access comes at a time when women increasingly are faced with restrictions to accessing abortion care. Now more than ever, there is a need to expand the ways that women can obtain the abortion care that they need. Medication abortion, which represents about a third of all abortions provided in health care settings, has the capacity to offer women more choices and to reduce many existing barriers to abortion care.

Continued: https://www.salon.com/2018/11/28/with-abortion-clinic-restrictions-tightening-women-want-more-access-at-home/

Ireland – Facebook admits publishing foreign ads before abortion vote

Facebook admits publishing foreign ads before abortion vote

Aaron Rogan, Senior Ireland Reporter
November 28 2018

Facebook has admitted that it took large sums of money from foreign groups that sought to influence Irish voters on the abortion referendum.

The company’s handling of political ads during the campaign before the vote in May was raised yesterday at a meeting in the House of Commons, attended by politicians from several countries including Ireland.

Continued: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/facebook-admits-publishing-foreign-ads-before-abortion-vote-mgjgxtn0l

28.11.2018

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TUNISIA – Sexual and reproductive rights in Tunisia: not for all, not everywhere

TUNISIA – Sexual and reproductive rights in Tunisia: not for all, not everywhere
(Les droits sexuels et reproductifs en Tunisie: Pas pour tous, pas partout)

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

On 9 November 2018, 13 Tunisian NGOs met to discuss the theme: “Let’s mobilise against the disengagement of the Tunisian State in the field of sexual and reproductive health” (Mobilisons nous contre le désengagement de l’Etat tunisien dans le domaine de la santé sexuelle et reproductive), to warn about disparities in access to sexual and reproductive rights in Tunisia in recent years.

The organisations were the Tunisian Association of Women Democrats (ATFD) with the support of the Group Tawhida, Association of Tunisian Women for Research and Development (AFTURD), Association Beity, Association for the Defence of Individual Freedoms (ADLI), Tunisian League of Human Rights, Association of Reproductive Health, ATL/MST/AIDS, Association of Positive Prevention, Mawjoudin, Damj, Tunisian Association for the Defence of the Right to Health, and Ness and Shouf.

Continued: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/tunisia-sexual-and-reproductive-rights-in-tunisia-not-for-all-not-everywhere/

Finland – Foreign Minister Soini faces no action over anti-abortion blog post

Foreign Minister Soini faces no action over anti-abortion blog post
The Chancellor of Justice threw out two formal complaints over Timo Soini's online opinions, citing free speech.

27.11.2018

Finland's Chancellor of Justice Tuomas Pöysti ruled on Tuesday that Foreign Minister Timo Soini will face no consequences over his public anti-abortion sentiments.

Pöysti overruled two complaints he had received in connection to one of Soini's blog posts, wherein he defended the Argentine Senate's decision to scrap a proposal to make abortion legal in the country. The view was at odds with the government's official policy line.

Continued: https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/foreign_minister_soini_faces_no_action_over_anti-abortion_blog_post/10528030

27.11.2018