USA – Sex-selective abortions: Reproductive rights are being pitted against gender equality

Sex-selective abortions: Reproductive rights are being pitted against gender equality
Critics say the bans are "anti-abortion ruses" rooted in an effort to racially profile Asian American and Pacific Islander women.

Oct. 27, 2019
By Safia Samee Ali

When Dr. Colleen McNicholas treats a woman seeking an abortion in Missouri, she must, under penalty of law, ask a series of uncomfortable questions probing why the woman wants the procedure, including if it’s because of the fetus's gender.

That question, which she said patients find “absurd” and “completely inappropriate,” is a requirement that was left intact by a Missouri federal judge who halted several other restrictive measures, such as a ban on abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy, signed into law by Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, in May in an effort to block abortion access.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sex-selective-abortions-reproductive-rights-are-being-pitted-against-gender-n1067886

‘It is not a crime’: The women behind North’s abortion law change

‘It is not a crime’: The women behind North’s abortion law change
Pro-choice campaigners say there is much yet to do, but for now they are celebrating

Oct 26, 2019
Freya McClements

Two years ago, a Belfast woman told Danielle Roberts what she had told no one else – that she had had an abortion.

“She closed the kitchen door in her own house before she would say to me that she had taken abortion pills,” says Roberts.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/it-is-not-a-crime-the-women-behind-north-s-abortion-law-change-1.4062891

Campaign launched to abolish old law which means abortion is still technically illegal in England, Scotland and Wales

Campaign launched to abolish old law which means abortion is still technically illegal in England, Scotland and Wales

Bronwen Weatherby
Oct 26, 2019

A campaign has been launched to abolish an old law which means abortion is still technically illegal in England, Scotland and Wales.

In the wake of decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland earlier this week, campaigners say England, Scotland and Wales now have "the most draconian abortion laws in the union".

Continued: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/campaign-launched-to-abolish-old-law-which-means-abortion-is-still-technically-illegal-in-england-a4270946.html

Abortion divides voters as Argentina heads to polls

Abortion divides voters as Argentina heads to polls

Issued on: 26/10/2019

While the economy dominated the agenda in Argentina ahead of Sunday’s elections, abortion rights divided voters and the two main candidates in the presidential race.
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In the thick of the campaign season, Argentine women have donned green handkerchiefs, a symbol of the country’s abortion rights movement. They have dressed as Eva Péron, Argentina’s iconic former first lady, to commemorate the suffragette movement anniversary and put a spotlight on a feminist agenda. As Argentina goes to the polls on Sunday, the economy tops the agenda of voter concerns in a country that has slid into a recession. But the green handkerchief wave has proved that many female and young voters remain concerned about reproductive rights even if some of their politicians would rather steer clear of the acrimonious debates the issue sparks in Argentina.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/20191026-abortion-divides-voters-as-argentina-heads-to-polls

Lifesaving treatment for babies born at 22 weeks doesn’t mean abortion law should change

Lifesaving treatment for babies born at 22 weeks doesn’t mean abortion law should change

October 25, 2019
Dominic Wilkinson, Consultant Neonatologist and Professor of Ethics, University of Oxford

When new guidance relating to the outcome and medical care of babies born extremely prematurely was recently released, it led some to call for UK abortion law to be revised.

This was because one of the new recommendations from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine is that it is sometimes appropriate to provide resuscitation and active medical treatment for babies born at 22 weeks gestation (four and a half months before their due date). This is a week earlier than was recommended in the last version of the framework, published in 2008.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/lifesaving-treatment-for-babies-born-at-22-weeks-doesnt-mean-abortion-law-should-change-125845

Australia – This new service provides abortions online for women in rural and regional areas

This new service provides abortions online for women in rural and regional areas
Abortion Online aims to fill the gap left by The Tabbot Foundation, a tele-abortion service that shut down earlier this year due to funding problems.

Oct 25, 2019
By Sam Langford

For women in rural and regional Australia, accessing abortion services can be costly and a logistical nightmare, requiring hours of travel to reach a clinic.

Now, a new "tele-abortion" service aims to change that. Abortion Online, launched this week, provides medical termination consultations online or over the phone, removing the need to travel to an abortion clinic in person.

Continued: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/this-new-service-provides-abortions-online-for-women-in-rural-and-regional-areas

Kenya – WHO guidelines on abortion will reduce maternal death

WHO guidelines on abortion will reduce maternal deaths

by Daniel Otieno
Star Blogs
25 October 2019

In 1967, the World Health Organization highlighted unsafe abortion as a health issue affecting women.

However, it wasn’t until 1987 when the safe motherhood conference was held in Nairobi that the world understood unsafe abortion as a public health concern. At the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994, governments again identified unsafe abortion as a public health concern and pledged their commitment to reducing the need for abortion through expanded and improved family planning services.

Continued: https://www.the-star.co.ke/opinion/star-blogs/2019-10-25-who-guidelines-on-abortion-will-reduce-maternal-deaths/

25.10.2019

International Conference on Population and development

Kenya abortion guidelines

WHO guidelines on abortion

World Health Organization

Ireland: this is just the beginning

Ireland: this is just the beginning
Decriminalisation is long overdue. But will much change in practice?

Ella Whelan, Columnist
24th October 2019

Northern Ireland’s government in Stormont has been inactive for over 1,000 days. Sinn Fein and the DUP have been unable to bury the hatchet over a botched environmental policy and age-old rows over cultural practices. With the power-sharing agreement unable to function, the Northern Irish civil service has been left running the country, unable to make any key decisions. As a result, the UK parliament passed a law that instructed the two parties to return to Stormont to kiss and make up or face the prospect of Westminster taking over.

After an embarrassing performance in Stormont on Monday, in which a handful of politicians made a hamfisted show of trying to come back together, at midnight Westminsters’ threats became real and the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 came into force. Most significantly, the law also repealed sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, clearing the way for the decriminalisation of abortion.

Continued: https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/10/24/abortion-in-northern-ireland-this-is-just-the-beginning/

‘I’m not a criminal any longer’: Women’s relief as abortion law changes in Northern Ireland

'I’m not a criminal any longer’: Women's relief as abortion law changes in Northern Ireland

By Lauren Chadwick & Orlando Crowcroft
24/10/2019

As Northern Ireland decriminalised abortion on Monday at midnight, pro-choice campaigners marked a new era of openness and freedom in the British province.

Until this week, Northern Ireland had prohibited abortion in all cases except when a mother’s life was at risk, with women and doctors facing sentences up to life in prison under an 1861 law.

Continued: https://www.euronews.com/2019/10/24/i-m-not-a-criminal-any-longer-women-s-relief-as-abortion-law-changes-in-northern-ireland

24.10.2019

Amnesty International

Arlene Foster

Democratic Unionist Party

Grainne Teggart

Hamsavani Rajeswarenm

UNFPA committed to women empowerment: Dr Natalia Kanem

UNFPA committed to women empowerment: Dr Natalia Kanem

Published: October 24, 2019
RAJAN POKHREL

The ‘so-called’ Global Gag Rule, as well as the defunding of United Nations Population Fund by the current US government, impacted the health and well-being of women and girls in many parts of the world, the top United Nations official said.

According to United Nations Under Secretary General and Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund Dr Natalia Kanem, the GGR and the pushback have led to cutbacks in essential services.

Continued: https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/unfpa-committed-to-women-empowerment/

24.10.2019