Research Supports Advocating for Safe Abortion

Research Supports Advocating for Safe Abortion
New research in ten countries reveals the challenges and opportunities for FIGO National Member Societies to advocate for safe abortion.

29.01.2020
FIGO

Each year, 25 million women and girls around the world undergo unsafe abortions, contributing to an estimated 13 percent of maternal mortality and resulting in long term injuries and infertility for millions more. These figures are unacceptably high and represent an avoidable, but often neglected, public health and women’s rights issue.

FIGO’s Advocating for Safe Abortion Project is supporting ten National Member Societies in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Panama, Peru, Uganda and Zambia to advocate for safe abortion to the full extent of the law in their national contexts.

Continued: https://www.figo.org/news/research-supports-advocating-safe-abortion-0016316

India – Explained: Why it is important to amend Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971?

Explained: Why it is important to amend Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971?

By Simran Kashyap
Published: Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Moving to ease abortion laws in the country, the Union Cabinet is likely to approve changes in the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971. The draft has been circulated by the ministry of health and family welfare.

According to the 2014 draft bill, the upper limit for termination of a pregnancy will be extended from 20 weeks to 24 weeks. This will help in decreasing maternal morbidity and mortality and may also help in preventing wastage of resources invested in a pregnancy and preserving the woman's health, strength, and above all, life.

Continued: https://www.oneindia.com/india/explained-why-it-is-important-to-amend-medical-termination-of-pregnancy-act-1971-3023256.html

29.01.2020

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India backs looser abortion laws in boost for women

India backs looser abortion laws in boost for women

Annie Banerji
January 29, 2020

NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - In a boost to female reproductive rights, India’s cabinet on Wednesday backed giving women more time to seek an abortion in a bill aimed at helping the young, disadvantaged and the raped.

The government said the cabinet had approved extending the abortion deadline to 24 weeks from 20, with the measure set to go before a new session of parliament that opens on Friday.

Continued: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-women-abortion/india-backs-looser-abortion-laws-in-boost-for-women-idUSKBN1ZS20B

29.01.2020

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abortion ban after 20 weeks

USA – Abortion Isn’t Slavery. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Should Know Better

Abortion Isn't Slavery. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Should Know Better | Opinion

Renee Bracey Sherman
On 1/29/20

As a black woman who had an abortion, I am disgusted and seething.

Last week, as the United States commemorated the anniversary of the legalization of abortion nationwide, the Trump administration made headlines for its despicable opposition to abortion access. Donald Trump became the first sitting president to attend the anti-abortion March for Life rally, and in remarks praising his efforts to restrict access to health care worldwide, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had the nerve to compare abortion to slavery.

Speaking at a Colorado Christian University event in Washington, D.C., DeVos argued that Trump's fight against abortion rights is similar to President Abraham Lincoln's fight against slavery.

Continued: https://www.newsweek.com/abortion-isnt-slavery-education-secretary-betsy-devos-should-know-better-opinion-1484742

India – Cabinet okays bill to raise upper limit for abortions to 24 weeks

Cabinet okays bill to raise upper limit for abortions to 24 weeks

29 Jan 2020
Neetu Chandra Sharma

The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved a bill that proposes to permit the termination of pregnancy up to 24 weeks from the existing 20 weeks. The bill will be introduced in the ensuing budget session of Parliament.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 aims to expand access of women to safe and legal abortion services on therapeutic, eugenic, humanitarian or social grounds. The proposed amendments include substitution of certain sub-sections and insertion of certain new clauses under some sections in the existing Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, with a view to increase the upper gestation limit for termination of pregnancy under certain conditions and to strengthen access to comprehensive abortion care, under strict conditions, without compromising service and quality of safe abortion.

Continued: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/cabinet-approves-mtp-amendment-bill-11580292606660.html

29.01.2020

Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2020

End of Roe v Wade? June Medical Services v Gee abortion case could irreversibly weaken landmark judgment

End of Roe v Wade? June Medical Services v Gee abortion case could irreversibly weaken landmark judgment
The landmark 1973 Roe v Wade judgment gives pregnant women liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction and June Medical Services v Gee poses a threat to abortion rights in the country

By Priyam Chhetri
Jan 28, 2020

Come March, the Supreme Court will hear two consolidated cases, June Medical Services v Gee and Gee v June Medical Services, which is being predicted as the greatest threat to abortion rights in the country in decades. It will also potentially hurt the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade judgment that gives pregnant women liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.

Here's everything you need to know about the case.

Continued: https://meaww.com/june-medical-services-v-gee-abortion-law-judgment-roe-wade-landmark-1973-supreme-court-case

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – The authorities address unsafe abortion

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – The authorities address unsafe abortion (text in English and French)
Les autorités s’attaquent à l’IVG non médicalisée

by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
Jan 28, 2020

En Centrafrique, le gouvernement s’attaque à la mortalité maternelle et infantile. Des assises se sont tenues cette semaine pour étudier la question. Les chiffres sont effrayants : 1/3 de la mortalité maternelle est causée par des interruptions volontaires de grossesses non médicalisées (882 décès de femmes pour 100 000 naissances).

In the Central African Republic, unsafe abortions are the leading cause of maternal mortality. Abortion is illegal and punishable by several years’ imprisonment. Only therapeutic abortion under certain conditions is legal. Assizes were held this week to study the question. The figures: one-third of maternal mortality is caused by unsafe abortions (MMR: 882 deaths per 100,000 live births). Each day, six women die as a result of their pregnancy or childbirth; this is why the government has launched an analysis to adapt its policy.

Health Minister Pierre Somse said: “It is only because of the criminal nature of the law on termination of pregnancy that most women hide and therefore hide to die.” He has called for a new law to reduce maternal deaths, better sex education and better access to family planning methods. He said:

Continued: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/central-african-republic-the-authorities-address-unsafe-abortion/

There’s a New Website That Teaches People How to Do Abortions

There's a New Website That Teaches People How to Do Abortions
A series of how-to videos shows providers how to do abortions with pills. But they can also help people who want to do it themselves.

by Marie Solis
Jan 28 2020

In the same amount of time it takes you to boil an egg, or answer an email, a new online video will show you how to end a pregnancy with pills.

Animated figures, accompanied by voice-over narration, take viewers through the process step by step: When to take the mifepristone, the first part of the two-part drug regimen for medication abortion; how long after that to take the misoprostol, how to place those pills under the tongue; and when to expect the cramping and bleeding, which signal that the passing of the pregnancy has begun. The 11-minute video also provides instructions on how to relieve pain or discomfort, and when to seek medical help. At the very beginning, it tells viewers how safe and effective this abortion method is, and how low the rate of complication.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4ag3wn/how-to-videos-abortion-with-pills-mifeprstone-misoprostol-doctors-without-borders

There’s Nothing “Pro-Life” About Trump’s Opposition to Abortion Rights

There’s Nothing “Pro-Life” About Trump’s Opposition to Abortion Rights

By Tatiana Cozzarelli, Left Voice
Published January 26, 2020

As Senators sat listening to hours upon hours of impeachment proceedings, considering the possibility of removing the president from office, Donald Trump began campaigning for a second term. Yesterday, that meant being the first sitting president ever to attend and speak at the March for Life. Trump said it was a “profound honor” to be the first president to attend, and assured that “unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House.” Similar to his campaign rallies, at the end of Trump’s speech, the crowd erupted into a chant of “four more years.”

The March for Life is a large annual march against the right to an abortion, which began in 1974 after the passing of Roe v. Wade. Every year, thousands of people walk to the Supreme Court to demand the overturn of Roe v .Wade. The Catholic Church and Evangelical churches mobilize thousands of people to the march.

Continued: https://truthout.org/articles/theres-nothing-pro-life-about-trumps-opposition-to-abortion-rights/

Knowledge of safe contraception is patchy among young Nigerian students

Knowledge of safe contraception is patchy among young Nigerian students

January 27, 2020
Anthony Idowu Ajayi, Meggie Mwoka
African Population and Health Research Center

Nearly half of pregnancies among adolescent girls in developing countries are unplanned. In Africa, about 46% of these pregnancies end in unsafe abortion. Deaths from abortion account for 10% of maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.

In Nigeria, nearly 28% of women were found to have had an unwanted pregnancy. The rate of unplanned pregnancy is especially high among young people. But women can only get a legal abortion if the pregnancy poses a threat to the life of a woman or in cases of rape or incest.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/knowledge-of-safe-contraception-is-patchy-among-young-nigerian-students-130313

27.01.2020