USA – Democrats introduce bill to repeal anti-abortion rule for US overseas aid

Critics of the Helms amendment, which currently prevents the use of aid to fund abortion services abroad, say it is ‘deeply rooted in racism’

Liz Ford

Wed 29 Jul
2020

The first bill to repeal a US law preventing aid from funding abortion services
overseas was introduced to congress on Wednesday.

Democratic congressswoman Jan Schakowsky said the Helms amendment, a policy
introduced in 1973, was “deeply rooted in racism” and must be replaced to allow
US money to be used to support safe abortion services worldwide.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/29/democrats-introduce-bill-to-repeal-anti-abortion-rule-for-us-overseas-aid

29.07.2020

Population Connection

Mexico Supreme Court rejects state’s bid to decriminalize abortion

July 29, 2020

Mexico's Supreme Court has rejected a landmark injunction on abortion rights across the country.

The case revolved around an injunction granted in the eastern state of Veracruz, which would have effectively decriminalised termination in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-53584575

29.07.2020

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New Zealand – National MPs, pro-life groups, say abortion law too ill-defined

29 July 2020
Eleisha Foon

Pro-life groups and some National MPs believe the new abortion law is so ill-defined it allows women to end pregnancies right up to birth.

The emotive subject is back in the spotlight after National MP Harete Hipango published a Facebook post accusing the prime minister of supporting abortion up to full-term.

Continued: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/422239/national-mps-pro-life-groups-say-abortion-law-too-ill-defined

29.07.2020

anti-choice misinformation

UK – Abortion rule changes ‘have serious consequences for women’, appeal case told

A faith group is pursuing legal action against the Department for Health and Social Care.

UK News

Published:
Jul 29, 2020

Changes to abortion rules have “serious and life-changing consequences” for
women, the Court of Appeal has heard.

The Government’s decision to alter policy is “one of the most significant
amendments” in the last five decades of abortion law, according to lawyers for
Christian Concern.

Continued: https://www.expressandstar.com/news/uk-news/2020/07/29/abortion-rule-changes-have-serious-consequences-for-women-appeal-case-told/

29.07.2020

Department for Health and Social Care

Australia – Leading health and medical experts sound the alarm over telehealth restrictions

July 29, 2020
Marie McInerney

Hundreds of leading public health, nursing, midwifery and medical experts and organisations have signed an open letter urging the Federal Government to modify new restrictions on telehealth provision.

In an accompanying statement issued yesterday, the Government is warned that the changes “may already be having a devastating impact on sexual and reproductive health during the pandemic”.

Continued: https://croakey.org/leading-health-and-medical-experts-sound-the-alarm-over-telehealth-restrictions/

Abortion rates don’t drop when the procedure is outlawed. But it does make it more dangerous

Though abortion restrictions are incredibly harmful and coercive in the U.S., they aren't a primary driver in the national decline in pregnancy terminations.

July 29, 2020
By Zara Ahmed, associate director of federal issues for the Guttmacher Institute

Anti-abortion advocates working to criminalize abortion in the United States and abroad will always be stymied by a crucial fact: People everywhere want, need and find ways to get abortions.

I observed this firsthand while working as a public health adviser in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and now new research from the Guttmacher Institute demonstrates just how misguided and dangerous it is to try to limit abortion access. The data shows that abortion rates are roughly the same in countries where abortion is broadly legal and in countries where it isn't. And abortion rates are actually four times higher in low-income countries where abortion is prohibited than in high-income countries where it is broadly legal.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/abortion-rates-don-t-drop-when-procedure-outlawed-it-does-ncna1235174

USA: How Brett Kavanaugh tried to sidestep abortion and Trump financial docs cases

By Joan Biskupic, CNN legal analyst & Supreme Court biographer
Wed July 29, 2020

(CNN)Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh urged his colleagues in a series of private memos this spring to consider avoiding decisions in major disputes over abortion and Democratic subpoenas for President Donald Trump's financial records, according to multiple sources familiar with the inner workings of the court.

In the abortion controversy, Kavanaugh wanted the justices to sidestep any ruling on the merits of a Louisiana law that could have closed abortion clinics in the state, CNN has learned. The case marked the first time in four years the justices were taking up the heated subject. Kavanaugh's plan would have ensured the law -- a credentialing mandate for doctors who perform abortions -- would not go into immediate effect but also ensured that the justices would not have to put their own views on the line.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/29/politics/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-abortion-trump-documents/index.html

29.07.2020

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Mexico’s activists brace for landmark supreme court abortion ruling

The ruling could set a precedent; in states that have restrictive regulations, injunctions could be granted to allow the procedure

David Agren in Mexico City
Published on Wed 29 Jul 2020

Activists on both sides of Mexico’s abortion debate are bracing for a potentially historic supreme court hearing on Wednesday, which could lead to decriminalisation across the country.

The case before the five judges of the high court’s first bench involves an injunction granted in the eastern state of Veracruz, which ordered the local legislature to remove articles from its criminal code pertaining to abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/29/mexico-abortion-activists-supreme-court

29.07.2020

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Women in North Korea’s Detention Centers Face Sexual Abuse: UN Report

by Anya Ruppert
July 28, 2020

A report released by the UN Tuesday revealed North Korean women undergo forced labor, sexual violence, and forced abortion and infanticide in the country’s detention centers.

The report acknowledges that “over seventy years since its establishment, [North Korea] remains a closed society and leaving the country without official permission is a crime under domestic law.” However, women who manage to escape and then forcibly return or fail to flee, face extraneous inhumane punishments.

Continued: https://theglobepost.com/2020/07/28/north-korea-women/

28.07.2020

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An Abortion Doula On Canada’s Problematic Lack Of Access

Sarah Ratchford
Last Updated July 28, 2020

As an abortion doula, Shannon Hardy spends her days driving people to appointments or taking care of them afterwards. That all changed when the pandemic started. Sharing a car with a stranger, not to mention helping them convalesce, has been out of the question since COVID-19, leaving many without access to this crucial healthcare service.

Getting an abortion in Atlantic Canada, where Hardy lives, was a challenge even before coronavirus. Though abortions have been decriminalized in Canada since 1988, provinces have jurisdiction over access. As a result, where and at what point in a pregnancy you can get an abortion is influenced by the local political climate, and varies widely. Mifegymiso, the pill that induces what's called a medical abortion, is available and covered by provincial healthcare, but not every doctor will prescribe it. In some places, there's access to surgical abortions, but parts or all of it are not covered or you have to pay up front and seek reimbursement afterward.

Continued: https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/abortion-doula-canada-access

28.07.2020