Nigeria: Unsafe abortion: Taming a leading, silent killer

Yinka Adeniran, Ibadan
March 18, 2024

There have been complaints about the rate at which women and girls die as a result of unsafe abortions. To tame this silent killer, experts and stakeholders in the Sexual Reproductive Health sector converged on Ibadan, the Oyo State capital to ruminate on how to do more for women and girls. YINKA ADENIRAN looks at the issue and efforts to tame the menace of unsafe abortion among women and girls.

For months, Sola Oduwole (pseudonym) could not forgive herself. She felt guilty as she felt she had a role to play in what had befallen her family. She just lost a sister (Olawunmi) who underwent surgery to cut off one of her breasts after she was diagnosed of breast cancer. Painfully, she died weeks after the surgery.

Continued: https://thenationonlineng.net/unsafe-abortion-taming-a-leading-silent-killer/


Breaking the Silence: Abortion Rights in Kenya

WATCH: Our documentary investigates Kenya’s hidden crisis, claiming the lives of more than 2,000 people a year

18 March 2024
Open Democracy
Film:  45 minutes

Legal ambiguity over abortions in Kenya pushes thousands of women into unsafe reproductive health care services each year. It’s a hidden crisis that has claimed the lives of over 2,000 people annually, while many more end up facing life-altering complications.

In this openDemocracy/BBC joint investigation, Linda Ngari explores how abortion is shrouded in stigma and misinformation, with desperate women turning to dangerous methods.

Who is responsible for this public health crisis and what can be done to save these lives? Interviewing Kenyan women, doctors, campaigners and religious groups, Ngari breaks the taboo around abortion – and shows how controversial ‘crisis pregnancy centres’ have been allowed to flourish.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/breaking-the-silence-abortion-rights-kenya/


Malawi: Young Girls Bear the Brunt of Unsafe Abortions in Blantyre

11 MARCH 2024
Centre for Solutions Journalism (Blantyre)
By Penelope Paliani Kamanga

Blantyre — Data from Blantyre District Health Office shows that the majority of people seeking post-abortion care are young girls. Of the 2003 reported cases that were treated for post-abortion care from unsafe abortions in the last quarter of 2023, a staggering 1003 were under the age of 20, while 1000 were slightly over 20 years old.

Blantyre-based youth activist Rebecca Majamanda said the figures highlight the vulnerability of adolescent girls and young women to the risks associated with unsafe abortion practices, including severe health complications and death.

Continued: https://allafrica.com/stories/202403110028.html


South Africa – Abortion: The good, the bad and the unsafe

Zandile Khumalo
11 March 2024

"ABORTION will happen whether society believes it or not, but we need to make sure that women stay alive." This is what activist and founder of Abortion Support South Africa, Gaopalelwe Phalaetsile, said amid the continued existence of illegal abortions.

As the world celebrated International Women’s Day on 8 March, Daily Sun rings the alarm on backstreet abortions, challenges in accessing legal pregnancy terminations and the stigmas that still exist.

Continued: https://www.snl24.com/dailysun/news/illegal-abortions-persist-despite-risks-and-activist-gaopalelwe-phalaetsile-raises-awareness-20240311


Uganda – Family Medical Point rescues Kigungu women from death caused by unsafe abortions

NELSON MANDELA | PML Daily Reporter
March 10, 2024

ENTEBBE – Namakula Josephine is a sex worker in Kigungu landing site, Entebbe. She says in 2023, a client deliberately broke a condom thereby impregnating her.

As a poor lady, she was advised by a friend to use herbal medicine to remove the unwanted baby because she couldn’t raise money for a safe abortion. Little did she know this could cost her life.

“I got a lot of complications, bled a lot, and even some foetus parts remained inside which started rotting,” she narrated.

Continued:  https://www.pmldaily.com/news/2024/03/celebrating-a-woman-family-medical-point-rescues-kigungu-women-from-death-caused-by-unsafe-abortions.html


Malawi Activists Lobby for Abortion Law Reforms

March 10, 2024
By Chimwemwe Padatha
Video: 2:48 minutes

In Malawi, 35,000 backstreet abortions were carried out in 2022 and 2023, according to its Ministry of Health. These unsafe procedures are just one reason support for abortion rights has increased in recent years. Chimwemwe Padatha has more from Lilongwe.

Continued: https://www.voanews.com/a/malawi-activists-lobby-for-abortion-law-reforms/7521799.html


Nigeria – Stakeholders seek access to reproductive justice for women

By Ijeoma Thomas-Odia
09 March 2024

As Lagos ranks third with high rate of unsafe abortion, with Rivers and Kano coming first and second respectively, stakeholders championing women’s rights in Nigeria are seeking strategic litigation on unsafe abortion, and maternal health. The critical stakeholders including legal experts, healthcare professionals and Civil Society Organisations have also called for a lift on suspension on Legal Indications on Safe Abortion by the Lagos government as rape and incest cases rises.
Continued: https://guardian.ng/guardian-woman/stakeholders-seek-access-to-reproductive-justice-for-women/


Ugandan Women Risk Their Lives to Access Abortion

“Many girls are dying because we have chosen to ignore them.”

Friday, 8 March, 2024
Culton Scovia Nakamya

For Jovia (not her real name), 2023 was the worst year of her life. The 20-year-old business student was gang-raped at a drunken house party in the Kampala suburb of Kansanga and six weeks later realised that she was pregnant.

“I wondered what I am going to tell my parents. For God’s sake, I am just in my second semester of year one, and I didn’t know who did it,” she said.

Her options were limited, as abortion is illegal in Uganda except under rare circumstances. She confided in a female friend, who suggested they visit the Kampala suburb of Nakulabye, an area known as a hub of clinics that administer clandestine abortions, mostly to students.

Continued: https://iwpr.net/global-voices/ugandan-women-risk-their-lives-access-abortion


IWD: Prioritize Women’s Lives, Reinstate Safe Termination Guidelines- Group Tells Govt

By Titilope Joseph
On Mar 6, 2024

In commemoration of the International Women’s day, the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), a non-governmental Organization on Wednesday led  over 500 women groups and communities on a Walk to demand the reinstatement of the repealed Lagos State Guidelines on Safe Termination of Pregnancies.

WARDC and  Over 500 women from various groups, communities and religious backgrounds made the demand during a peaceful walk that  was held On March , 2024 in Ikeja, Lagos.

Continued: https://independent.ng/iwd-prioritize-womens-lives-reinstate-safe-termination-guidelines-group-tells-govt/


Nigeria – Safe Abortion: Groups want Sanwo-Olu to reinstate suspended guideline

The campaigner said unsafe abortion in Nigeria constitutes 10 per cent of the global maternal death rate and stands as the country’s second leading cause of maternal mortality.

By Mariam Ileyemi 
February 26, 2024

Women groups and representatives of civil society organisations led by the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) have appealed to the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to reinstate the suspended guidelines on safe termination of pregnancy.

The groups in a webinar on Monday said the guidelines are important to make provision for termination of pregnancy in cases of incest, rape, and sexual and gender-based violence.

Continued: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/672011-safe-abortion-groups-want-sanwo-olu-to-reinstate-suspended-guideline.html