Papua New Guinea: Eliminate Unsafe Abortion

BY: Loop Author
August 6, 2021

Marie Stopes PNG, the country’s largest provider of family planning and sexual and reproductive health services says more needs to be done to eliminate unsafe abortion in PNG.

MSPNG Country Director, Dr David Ayres raised concerns in relation to an incident recently reported in the news about a young lady, only 16-years old, who lost her life because of an unplanned pregnancy, which she was trying to abort.

Continued: https://www.looppng.com/png-news/eliminate-unsafe-abortion-103043


This Is How Contraception Saves Women’s Lives In The Asia-Pacific

This Is How Contraception Saves Women's Lives In The Asia-Pacific

"Being able to avoid an unwanted pregnancy could be the difference between life and death.”
Posted on November 21, 2017
Gina Rushton, BuzzFeed News Reporter, Australia

Around 214 million women of reproductive age in developing regions across the world want to access modern methods of contraception but can’t, estimates Marie Stopes International (MSI) Australia, a non-profit social enterprise providing access to reproductive health services in the Asia Pacific region.

Around 43% of pregnancies in developing regions are unintended and 13% of global maternal mortality is due to unsafe abortion.

Continued at source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ginarushton/this-is-how-contraception-saves-womens-lives-in-the-asia


Papua New Guinea: Urgent Appeal for Support for Leoba Devana and James Channel

Urgent Appeal for Support

Leoba Devana, jailed for the unlawful killing of her unborn child. In January 2015, Leoba Davana and her husband, James Channel, made the difficult decision to terminate their pregnancy. Living in extreme poverty in a remote area of Papua New Guinea (PNG) with two young children, no access to contraception, and having previously experienced a life threatening pregnancy, they did not feel able to care for another child at this time.

After consulting a local health worker who assisted Leoba with procuring drugs to initiate a miscarriage Leoba suffered two days of bleeding and other medical complications. She therefore returned to the clinic, where the police were summoned.

In October 2015 both Leoba and James were sentenced by the National Court in Arawa to five years in jail.

The couple are the first in Papua New Guinea to be imprisoned as a result of terminating a pregnancy. They were charged not for procuring an abortion, but rather, for the “unlawful killing of an unborn child.”

[continued at link]

Source: Marie Stopes


Papua New Guinea: Urgent Request for Donations towards Costs of Appeal against Five-Year Sentence for Abortion

Safe Motherhood Alliance, PNG VISUALS: Leoba Davana + James Channel

In January 2015, Leoba Davana and her husband, James Channel, made the difficult decision to terminate their pregnancy. Living in extreme poverty in a remote area of Papua New Guinea with two young children, no access to contraception, and having previously experienced a life-threatening pregnancy, they did not feel able to care for another child at this time.

After consulting a local health worker who assisted Leoba with procuring medications to cause a miscarriage, Leoba suffered two days of bleeding and other complications, and returned to the clinic, where the police were summoned.

In October 2015 both Leoba and James were sentenced by the National Court in Arawa to five years in jail.

The couple are the first in Papua New Guinea to be imprisoned as a result of terminating a pregnancy. They were charged not for procuring an abortion, but rather, for the “unlawful killing of an unborn child”.

The case has shocked senior medical, legal and human rights experts across the country. It sets a concerning precedent, given the very high numbers of unsafe abortions that take place each year in Papua New Guinea and could impact future impact to services and the lives of thousands of women and girls.

Unless the sentence is overturned, the precedent will likely jeopardise efforts to provide access to comprehensive post-abortion care, education and family planning services that are so critical for reducing maternal deaths in PNG.

PNG has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world (733 deaths per 100,000 births), with an estimated one in ten due to unsafe abortion. Only a quarter of women of reproductive age are able to access a modern method of contraception and women continue to face high levels of poverty, violence, illiteracy and poor access to basic health services.

PNG’s abortion laws are some of the most restrictive in the region. The Criminal Code (originating from 1865 and included unchanged in the independent State of PNG legal code at independence in 1975) articulates that the provision of abortion is illegal, unless the continuation of the pregnancy is a significant threat to the woman’s physical or mental health. It must also be managed by a registered health practitioner and recommended by another health practitioner.

However, a critical shortage of doctors and a largely rural population (nearly 90% of people live outside major towns) mean that the ability to obtain an abortion, even under these permissions is limited or impossible for the majority of women in PNG.

Their case will be reviewed by the PNG Supreme Court in the coming weeks.  

Funds are urgently requested to help cover legal costs. To date K16,593.94 has been raised of the required K50,000. Please support them by donating at:

Account Name: Safe Motherhood Alliance PNG
Bank: ANZ, Harbour City, NCD, Papua New Guinea
BSP: 018-912
Account Number: 14402886
Swift Code: ANZBPGPX
Ref: SvD
E-mail: catherinef@safemotherhood.org.pg
Phone: +675 71578795

Original Source: Safe Motherhood Alliance, PNG VISUALS: Leoba Davana + James Channel

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Source: International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion