How the Overturning of Roe Is Causing a Ripple Effect in Ethiopia

The Dobbs ruling has emboldened anti-choice groups worldwide—but it has also inspired the global community to reassert the right to choose.

July 11, 2023
by ABEBE SHIBRU

Last month marked one year since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion nationwide. The decision dealt a devastating blow to reproductive rights in the U.S.—but the fallout has reverberated far beyond U.S. borders.

In Ethiopia, where I am from, abortion has been legal under a broad range of circumstances for 18 years, empowering women to take control of their futures and saving countless lives. I am so proud of the steps the government in Ethiopia has taken to expand access to abortion over the last two decades. Still, since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the U.S. last year, these gains are looking increasingly vulnerable.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2023/07/11/ethiopia-abortion-roe-v-wade/

11.07.2023

The Forgotten Tragedy Of Unsafe Abortion

Jun 29, 2023
By Amanda Seller, President MSI United States

In the half a century that Roe v. Wade protected the right to choose in the United States, the risks of unsafe abortion became a distant memory. But in countries that liberalized their abortion laws more recently, the deadly consequences of abortion restrictions are still recent. Their experiences are an important reminder that banning abortion endangers women’s lives.

MSI Reproductive Choices is one of the world’s largest providers of sexual and reproductive healthcare, including safe abortion and care after unsafe abortions. Three providers in Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Nepal shared memories of the impact restrictive laws had on women in their countries.

Continued: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2023/06/29/the-forgotten-tragedy-of-unsafe-abortion/?sh=703c3c1a1ec7

Abortion Providers From Around the World Share the Dangers of Practicing Under Bans

7/13/2022
by MSI REPRODUCTIVE CHOICES

Over the last 30 years, 59 countries have relaxed abortion restrictions. This includes 18 countries that have overturned complete bans on abortion. In stark contrast, with Roe v. Wade overturned, the U.S. joins the ranks of only three other countries to have restricted access in that time: Poland, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

So, while the news from the U.S. is cause for alarm, it also reminds us of how far we’ve come, and why we cannot turn back the clock in countries that have liberalized abortion. The following stories of abortion providers in Cambodia, Ethiopia and Nepal of life before their countries legalized abortion show the U.S. how restricting abortion rights can endanger women’s lives.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2022/07/13/abortion-providers-bans-maternal-mortality-women-die-nepal-ethiopia-cambodia/

Roe v Wade: How People Globally Are Protesting to Support Abortion Rights & Why It Matters

Activists are highlighting the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade as a crisis for women’s health.

By Tess Lowery
May 19, 2022

Abortion rights supporters around the world reacted with outrage to the leak on May 3 of a draft opinion of a Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling which safeguarded the right to abortion across the United States.

If the court were to end protections for abortion, at least 26 US states would be certain or very likely to outlaw abortion, experts say. But as many human rights advocates and activists have highlighted, outlawing abortion does not stop abortions from happening, it just makes them more dangerous for those seeking them.

Continued: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/roe-v-wade-how-people-globally-are-protesting-to-s/

US supreme court abortion reversal would be global ‘catastrophe’ for women

If Roe v Wade is overturned, it will encourage anti-choice groups – particularly in the developing world, activists warn

Wed 18 May 2022
The Guardian

The probable demise of abortion as a federal right in the US will be a “catastrophe” for women in low and middle-income countries, with an emboldened anti-choice movement likely to raise renewed pressure on hard-won gains, doctors and activists have warned.

The leak this month of the US supreme court’s draft majority opinion, which argued that the 1973 ruling effectively legalising abortion had been “egregiously wrong from the start”, stunned and enraged many in America.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/may/18/us-supreme-court-abortion-reversal-would-be-global-catastrophe-for-women

‘You can’t just remove the damage of the last four years’

Reproductive rights groups cautiously welcome Biden's reversal of Trump's abortion access restrictions

By Kara Fox and Nicole Gaouette, CNN
Sat January 30, 2021

For more than four years, countries that rely on American foreign aid have been reeling from the profound impact that Donald Trump's reinstatement of the Mexico City policy has had on women.

The policy, known as the "global gag rule" among opponents, prevents non-government organizations that provide abortions, give counseling about abortions, or advocate for safe access to abortion from receiving US funding.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/30/world/biden-abortion-mexico-city-policy-intl/index.html

The Pandemic And Legal Abortion: What Happens When Access Is Limited?

The Pandemic And Legal Abortion: What Happens When Access Is Limited?

June 8, 2020
Isabella Gomez Sarmiento

In April, Johanna Cruz terminated her pregnancy with drugs obtained through a telemedicine consultation.

Abortion is legal in Colombia. And Cruz, a street performer from Chile who was backpacking through the Colombian state of Antioquia, did not feel she was in a position to raise a child. She didn't have a steady income or stable housing. And with stay-at-home orders in place to control the spread of coronavirus, she found herself facing homelessness in the town of San Rafael and unable to travel to Medellin, the nearest city with an abortion clinic.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/06/08/864970278/lockdown-limits-access-to-legal-abortion-in-colombia-telemedicine-is-now-an-opti

Lockdown Keeps Millions of Women from Getting Birth Control

Lockdown Keeps Millions of Women from Getting Birth Control

April 16, 2020
by VOA

Stay-at-home orders aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus have made it impossible for millions of women in Africa, Asia and elsewhere to get birth control.

The women have no idea when they will be permitted to go out again to get access to birth control or other reproductive health needs.

Continued: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/lockdown-keeps-millions-of-women-from-getting-birth-control/5367306.html

U.S. President’s Global Gag Rule is Having Negative Impact on the Health of Malawians: Report

U.S. President’s Global Gag Rule is Having Negative Impact on the Health of Malawians: Report

By Samira Sadeque

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 19 2020 (IPS) - A report released last week has detailed the complex ways in which President Donald Trump’s ‘Global Gag Rule’ (GGR), that blocks U.S. global health assistance to foreign non-governmental facilities providing abortion or abortion-related services, is affecting the population in Malawi, a country already hard hit with numerous climate change disasters.

The report, titled ‘A Powerful Force: U.S. Global Health Assistance and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Malawi’ was released on Feb. 10 by Washington, D.C.-based sexual and reproductive health rights organisation CHANGE, the Center for Health and Gender Equity.

Continued: http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/02/u-s-presidents-global-gag-rule-negative-impact-health-malawians-report/