USA – Measuring the long-term cost of restricting abortion access

By Annalisa Merelli
Oct. 17, 2023

When Diana Greene Foster and her team at the University of California, San Francisco, started their study on the lives of women who were denied abortions in 2008, they sought to investigate a rather commonly held view: That having an abortion hurt women’s mental and physical health, including by leading to PTSD and drug and alcohol use disorder.

A series of laws had been passed based on this belief, introducing compulsory counseling and waiting periods for people seeking abortions, thereby adding barriers to accessing the procedure, especially for patients with lower incomes who couldn’t afford repeated time off work, travel, and associated costs such as child care.

Continued: https://www.statnews.com/2023/10/17/harms-from-restricting-abortion-access-research/

17.10.2023

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

USA – Women denied abortion more likely to be in a poor-quality relationship 5 years later compared to those allowed to abort

by Vladimir Hedrih
September 29, 2023

A study analyzing women who sought abortions discovered that one week after the request, there was a 58% likelihood of the women remaining in a relationship with the man involved in the conception. This number dropped to 27% five years post-request. Importantly, women denied an abortion demonstrated significantly higher chances of being in a substandard romantic relationship five years on, in comparison to their counterparts who had abortions. The study was published in Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Abortion, a procedure terminating a pregnancy before the fetus can live outside the womb, is usually conducted within the first 24 weeks of gestation. It can be pursued for diverse reasons, from medical imperatives to personal choices. The procedure frequently becomes a contentious point in public discussions, which encompass women’s reproductive rights, ethical dilemmas, and the legalities governing abortion accessibility.

Continued: https://www.psypost.org/2023/09/women-denied-abortion-more-likely-to-be-in-a-poor-quality-relationship-5-years-later-compared-to-those-allowed-to-abort-213868

29.09.2023

Research

abortion and relationship quality

abortion denial

Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health

USA – ‘Conscience’ bills let medical providers opt out of providing a wide range of care

Carly Graf, KFF Health News
July 31, 2023

A new Montana law will provide sweeping legal protections to health care practitioners who refuse to prescribe marijuana or participate in procedures and treatments such as abortion, medically assisted death, gender-affirming care, or others that run afoul of their ethical, moral, or religious beliefs or principles.

The law, which goes into effect in October, will gut patients’ ability to take legal action if they believe they didn’t receive proper care due to a conscientious objection by a provider or an institution, such as a hospital.

Continued: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/07/31/conscience-bills-healthcare-providers-not-give-medical-care/70470186007/

India – “Baby Will Be Born Alive”: Court Rejects Abortion For Girl, 17, At 24 Weeks

A division bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Y G Khobragade, in its order on July 26, noted the girl would turn 18 this month and that she was in a consensual relationship with the boy since December 2022.

India News Press Trust of India
July 31, 2023

Mumbai: The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has refused permission to a 17-year-old girl to abort her 24-week pregnancy, saying it was the result of a consensual relationship and the baby would be born alive at this stage.

Continued: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/baby-will-be-born-alive-bombay-high-court-rejects-abortion-for-girl-17-at-24-weeks-4254783

31.07.2023

News

abortion denial

Bombay High Court

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act

USA – Abortion Denied: Reproductive Injustice Behind Bars

"[This situation] should make you wonder whether we, as a society, should be incarcerating pregnant people in the first place.”

VICTORIA LAW
July 28, 2023

K.Winston didn’t know she was pregnant when she entered the Cuyahoga County Jail. The intake process required a test for tuberculosis, one that typically involves injecting a fluid beneath the skin. Winston is allergic to that fluid, so jail staff planned to X-ray her instead.

First, they gave her a pregnancy test. Then, they told her, “We can’t do the test because you’re pregnant. You can go back to your [housing unit],” she said.

Continued: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/abortion-denied-reproductive-injustice/

28.07.2023

Commentary

abortion denial

abortion denied in prison

Advocacy and Research on Reproductive Wellness of Incarcerated People

American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska

belief-based care denial

USA – Malpractice lawsuits over denied abortion care may be on the horizon

Sunday, June 25, 2023
Harris Meyer

A year after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, many physicians and hospitals in the states that have restricted abortion reportedly are refusing to end the pregnancies of women facing health-threatening complications out of fear they might face criminal prosecution or loss of their medical license.

Some experts predict those providers could soon face a new legal threat: medical malpractice lawsuits alleging they harmed patients by failing to provide timely, necessary abortion care.

Continued: https://www.capradio.org/articles/2023/06/25/malpractice-lawsuits-over-denied-abortion-care-may-be-on-the-horizon/

Tennessee woman gets emergency hysterectomy after doctors deny early abortion care

Tennessee's ban went into effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

By Nadine El-Bawab
May 31, 2023

Mayron Hollis said she had just started taking contraceptives when she found out she was pregnant again a few months after giving birth in February 2022. Despite the surprise, Hollis and her husband say they were excited about the pregnancy and eager to add another child to their growing family.

Hollis, 32, had no idea the excitement would turn into a fight for her baby's life and her own.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/US/tennessee-woman-gets-emergency-hysterectomy-after-doctors-deny/story?id=99457461

31.05.2023

Texas Forced This Woman to Give Birth to a Stillborn Son. She’s Suing

Tessa Stuart
Mon, May 22, 2023

After multiple miscarriages, Kiersten Hogan thought she would never be able to carry a pregnancy to term. She’d nearly given up hope when in June 2021 she learned she was pregnant. But at just 19 weeks — days after Texas’ Senate Bill 8 went into effect — Hogan woke up at 5 a.m. in excruciating pain. She called 911 and was instructed to unlock her front door and lay on the ground until EMTs arrived. “It was the longest 5 minutes of my life,” Hogan recalled on Monday.

Her water had broken. By the time she arrived at the hospital, she had lost too much amniotic fluid for her son to survive — but hospital staff didn’t tell her that. “They didn’t tell me much about my son’s chances of survival. But the one thing they did make clear repeatedly was that I should not leave,” a tearful Hogan said Monday. “I was told that if I tried to discharge myself, or seek care elsewhere, that I could be arrested for trying to kill my child. So of course, I stayed.”

Continued https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/texas-forced-woman-birth-stillborn-182841209.html

Outcry in Poland over abortion law

Two Polish hospitals refused to terminate the pregnancy of an underage rape victim. The case has sparked controversy over the country's restrictive legislation, with women's rights activists insisting it must be eased.

Jacek Lepiarz
February 5, 2023

A scandal is raging in Polish politics and in the media, concering the shocking case of a 14-year-old rape victim. The girl, who is from the Podlaskie region in northeastern Poland and has mental disabilities, was raped by her own uncle and became pregnant as a result. She was unaware of her condition, but her aunt noticed it and tried to help her get an abortion.

Although the girl had written confirmation from the public prosecutor that she was pregnant as the result of a crime, which gave her the right to a legal abortion, two hospitals in the region refused to carry out the procedure. The province of Podlaskie on the Belarusian border is a bastion of the right-wing conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS), which has been in power in Poland since 2015.

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/poland-outcry-over-abortion-law/a-64586531

Italy – Feminists protest against Meloni over abortion rights

By Federica Pascale | EURACTIV.it
Nov 27, 2022

Feminists protested in Rome against new Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, calling her a fascist and saying her government threatens the right to abortion in the country.

The protest aimed first at decrying the violence perpetrated against women and showing support for Iranian women but turned into denouncing Meloni’s government which protesters claimed threatened the right to abortion.

Continued: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/feminists-protest-against-meloni-over-abortion-rights/

27.11.2022