After Bans, American Women Turn To An Abortion Hotline

By Diane Desobeau, with Lucie Aubourg in Washington

June 18, 2023

The phone has been ringing nonstop for a year. Linda Prine, a New York doctor, repeats her advice on a loop: "Make sure you're drinking plenty of fluids;" "Take some ibuprofen;" "Everything's fine, you can relax."

The Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline, which Prine co-founded, is now staffed by around 70 health care professionals on a voluntary rotational basis, providing advice and fielding questions from American women seeking to end their pregnancies.

Continued: https://www.barrons.com/news/after-bans-american-women-turn-to-an-abortion-hotline-921b4c72


USA – ShortList 2020: ‘Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa’ Filmmakers on Urgent Need to Make the Short (Video)

Documentary follows counselors working for a Philadelphia abortion helpline who try to help women seeking to end a pregnancy but can’t afford to

Beatrice Verhoeven
August 8, 2020

After the 2016 election, filmmakers Janet Goldwater, Barbara Attie and Mike Attie said they felt a sense or urgency to make “Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa,” a short documentary about counselors working for a Philadelphia abortion hotline who try to help women seeking to end a pregnancy but can’t afford it.

“‘Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa’ was conceived with a sense of urgency in the aftermath of the 2016 election,” Goldwater said of the film, a finalist for TheWrap’s ShortList Film Festival. “Barbara and I surveyed the bleak political scenario for an untold “story” that would shed a light on the increased suffering we feared this presidency would bring. We settled on the growing threats to reproductive rights, a topic we have explored in a number of feature documentaries in the past 25 years.”

Continued:  https://www.thewrap.com/shortlist-2020-abortion-helpline-this-is-lisa-filmmakers-on-urgent-need-to-make-the-short-video/


Las Comadres Is Fighting to Make Abortion Safe in Ecuador—Even While It’s Illegal

Las Comadres Is Fighting to Make Abortion Safe in Ecuador — Even While It’s Illegal
The group represents a new tactic in abortion-rights activism, which skirts legal restrictions and the often risky surgical procedures that defined clandestine abortions in the past.

By Zoë Carpenter
May 2, 2019

Quito, Ecuador — The first time Tamia Maldonado accompanied a woman through an abortion, she was just 18. They met at a lush, quiet park near the center of the city. There, Maldonado explained how to order the pills online, through a Dutch NGO that provides them cheaply and safely. Maldonado told the woman how to take them, what to expect afterwards, and what symptoms might indicate that something had gone awry. She gave her a pamphlet with instructions and the number for a lawyer, just in case.

Continued: https://www.thenation.com/article/abortion-activism-prosecutions-ecuador/


Support Networks ‘Invaluable’ for Mexican Women Seeking Illegal Abortions

Support Networks ‘Invaluable’ for Mexican Women Seeking Illegal Abortions
In Mexico, where most states ban abortion completely, women seeking that procedure find support networks on their own.

Marissa Revilla Senior Reporter
May 1, 2019

A note about this series: Global Press Journal reporters around the world examined their communities’ approaches to reproductive health, including values and priorities and how international policies impact them. Read the other stories in this month-long series here.

SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS, MEXICO — Already a mother and just a few weeks pregnant again, Cinthia N., 26, was certain she wanted to get an abortion. She was in a relationship with a violent man, she says, and didn’t want to bring another child into that situation.

But abortion is largely illegal in Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost state. Involvement in an abortion, whether as the pregnant woman or as someone assisting, can lead to jail time.

Continued: https://globalpressjournal.com/americas/mexico/support-networks-invaluable-mexican-women-seeking-illegal-abortions/


USA – This Self-Managed Abortion Helpline Will Answer All Your Legal Questions About The Procedure

This Self-Managed Abortion Helpline Will Answer All Your Legal Questions About The Procedure

By Madhuri Sathish
Oct 30, 2018

As abortion access in the U.S. has become increasingly restricted, more Americans have turned to self-managed abortions, such as those induced by abortion pills. In order to help people concerned about navigating the legality of terminating their pregnancies themselves, a team of lawyers launched an abortion helpline on Tuesday that aims to serve as a free and confidential resource.

The SIA Legal Team, which works to give people increased self-determination in their reproductive lives, is behind the helpline (844-868-2812) and website. Jill Adams, the group's founder and strategy director, tells Bustle the helpline is designed for "anyone who has ended their own pregnancy and been questioned by the authorities or fears they might be questioned by the authorities in relation to their abortion."

Continued: https://www.bustle.com/p/this-self-managed-abortion-helpline-will-answer-all-your-legal-questions-about-the-procedure-12993045


Indonesia – New research shows abortions with support of non-medically trained counselors could offer safe alternative for women in legally-restrictive contexts

New research shows abortions with support of non-medically trained counselors could offer safe alternative for women in legally-restrictive contexts
July 18, 2018

A new study published by Ibis in BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health shows that a safe-abortion hotline staffed by trained abortion counselors can help women who are more than 12 weeks pregnant to safely self-manage medication abortion. Results suggest that this model has the potential to be as effective as providing medication abortion in a clinic and could provide a safe option for women who need an abortion after 12 weeks in restrictive legal settings.

“Even in places where abortion is legal, structural and institutional barriers can delay women from accessing abortion care. These barriers are even greater in contexts where abortion is legally restricted,” said Caitlin Gerdts, PhD, vice president for research at Ibis and lead author of the study.

Continued: https://ibisreproductivehealth.org/news/new-research-shows-abortions-support-non-medically-trained-counselors-could-offer-safe


Safe Abortion Information Hotlines

Safe Abortion Information Hotlines

All the hotlines listed below provide free, safe and reliable information about unwanted pregnancy, abortion and post-abortion care, and many also provide information about contraception and emergency contraception. Hotline volunteers have been trained and provide accurate information from reliable sources in confidence, especially the World Health Organization. They are aware of national laws and policies, and the situation for services. They can advise women on how to use medical abortion pills safely, and how to seek help if it is needed.

Please contact us if you know of a hotline number that is not listed here – it may save a woman’s life.

Continued at source: International Campaign foc Women's Right to Safe Abortion: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/safe-abortion-3/safe-abortion-information-hotlines/


Abortion in Pakistan: struggling to support a woman’s right to choose

Abortion in Pakistan: struggling to support a woman's right to choose

Lack of legal clarity forces thousands of women to endure backstreet abortions in Pakistan. A helpline is providing information and support, but fears losing funding after Trump reinstated the global gag rule

by Sana Saleem
Monday 30 January 2017

Sonia woke up in a dingy room with searing pain in her stomach. All she remembered was being accompanied by her husband to a clinic for an ultrasound. She’d recently found out she was pregnant; her husband had often been abusive and didn’t react well to the news. Today was supposed to be different: he insisted on going to the clinic so he could see the scan and Sonia hoped that reflected a change of heart.

However, slowly Sonia realised she had been drugged and given an abortion without her consent at a private clinic. It took years for her to come to terms with the violence she suffered.

[continued at link]
Source, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jan/30/abortion-in-pakistan-struggling-to-support-a-womans-right-to-choose