South Africa: Providing safe abortion care during a national lockdown

03 July 2020
Kgaladi Mphahlele, Doctors Without Borders

In 2015, MSF surveyed 800 women between the ages of 18 and 49 in Rustenburg and found that one in four women had been raped in her lifetime, yet fewer than 5 per cent of those women reported to a health care facility. Since then, MSF has run several sexual and reproductive health programs for the community— including for survivors of sexual violence— across Bojanala district, where Rustenburg is located, in partnership with local health authorities.

In addition to community outreach and health
education in more than 20 schools in the district, MSF supports four Kgomotso
Care Centers (KCC) providing sexual violence care.

Continued: https://www.msf.org.za/stories-news/fieldworker-stories/south-africa-providing-safe-abortion-care-during-national-lockdown

Abortion during the Covid-19 Pandemic — Ensuring Access to an Essential Health Service

Abortion during the Covid-19 Pandemic — Ensuring Access to an Essential Health Service
Perspective

Michelle J. Bayefsky, B.A., Deborah Bartz, M.D., M.P.H., and Katie L. Watson, J.D.
May 7, 2020
N Engl J Med 2020; 382:e47
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp2008006

Each year, nearly 1 million women choose to end a pregnancy in the United States, and about one quarter of American women will use abortion services by 45 years of age. Women’s ability to determine whether and when they have a child has profound consequences for their self-determination and for the economic, social, and political equality of women as a group. Because access to safe abortion care is time-sensitive and vitally important, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and other reproductive health professional organizations issued an unequivocal statement on March 18, 2020, that they “do not support Covid-19 responses that cancel or delay abortion procedures.”

Continued: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2008006

USA – The Right’s Desperate Attempts to Hijack ‘My Body, My Choice’

The Right’s Desperate Attempts to Hijack ‘My Body, My Choice’
In using the message to protest efforts to protect our collective health and well-being, conservatives are exposing themselves and jeopardizing literally thousands of lives.

Apr 22, 2020
Ilyse Hogue

A viral image swept across Twitter this weekend depicting a young person in Texas protesting the state’s stay-at-home order, which is helping to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. The woman held a sign with a familiar phrase to those of us fighting for reproductive freedom: “My Body, My Choice.”

But displayed prominently alongside the line was a crossed-out face mask, the kind that medical experts, state and local officials, and even members of the Trump administration (no thanks to President Trump himself) have resoundingly said should be worn in public to protect our communities against the spread of the coronavirus.

Continued: https://rewire.news/article/2020/04/22/the-rights-desperate-attempts-to-hijack-my-body-my-choice/

USA – In some states, coronavirus measures are effectively banning abortion

In some states, coronavirus measures are effectively banning abortion
Governors and other officials are declaring abortions to be “nonessential” medical procedures.

by Miranda Yaver
March 31, 2020

As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the country, physicians and hospitals are canceling elective, nonessential surgeries and procedures to preserve health-care resources, including scarce personal protective equipment, and to limit potential patients’ exposure to the virus.

But what exactly counts as “elective?” A growing number of states are putting abortion in that category. These state efforts could affect women’s rights to terminate pregnancies for a long time to come.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/31/some-states-coronavirus-measures-are-effectively-banning-abortion/

31.03.2020

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USA – Abortion is Not Elective Surgery, and Abortions Must Continue During COVID-19 Pandemic

Abortion is Not Elective Surgery, and Abortions Must Continue During COVID-19 Pandemic

ZawnVillines
Thursday March 26, 2020

Texas this week seized the opportunity to ban abortions and blame it on COVID-19. The state banned “any type of abortion that is not medically necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother,” with no exceptions for severely ill fetuses, babies who will suffer and die at birth, rape victims, or similar groups. Ohio and Mississippi have enacted similar bans, and other states might soon follow suit.

While an abortion rights coalition that includes Texas abortion clinics has already sued to halt the Texas ban, it’s unclear how courts might rule. Moreover, federal courts are moving more slowly than ever, so even if choice advocates win, many women will be denied abortions before they do

Continued: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/26/1931445/-Abortion-is-Not-Elective-Surgery-and-Abortions-Must-Continue-During-COVID-19-Pandemic