Breaking the Silence: Abortion Rights in Kenya – BBC Africa Eye documentary

BBC News Africa
Nov 26, 2023
Film:  45 minutes

Across the world, debates are raging about access to safe abortion. Complications from unsafe, backstreet procedures are a leading cause of maternal death in developing countries. In Kenya, where almost two-thirds of pregnancies are unintended, unregulated terminations are estimated to claim the lives of over 2,000 women every year.

BBC Africa Eye reporter Linda Ngari investigates a hidden crisis that has led to an estimated seven Kenyan women dying from unsafe abortions every day, with many more facing life-altering complications.

Continued: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI3AKMFgVKQ


Opposing parties answer AG in case on Guam abortion ban

John O'Connor | The Guam Daily Post
Oct 30, 2023

Parties opposed to the attorney general's attempt at reviving a decades-old abortion ban on Guam argue that the AG is essentially looking to reset the field at this stage because he failed to lay down specific arguments earlier at a lower court. Additional arguments from the opposition bring up free speech issues imposed by the ban, and comment further that recent changes in the U.S. Supreme Court's position on abortion do nothing to change the unconstitutionality of such provisions.

Guam's abortion ban is found in Public Law 20-134. The ban prohibits abortions at all stages of pregnancy with limited exceptions related to medical intervention and ectopic pregnancies. Victims of rape and incest, for example, are not exempt under the ban unless they meet those limited exceptions. The ban also contains a referendum provision, allowing voters to determine if the ban should stay, but the election date has long passed.

Continued: https://www.postguam.com/news/local/opposing-parties-answer-ag-in-case-on-guam-abortion-ban/article_77bec528-76b6-11ee-9d63-9bf2dc9a7396.html


Bahamas – Activist hits out at government over abortion issue

Friday, October 20, 2023
By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

ACTIVIST Alicia Wallace has renewed calls for the government to decriminalise abortion, urging the Davis administration to stop playing “cowardly” games.

This week, Press Secretary Keishla Adderley said the government would consider amending abortion laws if there is sufficient outcry from the public, saying: “I can’t tell you that there is an active discussion on changing the laws related to abortion, specifically, the terms under which one can legally have an abortion.

Continued: http://www.tribune242.com/news/2023/oct/20/activist-hits-out-government-over-abortion-issue/


Malta – Abortion change that preserved the status quo

In stark contrast, the Diluted Amendment limits the scope of who may access the necessary treatment, since it requires that the life or health of the patient must be ‘in grave jeopardy which may lead to death’

Neil Muscat
14 October 2023

In the past months, Malta has witnessed the diluted version of Bill 28 (the ‘Diluted Amendment’) (Act XXII of 2023) signed into law by the President.

Prime Minister Robert Abela had touted the former Criminal Code amendment (the ‘Original Amendment’) as a way to protect women's lives and health, saying these principles were ‘non-negotiable'.

Continued: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/comment/blogs/125229/abortion_change_that_preserved_the_status_quo__neil_muscat


‘This is not the endgame’: abortion clinic buffer zones come into effect in Northern Ireland

‘I’ve been spat on, I’ve been abused,’ says former Green Party leader Clare Bailey, who used to volunteer at a private Belfast clinic

Seanín Graham
Sat Sep 30 2023

On one of Belfast’s busiest streets, Clare Bailey is blinking away tears. Looking up at signage attached to a lamp-post around the corner from an NHS clinic providing abortions, she breaks into a smile. Her daughter, Jude, insists on taking her photograph.

It is seven years since Bailey, a former Northern Ireland Green Party leader and Assembly member, tabled a Private Members’ Bill at Stormont calling for the introduction of so-called buffer zones to prevent anti-abortion protests and harassment outside healthcare facilities offering terminations.

Contiuned: https://www.irishtimes.com/health/2023/09/30/this-is-not-the-endgame-abortion-clinic-buffer-zones-comes-into-effect-in-northern-ireland/


Venezuelan Women Fight for Sexual and Reproductive Rights Amid a Humanitarian Crisis

The country has one of the most restrictive laws in the region while girls and women are particularly affected by scarcity, inflation and violence

Victoria Capriles
September 29, 2023

In recent years, the Green Wave movement has swept over Latin America, demanding the legalization and decriminalization of abortion. While it started in Argentina in 2018 –when feminists used the white scarfs traditionally worn by the anti-dictatorship Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo as an inspiration, but changing them to green due to the color being nonpartisan– the movement has been pivotal in achieving the decriminalization of abortion to different degrees in countries like Argentina, Mexico and Colombia. In Venezuela, the Green Wave arrived in 2021. Renamed as Ruta Verde (Green Route), it was supported by grassroots-feminist organizations, more than 25 local NGOs and more than a dozen of independent activists.

Continued https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2023/09/29/venezuelan-women-fight-for-sexual-and-reproductive-rights-amid-a-humanitarian-crisis/


Americas: Brazil can become the next country to step up to guarantee the right to abortion

Amnesty International
September 28, 2023

To mark International Safe Abortion Day on 28 September, Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International, said:

“Despite the green wave’s numerous victories in the Americas over the last few years, the rights gained and the opportunities to expand abortion protections are under attack by anti-rights actors. The overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States last year was a wakeup call for the movement, reminding us once more that the fight to defend and expand our rights must be ongoing.”

Continued: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/09/americas-brazil-right-to-safe-abortions/


The US Supreme Court took away abortion rights. Mexico’s high court just did the opposite.

Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY
Sept 9, 2023

A ruling this week by Mexico’s Supreme Court to decriminalize abortion continues a broadening push in recent years to expand abortion access in Latin America, placing the region more in line with global reproductive-rights trends than the United States, where Roe v. Wade was struck down last year.

Counter-intuitively, the Mexican court's decision toward opening up abortion access comes in a country with lower support for abortion rights than in the United States, where abortion access has been widely restricted in recent months.

Continued: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/09/09/mexicos-highest-court-opened-up-abortion-rights/70797288007/


EXPLAINER: Abortion access has expanded but remains difficult in Mexico. How does it work now?

Fabiola Sanchez, The Associated Press
Sep 08, 2023

MEXICO CITY — The decision by Mexico’s Supreme Court ending federal criminal penalties for abortion was a boost to activists who waged decades-long campaigns for safe abortion access nationwide. The mostly Catholic country still has significant barriers to overcome before Mexican women gain universal access.

Twenty of Mexico ‘s 32 states have laws classifying abortion as a crime that allow exceptions only in cases of rape. Some also include exceptions if the mother’s life is in danger, or if there are severe fetal anomalies.

Continued: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/explainer-abortion-access-has-expanded-but-remains-difficult-in-mexico-how-does-it-work-now


Mexican Supreme Court’s abortion decision expands access to millions, stands in contrast to US

By Fabiola Sánchez And Megan Janetsky, The Associated Press
Sep 7, 2023

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The decision by Mexico’s Supreme Court to invalidate all federal criminal penalties for abortion opened access for millions of people in the sprawling public health system a year after the court’s U.S. counterpart went in the opposite direction.

Wednesday’s ruling did not have the same immediate impact as Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing women’s access to abortion. But it was a dramatic change in this predominantly Catholic nation that could lend momentum to efforts to legalize abortion across the country.

Continued: https://apnews.com/article/mexico-abortion-decriminalize-supreme-court-82cd9798abe91106fda1e7afddf91c34