Vietnam – Teenagers lack knowledge about reproductive health

SGGP
February 21, 2023

Some medical experts believed that minors lack basic knowledge and skills on protection and care for reproductive and sexual health, so they easily become victims of sexual abuse, leading to bad consequences. Lack of parents' and relatives’ care and schooling also worsened the problem.

According to the World Health Organization, children entering adolescence are going through many physical and psychological changes like exploring their own capabilities and expanding many new relationships. Teenagers having early sexual intercourse have a higher risk of sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancy, and unsafe abortion.

Continued: https://www.sggpnews.org.vn/teenagers-lack-knowledge-about-reproductive-health-post100396.html

India – Child Marriages, Unplanned Pregnancies And Unsafe Abortions Still High In Rajasthan, Warns Expert

Nearly 15 of every 1,000 adolescent girls in Rajasthan aged undergo induced abortions annually, 60% of these abortions are 'unsafe', reveals an NGO.

Longjam Dineshwori
November 3, 2021

Women with unwanted pregnancies often resort to unsafe abortion when they do not have access to safe abortion. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 50% of all abortions worldwide are unsafe, and almost all of these unsafe abortions take place in developing countries. Unsafe abortions are a critical reproductive-health issue in the Indian state of Rajasthan, said Divya Santhanam, Senior State Program Manager, Population Foundation of India.

Based on data from a recent study, the NGO noted that 35% of women aged 20-24 years in Rajasthan reported getting married before 18 years of age, which is quite high compared to the national average of 26%. Nearly 15 of every 1,000 girls in Rajasthan in the age group 15-19 years undergo induced abortions annually. Only 40 percent of these abortions occur with assistance from healthcare providers, indicating that the rest 60 percent of the abortions in the age group are 'unsafe' and without any trained assistance, the NGO highlighted in a press release.

Continued: https://www.thehealthsite.com/pregnancy/child-marriages-unplanned-pregnancies-and-unsafe-abortions-still-high-in-rajasthan-warns-expert-845765/

India – New abortion rules recognise minors as vulnerable, seek to make services more accessible to them

Jagriti Chandra, NEW DELHI
OCTOBER 30, 2021

The new abortion rules notified by the Government recently recognise minors as a vulnerable category and seek to make services more accessible to them. But social stigma and conflict with POCSO Act, 2012, or the law against child sexual abuse, pose hurdles.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Rules, 2021, define new categories of vulnerable women who are allowed termination up to 24 weeks upon meeting certain conditions and with the permission of two doctors. These include minors, survivors of sexual assault and those with foetal malformation among others. Others may seek abortion up to 20 weeks with the permission of one doctor upon meeting certain criteria…

Continued: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/new-abortion-rules-recognise-minors-as-vulnerable-seek-to-make-services-more-accessible-to-them/article37253176.ece

Raped from the age of six and pregnant at 10 amid a culture war over legal abortion in Brazil

by Bhavi Mandalia
August 16, 2020

A pregnancy at 10 years kills. This message,
in the form of hashtag, has taken over Brazilian social networks in recent
days, after the case of a 10-year-old girl who became pregnant after being
raped came to light. The victim, who resides in the city of São Mateus, in the
State of Espírito Santo, went to the hospital on August 8 accompanied by her
aunt, who, according to the report of the Military Police, told the doctors
that she believed she was. pregnant. After a blood test confirmed that she was
three months old, the girl told doctors and a social worker that her uncle had
raped her since she was six years old and that she never said anything for fear
of his death threats. The Police and the Guardianship Council investigated the
case. The girl was transferred to a center for minors while doctors and the
Justice analyzed the interruption of the pregnancy, guaranteed by law in cases
like this.

Continued: https://pledgetimes.com/raped-from-the-age-of-six-and-pregnant-at-10-amid-a-culture-war-over-legal-abortion-in-brazil/

18.5 lakh in India didn’t get access to abortion facilities in lockdown

18.5 lakh in India didn’t get access to abortion facilities in lockdown
In some instances, where the pregnancy exceeded 20 weeks, the Karnataka High Court, gave relief during the lockdown.

Published: 02nd June 2020
By Chetana Belagere, Express News Service

BENGALURU: A 12-year-old girl from a poor, illiterate tribal family of rural Karnataka, who got pregnant after a sexual assault, had to go back and forth between medical facilities and the court to terminate her pregnancy during the lockdown. She is not alone. In the last three months, at least 18.5 lakh women across the country did not have access to abortion facilities. A survey conducted in 12 states by Ipas Development Foundation, which collaborates with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) to improve the availability of comprehensive contraceptive care, showed,

Continued: https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2020/jun/02/185-lakh-in-india-didnt-get-access-to-abortion-facilities-in-lockdown-2150999.html

Ghana – More teenage girls attempt unsafe abortion in Sunyani West Municipality

More teenage girls attempt unsafe abortion in Sunyani West Municipality

Friday 28th February, 2020
By Dennis Peprah, GNA

Odumase (B/R), Feb. 28, GNA – Twenty cases of unsafe abortion were reported in the Sunyani West Municipality of the Bono Region in 2019 says the Municipal Health Directorate.

The cases were reported at Chiraa, Fiapre, Odumase and Nsoatre among girls between 12 and 18 years, but no death was recorded.

Continued: https://ghananewsagency.org/health/more-teenage-girls-attempt-unsafe-abortion-in-sunyani-west-municipality--164776

28.02.2020

USA – Judges Are Denying Teen Abortions for Their Own Moral Reasons

Judges Are Denying Teen Abortions for Their Own Moral Reasons
In 37 states, an underage person seeking an abortion without their guardians' approval has to go to court, where a judge may refuse their case based on personal belief.

by Julia Ries
Jan 16 2020

According to new research, up to 13 percent of all teens seeking to get legal approval for an abortion without their parent’s involvement or consent are getting denied by judges in Texas, up from a mere 2.8 percent only a few years before. The study published in the American Journal of Public Health on Thursday is the first research to look at how often judges deny teens’ petitions for abortion, and mostly due to the judges’ personal and political opinions and not the actual merits of the cases, like if the procedure is medically recommended.

Thirty-seven states currently require pregnant minors to get the green light from one or both parents before receiving an abortion. It’s estimated that, depending on the state, anywhere from two percent to 23 percent of teens seeking an abortion pursue it via judicial bypass, which dates back to a 1979 U.S. Supreme Court decision which ruled that parents do not have an "absolute veto” over a child’s abortion.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/akwvnk/abortion-care-for-teenagers-denied-by-judges-for-moral-reasons

16.01.2020

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India – Criminalisation of even consensual sex between adolescents obstructs access to safe abortion for girls

Criminalisation of even consensual sex between adolescents obstructs access to safe abortion for girls

October 19, 2019
Vrinda Grover

Unsafe abortion is the third leading cause of maternal mortality in India, leading to about 10 deaths every day. ‘The incidence of abortion and unintended pregnancy in India, 2015’ study records that of the 15.6 million abortions in 2015, only 22% were conducted in health facilities, whereas an overwhelming 78% abortions were done outside health facilities. Adolescent girls, in the age group of 16-18 years, are left at the mercy of life-threatening pregnancy termination methods. A 2010 facility-based study discloses that 20-30% of abortion seekers were unmarried young women and adolescent girls; and 16.7% of them were victims of sexual abuse.

Significantly, this life endangering vulnerability is abetted by the law. Section 19(1) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act stipulates mandatory reporting of all sexual offences against a child to the law enforcement authorities, and failure to report the same entails punitive consequences.

Continued: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/criminalisation-of-even-consensual-sex-between-adolescents-obstructs-access-to-safe-abortion-for-girls/

In Developing Regions, Greater Investment Is Needed to Help Adolescents Prevent Unintended Pregnancy

In Developing Regions, Greater Investment Is Needed to Help Adolescents Prevent Unintended Pregnancy

Nov 9, 2018

20 Million Adolescent Women Have an Unmet Need for Modern Contraception

Ensuring that adolescent women are able to choose whether and when to have children is crucial to their sexual and reproductive health, yet new data published today by the Guttmacher Institute show that contraceptive services in developing regions fall short of meeting adolescents’ needs. The new data, published in a series of fact sheets, indicate that as of 2017, an estimated 36 million young women aged 15–19 in developing regions are married or sexually active and want to avoid becoming pregnant in the next two years. Yet the majority of this group—20 million adolescents—are not using a modern contraceptive method and thus have an unmet need for modern contraception. Most adolescent women with unmet need are using no contraceptive method (85%), while the remaining 15% are using traditional methods, such as withdrawal or periodic abstinence, which are less effective than modern methods.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2018/developing-regions-greater-investment-needed-help-adolescents-prevent-unintended

First Study on the Incidence of Abortion Among Ugandan Adolescents Released

First Study on the Incidence of Abortion Among Ugandan Adolescents Released
Research Sheds Light on Abortion and Postabortion Care Experiences

Sept 11, 2018

A new study by researchers at the U.S.-based Guttmacher Institute and Uganda’s Makerere University documents, for the first time, abortion rates and the severity of abortion-related complications among Ugandan adolescents aged 15–19. The study, published in Contraception, found that an estimated 57,000 abortions took place among Ugandan adolescents in 2013. The researchers also found that adolescents seeking postabortion care for complications resulting from an unsafe abortion or miscarriage did not face greater disadvantages in their abortion care experiences, compared with women older than 20. However, among those seeking postabortion care, unmarried women, including unmarried adolescents, were more likely than married women to experience severe complications.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2018/first-study-incidence-abortion-among-ugandan-adolescents-released