USA – House Passes Defense Spending Bill That Limits Abortion, Halts Diversity Efforts

July 14, 2023
Associated Press

The House passed a sweeping defense bill Friday that provides an expected 5.2% pay raise for service members. But the bill strays from traditional military policy with Republican additions that block abortion coverage, diversity initiatives at the Pentagon and transgender care that deeply divided the chamber.

Democrats voted against the package, which had sailed out of the House Armed Services Committee on an almost unanimous vote weeks ago before being loaded with the GOP priorities during a heated late-night floor debate this week.

Continued: https://www.voanews.com/a/house-passes-defense-spending-bill-that-limits-abortion-halts-diversity-efforts-/7181554.html

U.S. Supreme Court says it is unable to identify the person who leaked draft of abortion ruling

The court was rocked by a highly unusual leak of a draft opinion that previewed its ruling in June rolling back abortion rights.

Jan. 19, 2023
By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court announced Thursday that after a lengthy investigation it has been unable to conclusively identify who leaked an unpublished draft of an opinion indicating the court was poised to roll back abortion rights.

In an unsigned statement, the court said that all leads had been followed up and forensic analysis had been performed but that "the team has to date been unable to identify a person responsible by a preponderance of the evidence."

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-says-unable-identify-person-leaked-draft-abortion-ruling-rcna66578

Ireland – Shareholders in private hospitals threaten legal action to block abortion laws

Shareholders in private hospitals threaten legal action to block abortion laws

27/08/2018

Minority shareholders in some private hospitals are threatening to block the new abortion laws in the courts.

They have outlined their demands in a letter to the Oireachtas Health Committee, saying they want their religious beliefs protected without being financially disadvantaged.

Continued: https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/shareholders-in-private-hospitals-threaten-legal-action-to-block-abortion-laws-864756.html

Argentina’s women have not been beaten on abortion – change will come

Argentina’s women have not been beaten on abortion – change will come
The ‘senadores percha’ who voted against legalisation have won a hollow victory but cannot stand in the way of progress

Claudia Piñeiro
Fri 10 Aug 2018

Argentina’s senators could not understand what was being debated: legal abortion or clandestine abortion? Or they did not want to understand? Thirty-eight senators voted for the absolute rejection of a bill to allow legal termination, without showing any willingness to introduce changes or improve the proposals. They simply said “no” – as if they were judges instead of legislators. They showed an arrogant attitude, absolutely detached from a reality in Argentina where there are women who die every year from complications arising after clandestine abortions.

To reject the bill, they pronounced all kind of barbarities from their seats: proclaiming that they were saving embryos, without explaining how, and even suggesting that intrafamily rape does not imply violence.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/10/argentina-women-abortion-hollow-senate-victory

South Africa – ‘Conscientious objection’: when doctors’ beliefs are a barrier to abortion

'Conscientious objection': when doctors' beliefs are a barrier to abortion
As a report highlights the ruinous impact of denying abortion, two medics offer opposing views on the role of personal belief

Hannah Summers
Fri 22 Jun 2018

A rise in the number of healthcare providers who refuse to provide abortion services based on their personal beliefs is having a devastating impact on women and girls around the world, a new study has claimed.

Over the past two decades, at least 30 countries – including, most recently, Ireland, Chile and Argentina – have taken steps to improve access to abortion through legislative changes.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/jun/22/should-doctors-be-free-to-refuse-patients-an-abortion-on-personal-grounds