Protests in Malta as parliament debates abortion amendment

Reuters
Dec 4, 2022

VALLETTA - A large picture of an unborn baby was placed outside the office of Malta's prime minister on Sunday as demonstrators called on the government to halt plans to amend the country's strict anti-abortion laws.

The protest, the biggest in years, attracted several thousand people including Malta's top Catholic bishop and the leader of the conservative opposition, but was led by a former centre-left president, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca.

Continued: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/large-demos-malta-parliament-debates-abortion-law-2022-12-04/


Abortion protests take place in Belfast amid deepening political row

Pro-choice councillor says any move to block rollout of services is ‘against democracy’

July 31, 2021

Pro-choice and anti-abortion campaigners have held separate protests in Belfast amid the deepening political row over the commissioning of abortion services in Northern Ireland.

The small-scale demonstrations in the city centre came after DUP First Minister Paul Givan threatened to block the British government’s move to formally direct Stormont to fully roll out abortion services in the region.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/abortion-protests-take-place-in-belfast-amid-deepening-political-row-1.4636154


We Need a Left Strategy for Confronting the Anti-Abortion Movement

The anti-abortion movement has grown increasingly militant in recent years — and increasingly successful. The liberal pushback isn’t cutting it. We need a leftist strategy to defend abortion rights.

BY ANNE RUMBERGER
July 14, 2021

Abortion access has been uneven and inadequate for decades. But with the recent announcement that the Supreme Court will hear a major abortion case next term concerning a Mississippi state law that would ban almost all abortions after fifteen weeks of pregnancy, the threat has reached new levels.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization strikes at the heart of the precedent set in Roe v. Wade in 1973 that abortion is permitted until fetus viability, generally at around twenty-four weeks. As it hears the case, the Supreme Court will consider one clearly delineated question: whether or not “all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional.” Mary Ziegler, author of Abortion and the Law in America, said recently that the court taking up the case could result in overturning Roe, but it could also get rid of viability as the point at which states can ban abortion.

Continued: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/07/anti-abortion-movement-choice-reproductive-justice


A 10-Year-Old Girl’s Ordeal to Have a Legal Abortion in Brazil

August 20, 2020
Delphine Starr, Coordinator, Children's Rights Division
Human Rights Watch

Earlier this month, a 10-year-old-girl in Espírito Santo State, Brazil, discovered she was pregnant after 4 years of repeated rape by her uncle, who threatened her to keep quiet. The girl, who lives with her extended family, wanted to end the pregnancy, which could have endangered her life at such a young age. Under Brazilian law, which allows abortions in cases of rape and when it is necessary to save the pregnant person’s life, she had the right to do so. However, the hospital where she was admitted refused to perform the abortion, alleging it did not have the authority to conduct the procedure. Following a judge’s intervention and a 900-mile journey to receive care, the girl finally had the abortion on August 17.

But her ordeal didn’t end there.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/08/20/10-year-old-girls-ordeal-have-legal-abortion-brazil


Abortion: the US shows what could be in store for Ireland

A close look at what is going on in the US could show what is in store for Ireland

Fri, Jul 24, 2020
Mary Ziegler

The fight over Ireland’s Eighth Amendment touched a nerve in the United States. After all, more than four decades ago, Americans lived through a sweeping change to the nation’s abortion laws after the US Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision invalidated most laws on the books and created a new right to choose abortion.

In May 2018, Ireland experienced a change that was just as explosive. Voters decisively chose to reject the Eighth and approve a law that guaranteed unrestricted access to abortion until the 12th week of pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/abortion-the-us-shows-what-could-be-in-store-for-ireland-1.4310037


UK – Why We’re Campaigning To Change Abortion Law

Why We’re Campaigning To Change Abortion Law

Vicky Spratt
21 October 2019

At some point in their lives, before the age of 45, one in three women will have an abortion. Just like pregnancy itself, the need to terminate one is a fact of life. More than this, being able to access safe, free and legal abortion services should you need to is acknowledged to be a basic human right for women and pregnant people.

Since 1967, abortion has been legal in England, Scotland and Wales because of the Abortion Act, a victory that was hard-fought and won by campaigners. For those of us who have grown up in Britain since, access to abortion is something we have (for the most part) been able to take for granted.

Continued: https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2019/10/8572968/imacriminal-abortion-campaign


Why Ireland’s battle over abortion is far from over

Why Ireland’s battle over abortion is far from over
From sham websites to rogue crisis pregnancy centres, Irish anti-abortionists are using shocking tactics to block women’s rights to safe abortions

Caelainn Hogan
Thu 3 Oct 2019

It has been more than a year since the landslide vote for abortion rights in Ireland, yet last weekend hundreds of people were once more marching through the streets of Dublin, chanting: “Get your rosaries off our ovaries!” “It’s nonsense, what are they marching for?” a guard standing on the road outside the National maternity hospital asked a colleague on a motorbike – referring to the 2018 referendum in which the Irish public voted overwhelmingly to repeal the law prohibiting abortion. The answer is that, while the law may have changed, many people are still struggling to access abortions in Ireland due to a lack of provision, the time restrictions on terminations, the illegal activities of anti-abortion campaigners – and an enduring legacy of shame.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/oct/03/why-irelands-battle-over-abortion-is-far-from-over-anti-abortionists


Abortion, Newly Legal in Ireland, Faces Old Roadblocks

Abortion, Newly Legal in Ireland, Faces Old Roadblocks

By Ceylan Yeginsu
Jan. 28, 2019

DUBLIN — The abortion clinic’s website pops up at the top of a Google search for “free ultrasound,” its content and color scheme mimicking the government’s new support service for unplanned pregnancy.

“Looking for abortion advice?” “How far along am I?” The bright orange speech bubbles attached to stock images of smiling medical experts purport to inform women about abortion options that became legally available in Ireland on Jan. 1.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/28/world/europe/ireland-abortion.html


Perspectives on anti-choice lobbying in Europe

Perspectives on anti-choice lobbying in Europe
Study for policy makers on opposition to sexual and reproductive health and rights in Europe
Jan 2017
by Elena Zacharenko
This study has been commissioned by Heidi Hautala, Member of the European Parliament.

[continued at link]
Source, European Parliament: http://www.heidihautala.fi/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/SRHR-Europe-Study-_-Elena-Zacharenco.pdf


U.S.: Threats at abortion clinics rise since Trump’s election

Aneri Pattani, special to CNBC.com
Dec 15, 2016, CNBC.com

On a typical day, two protesters stand outside Choices Women's Medical Center in Jamaica, New York. The man hands out antiabortion flyers; a nun passes out rosary beads. For the most part, things are calm. Since Nov. 8, that is no longer the case.

Since the election, aggressive protesters have been flocking to the clinic, which provides abortions as well as gynecology, prenatal services and STD testing. On Saturdays dozens of protesters spread out half a block in either direction of the doorway, holding signs, screaming at women entering the clinic and impeding on the 15-foot buffer they are legally required to adhere to beyond the clinic doors.

[continued at link]
Source: CNBC