Global: People defending abortion rights are being ‘stigmatised, abused, discriminated against, even killed’ – major new report

24 November 2023
Amnesty International

People who are defending the right to have an abortion and those who provide them, and related essential services are being stigmatised, intimidated, attacked and subjected to unjust prosecutions, making this work increasingly difficult and dangerous to carry out, said Amnesty International in a major new report today (24 November).

In the 59-page report, An Unstoppable Movement: A global call to recognise and protect those who defend the right to abortion, reveals how many healthcare workers, activists and advocates around the world face abuse, arrest, prosecution and imprisonment for supporting the right of women, girls and people who can become pregnant to access abortions.

Continued: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/global-people-defending-abortion-rights-are-being-stigmatised-abused-discriminated

USA – The oxymoron at the heart of GOP abortion ‘compromise’

Opinion by Mary Ziegler
Tue August 29, 2023

The South Carolina Supreme Court’s recent abortion decision is a reminder of the importance of state constitutional law in the post-Roe era. By upholding a six-week ban virtually identical to one struck down by the same court in January, this ruling means that South Carolina will go from a state that welcomed abortion seekers from across the region to one where the procedure is available for only as little as a week after a person confirms a pregnancy.

But the court’s decision — and the legislative strategy behind the law that the court upheld — is also a perfect reflection of an evolving Republican strategy to push back on abortion: paying lip service to the importance of reproductive liberty with exceptions or rhetorical flourishes while offering no real access at all.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/29/opinions/abortion-ban-south-carolina-gop-strategy-ziegler/index.html

29.08.2023

Opinion

anti-choice deception

anti-choice disinformation

anti-choice hypocrisy

anti-choice legislative strategy

Words Matter: Why We Must Demand Accuracy And Combat Anti-Abortion Language

Aug 1, 2023
By Amanda Seller, President MSI United States

The battle for reproductive rights in the United States and elsewhere is being fought on uneven ground because of anti-choice misinformation and misleading language. Now, a year after the end of Roe v. Wade, it’s more important than ever to speak out against anti-choice lies.

The anti-choice movement is playing a game of disinformation, using emotive language that eschews the reality of modern, safe abortion to manipulate people into support. And they’re winning.

Continued: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2023/08/01/words-matter-why-we-must-demand-accuracy-and-combat-anti-abortion-language/?sh=7d5d55527af8

01.08.2023

anti-choice deception

anti-choice disinformation

A year after Roe fell, where does anti-abortion rhetoric stand in Canada?

Sean Previl, Global News
June 24, 2023

Advocates for safe abortion access and reproductive health are warning that one year after the fall of Roe v. Wade, similar anti-abortion and anti-rights rhetoric is bubbling up in Canada.

And they say more needs to be done to not only educate people on the resources and services out there, but to continue efforts to protect essential health care like abortion, access to birth control and other aspects of sexual and reproductive health.

Continued: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/a-year-after-roe-fell-where-does-anti-abortion-rhetoric-stand-in-canada/ar-AA1cYh4l

Legal but not accessible: abortion in Turkey from an ethical perspective

By Gender DSC
23/11/2020

Can abortion just be a medical decision?
As has been reported by Amnesty International, “Around 47,000 women die as a result of unsafe abortions every year.” The testimony of Rajat Khosla, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of Research and Advocacy shows the peril of the siege over women’s bodies. Although the political authorities try to establish their presence under the subject of religious sensitivity with the slogan that “abortion is murder”, many women have died as a result of the operations carried out under improper conditions.

In countries where abortion is restricted or prohibited, women who are wealthy have the chance to get an abortion abroad and return to their countries, while the poor have to terminate their pregnancy using dangerous methods such as clothes hangers, as in Argentina.

Continued: https://diem25.org/legal-but-not-accessible-abortion-turkey-from-ethical-perspective/

Abortion Media Coverage Is “Deeply, and Problematically, Politicized” Says Study

7/1/2020
by Zoe Larkin

Throughout the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, anti-abortion advocates have capitalized on the chaos to attack reproductive rights.

Although abortion is time-sensitive, officials throughout the U.S. declared it a nonessential service, denying women the right to reproductive justice under the guise of pandemic control. The move was swiftly condemned by many major medical organizations—but opportunistic attacks on reproductive freedom remain abundant.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2020/07/01/abortion-media-coverage-is-deeply-and-problematically-politicized-says-study/

The US health secretary is making anti-abortion speak official government language

The US health secretary is making anti-abortion speak official government language

By Annalisa Merelli
January 24, 2020

The mission of the US Department of Health & Human Services is “to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans,” according to its website. Yet its leader, Alex Azar, seems to believe the mission is to promote anti-abortion values and actions within the health system.

Today, Donald Trump became the first sitting president ever to attend the March for Life — a large anti-abortion gathering that has occurred annually for 47 years — just after his health secretary made a remark that equally showed the government’s commitment to oppose full reproductive rights. In a statement published last night, Azar, who also participated in the event, proudly shared all the moves made by his department to restrict access to abortion, including curtailing Title X funds and pushing back against the provisions of an international right to safe abortion.

Continued: https://qz.com/1790503/the-us-health-secretary-is-making-anti-abortion-speak-official-government-language/

24.01.2020

Featured

News

Alex Azar

anti-choice hypocrisy

anti-choice language

anti-choice misogyny

anti-choice rhetoric

Department of Health and Human Services

There’s a Better Way to Talk About Abortion

There's a Better Way to Talk About Abortion
People still use medically inaccurate and stigmatizing terms to talk about abortion. You can help change that.

by Marie Solis
Jan 22 2020
Illustrations by Cathryn Virginia

For decades, conservative politicians and activists have dictated the rhetoric around abortion, and for that reason many of the words we use to talk about the procedure are medically inaccurate, emotionally charged, and suffused with stigma. And that includes even the most basic terms we use to describe the debate over abortion rights: The anti-abortion camp has long described itself as “pro-life” instead, monopolizing a powerful word that advocates say clouds their real intention—to ban abortion. The word “choice,” some say, is an imprecise one as well, creating the impression that one’s ability to get an abortion is simply a matter of choosing to do so, when in fact there are many systematic obstacles in the way that keep people from accessing the procedure.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/akwv8b/how-to-talk-about-abortion

USA – Violent rhetoric hinders access to abortion services

Violent rhetoric hinders access to abortion services

By Julie Burkhart, opinion contributor
11/07/19

Imagine your morning. You wake up, have a little coffee and get ready for a doctor’s appointment. You get dressed. In fact, you’re having a great day. Everything is going as you planned. You get in your car and make your way to the doctor’s office. Once you arrive, instead of a peaceful setting, aggressive protestors who are yelling at you greet you.

They are standing at the entrance of the parking lot of the doctor’s office, walking up and down the sidewalk, and before you can even pull into the parking lot, you are harassed, intimidated and shamed for needing health care. These protestors, unfortunately, are a fixture at this health care facility; standing outside, degrading you without any knowledge of who you are or your life circumstances.

Continued: https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/469469-violent-rhetoric-hinders-access-to-abortion-services

07.11.2019

Featured

Opinion

anti-choice harassment

anti-choice intimidation

anti-choice misogyny

anti-choice rhetoric

anti-choice terrorism

anti-choice violence

Julie Burkhart

National Abortion Federation

How the US right-to-life movement is influencing the abortion debate in Australia

How the US right-to-life movement is influencing the abortion debate in Australia

August 21, 2019
Prudence Flowers

As the abortion decriminalisation bill gradually makes its way through the NSW parliament, opponents have been increasingly drawing on their long relationship with the right-to-life movement in the United States to lobby against the measure and try to push for more restrictive amendments.

This has been a trend in the anti-abortion movement in Australia for a while now. Activists have adopted some of the most successful elements of the US movement’s rhetoric and tactics in recent years in an effort to influence the debate in Australia.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/how-the-us-right-to-life-movement-is-influencing-the-abortion-debate-in-australia-121974