Millions of women lose contraceptives, abortions in COVID-19

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL and CARA ANNA, Associated Press
19 August 2020

NEW DELHI -- Millions of women and girls globally have lost access to contraceptives and abortion services because of the coronavirus pandemic. Now the first widespread measure of the toll says India with its abrupt, months-long lockdown has been hit especially hard.

Several months into the pandemic, many women now have second-trimester pregnancies because they could not find care in time.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/baby-boom-ahead-covid-19-millions-women-care-72460772

India – The women who can’t get an abortion in lockdown

India's grinding national coronavirus lockdown complicated life for women trying to access safe abortions, and now cities are bringing back restrictions, reports Menaka Rao.

13 July 2020
Menaka Rao

In the last week of May, a 20-year old college-going woman in India's capital, Delhi, found out that she was pregnant.

The woman, Kiran, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, had already taken abortion pills on the advice of a friend who was a doctor. But they did not work and so, her only option was a surgical abortion.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-53345975

India – ‘Women always take the brunt’: India sees surge in unsafe abortion

Low priority for reproductive health during lockdown leaves millions unable to access contraception or safe terminations

Neha Thirani Bagri in Mumbai
Published on Mon 13 Jul 2020

Sadhna Gupta* discovered she was pregnant just after India imposed a crippling lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The 21-year-old from the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar didn’t want to be pregnant. With no public transport available, clinics closed and Bhubaneswar at a standstill, she bought an abortion pill without consulting a doctor. While what she did was not unusual, Indian law requires a prescription for the pills from a licensed medical professional.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/13/women-always-take-the-brunt-india-sees-surge-in-unsafe-abortion

India – How ‘Essential’ Abortion Services Are Inaccessible in the Lockdown

How ‘Essential’ Abortion Services Are Inaccessible in the Lockdown

Saakhi Chadha
Updated: 12/05/2020

A 19-year-old rape survivor in Mumbai found out she was pregnant right when India implemented its nationwide lockdown. She knew she had to get an abortion, but with no transport available and with many clinics shutting down their operations, she felt helpless and out of options.

“We went and picked her up and ensured she got the abortion at a public hospital. Forced sex is a critical issue in a lockdown and abortion services are required here and now,” Sangeeta Rege of the Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT), the NGO that intervened and arranged for the girl’s pass and travel, told Reuters.

Continued: https://fit.thequint.com/coronavirus/access-to-abortion-and-contraceptive-services-during-coronavirus-lockdown-in-india

Million ‘Unwanted’ Babies, More Deaths: Why India’s ‘Essential’ Abortion Service Isn’t Enough

Million 'Unwanted' Babies, More Deaths: Why India's 'Essential' Abortion Service Isn't Enough
The Coronavirus pandemic will leave 24.55 million couples in India without any access contraceptives, 900,000 unsafe abortions, and a steep increase in pregnancy-related deaths.

Adrija Bose, News18.com
April 29, 2020

It took two weeks for a woman living in Bhiwandi in Maharashtra to get to an abortion clinic in South Mumbai after finding out she was pregnant. The journey usually takes about 2-3 hours.

After finding out she was pregnant, the woman got an appointment at the abortion clinic. But by the time she could arrange for a vehicle amid the lockdown, she had already crossed the seven-week limit to get a medical abortion and instead had to undergo a surgical one. "She was one of the lucky ones," a doctor who works at the hospital said.

Continued: https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/million-unwanted-babies-more-deaths-indias-essential-abortion-service-isnt-enough-during-pandemic-2596409.html

Indian Feminist Organizations Condemn Poland’s Draconian Abortion Law

Indian Feminist Organizations Condemn Poland’s Draconian Abortion Law

April 20, 2020
Press Release

Standing in solidarity with all women for rights over their bodies, and to prioritize pro-choice abortion laws, organizations Haiyya, Asia Safe Abortion Partnership, Love Matters India and Feminism in India strongly condemn the ‘Stop Abortion’ bill discussed in Parliament of Poland amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Parliament of Poland started discussions on the ‘Stop Abortion’ Bill on Wednesday 15th April stretched till Thursday 16th April. The parliament on Thursday has sent the Bill back to the parliamentary committee for further review, but has not rejected the Bill completely, and it has the chance of resurfacing.

Continued: https://feminisminindia.com/2020/04/20/indian-feminist-organizations-polands-abortion-law/

India’s Liberal Abortion Law, Nullified by Social Stigma

India’s Liberal Abortion Law, Nullified by Social Stigma

By Stella Paul

NEW DEHLI, Apr 14 2020 (IPS) - Arti Zodpe is from the Tamasha (folk dance-drama) theatre in Sangli, in India’s Maharashtra state. After evening performances, some of the singers and dancers offer sex work services to the audience.

“We [Tamasha sex workers] live outside of the city as people feel disturbed by the sound of our ghunghroo [anklet bracelets with bells] and music. When we go to the city, especially to a sex health clinic, the staff say, ‘so you have come to spread your filth here’. If we get an abortion, they make us clean the floor afterwards,” she had said at a recent gathering of doctors and abortion rights experts.

Continued: https://www.ipsnews.net/2020/04/india-liberal-abortion-law-nullified-social-stigma/

INDIA Prime Minister’s Cabinet tables proposal for abortion law reform

FEATURE: INDIA Prime Minister’s Cabinet tables proposal for abortion law reform

14 February 2020
International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion

On 29 January 2020, the Cabinet of Prime Minister Modi published the text of a bill to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. The bill is to be introduced in the ensuing session of the Union Parliament, where it will be debated. A summary of the current law, the amendments it proposes, and responses to the bill by leading NGOs working for abortion rights in India are reported below. Text in quotes is taken direct from the source.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act 1971
The 1971 Act says that a pregnancy may be terminated up to 20 weeks of pregnancy with the approval of one registered medical practitioner up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, or the approval of “no less than two registered medical practitioners” from 12 to 20 weeks of pregnancy. Approval must be given “in good faith” that:

Continued: https://mailchi.mp/safeabortionwomensright/feature-india-prime-ministers-cabinet-tables-proposal-for-abortion-law-reform-14-february-2020?e=372dd34034

India – The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Posted on 30 January, 2020
by Suchitra Dalvie, Asia Safe Abortion Partnership

Many of us greeted the news with cautious optimism when we heard that yesterday the Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister had approved the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. The Bill will be introduced in the ensuing session of the Parliament. But on reading the details of the amendments proposed one is forced to wonder if this is just fussing around over minor details while continuing to ignore the larger issues of women’s autonomy and agency?

For these amendments to truly bring about wide ranging change we must remember one crucial thing about true change—it happens only with a shift in power. Until the archaic patriarchal notions of the need to criminalize various sexual and reproductive aspects of our lives (such as Section 377 in the Indian Penal Code) are done away with, any legislation like the MTP Act which is mainly meant to protect the doctors and not the women involved, is not likely to result in genuine change.

Continued: https://asap-asia.org/blog/the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same/

Being a Feminist Gynaecologist in the Patriarchal World of Medicine | #MyGynaecStory

Being a Feminist Gynaecologist in the Patriarchal World of Medicine | #MyGynaecStory

Posted on 20 November, 2019
by Suchitra Dalvie

This piece has been published as a part of the Health Over Stigma campaign, which is aimed at dismantling the stigma surrounding sexual health of unmarried women, and demanding accountability from medical service providers for stigma-free, non judgemental sexual and reproductive healthcare services. In this piece, a senior gynaecologist who is associated with the campaign reflects on being a feminist gynaecologist in a patriarchal medical universe.

As a woman and a feminist I am beyond delighted to see this campaign!

It is time for us to claim rights over our own bodies and the narratives of our sexual and reproductive lives. It is critical to start holding accountable the systems that have ignored, oppressed and failed us repeatedly. It is vital to create a new world where this becomes the norm.

Continued: http://asap-asia.org/blog/being-a-feminist-gynaecologist-in-the-patriarchal-world-of-medicine-mygynaecstory/#sthash.tj5mnbfj.dpbs