The overturning of Roe v Wade could harm women across the world

The US policies on abortion, whether we like it or not, significantly influence how seriously governments around the world take the issue of unsafe abortions.

Stephanie Musho
19 May 2022

A leaked draft of a United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) opinion that would overturn Roe v Wade, a landmark 1973 decision that gave women the constitutional right to abortion, recently put abortion rights once again on the global agenda.

As a human rights lawyer in Kenya, I too am watching the developments in Washington, DC with worry. This is not only because I feel for American women being forced to fight for their right to bodily autonomy, but also because case law in commonwealth jurisdictions such as Kenya is sometimes influenced by decisions taken in US courtrooms.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/5/19/the-overturning-of-roe-v-wade-could-harm-women-across-the-world

Momentous revolution of women’s rights in Ecuador: An unceasing strive for liberation of abortion laws

Varshunn Bhan Miskeen & Aditya Pandey
August 7, 2021

With the Constitutional Court of Ecuador passing the verdict of decriminalizing abortion in all instances of rape, Ecuador has joined the group of countries who have decriminalized abortion in selective cases. The passing of this verdict has allowed the Ecuadorian women who had been raped and wanted abortion, to no longer be penalised for their actions. The judges of the Ecuador Constitutional Court had decriminalized the two articles with the ratio of 7 against 2 in favour of the verdict. Before, the law only allowed for this procedure only in the instance of critical risk to woman’s health or if a raped woman had a mental disability. Abortion under the two selective conditions has been legal since 1938.

Continued: https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/legally-speaking/momentous-revolution-womens-rights-ecuador-unceasing-strive-liberation-abortion-laws

07.08.2021

Comprehensive Penal Code

Constitutional Court of Ecuador

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women

decriminalization of abortion

Rethinking Abortion In India: A Human Rights Conversation

Niharika Kaul
16 May 2021

The issue of abortion has gained particular momentum in the past few months with two interesting developments in very different parts of the world- the passage of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) (Amendment) Bill 2020 in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) in India and the recent passage of the Argentinian abortion bill, that legalises abortions up to the 14th week of pregnancy. While the MTP (Amendment) Bill 2020 extends the existing time period within which abortion can be conducted in India to 24 weeks in some cases, the Argentinian bill replaces the prior abortion law based on the 'exception model', where three exceptions were allowed to an otherwise blanket criminal prohibition- when a pregnancy endangers the life or health of a woman, girl, or pregnant person, or when it results from rape. After the Argentinian Senate narrowly rejected a bill to decriminalize abortion in 2018, the lower house of Congress finally passed the bill this January.

Continued: https://www.livelaw.in/columns/medical-termination-of-pregnancy-mtp-amendment-bill-2020-world-health-organisation-who-174212

Argentina’s Abortion Legislation Sparks Hope in Caribbean

February 14, 2021
By Kate Chappell (IPS)

HAVANA TIMES – It was a joyful, tearful celebration in the early morning hours of Dec. 30, 2020 for countless Argentinians when they heard the news: the senate had legalized terminations up to 14 weeks of pregnancy. Prior to this, activists have said that more than 3,000 women died of botched, illegal abortions since 1983. And across the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region, this renewed sense of optimism was compounded after President Joe Biden rescinded what is known as the “global gag rule,” which essentially denied funding to international non-profit organizations that provided abortion counseling or referrals.

Now, women and campaigners across LAC are hopeful that these developments will spur lawmakers to consider decriminalizing abortion in their countries, sparing women their lives, economic well-being, dignity and access to a range of options to make the best choice for their reproductive and overall health.

Continued: https://havanatimes.org/features/argentinas-abortion-legislation-sparks-hope-in-caribbean/

Customary and religious laws are impeding progress towards women’s health in Nigeria

February 11, 2021
Terry McGovern, Monique Baumont, Samantha Garbers

Numerous countries have committed themselves to promoting the sexual and reproductive health of women and girls by ratifying international human rights treaties. These include the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Nigeria ratified the convention on women’s rights in 1985 and the convention on child rights in 1991. But sexual and reproductive health among women and girls in Nigeria remains poor. The country has the second largest HIV epidemic in the world. And the women making up more than half of people living with HIV. It also has persistently high rates of maternal and perinatal mortality.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/customary-and-religious-laws-are-impeding-progress-towards-womens-health-in-nigeria-154221

11.02.2021

Commentary

Featured

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women

Convention on the Rights of the Child

gender discrimination

religion and abortion

Zimbabwe: Unsafe Abortions Are a Major Public Health Concern

13 DECEMBER 2020
By Muchaneta Chimuka

Unsafe abortion cases are rife among youth and adults in Zimbabwe owing to high medical costs, restrictive abortion laws and lack of or inadequate youth friendly clinics that offers sexual reproductive health services, negative attitudes by service providers towards patients, lack of knowledge on how and where to seek services among others.

The 2020 #VoiceandChoice Barometer notes that 24% of all pregnancies in Southern Africa end in abortion. Although no Southern African country totally bans abortion, most conditions under which women can obtain abortions remain restrictive.

Continued: https://allafrica.com/stories/202012140629.html

Taiwan – Abortion bill would remove need for ‘husband’s consent’

LONG TIME COMING: An amendment to the abortion law has been mulled for decades, and in 2012 the HPA was ordered to change it

By Kayleigh Madjar / Staff writer, with CAN
Fri, Dec 11, 2020

The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) is drafting an amendment to remove the requirement for married women to obtain permission from their partner before having an abortion, which it hopes to present by March, it said on Wednesday.

Under Article 9 of the Genetic Health Act, induced abortion by a married woman “shall be subject to her husband’s consent unless her husband is missing, unconscious or deranged.”

Continued: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/12/11/2003748526

11.12.2020

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women

Genetic Health Act

Health Promotion Administration

Proposed law would allow Taiwanese women to get abortion without spouses’ approval

7,427 Taiwanese back proposed amendment to allow married women to seek abortion without spousal consent

By Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2020/12/10

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Health Promotion Administration (HPA) on Wednesday (Dec. 9) announced that it will propose the elimination of a law that requires women to receive permission from their spouse to have an abortion.

Article 9 of the Genetic Health Act states that if a married woman wishes to undergo an abortion, she must first receive consent from her spouse. However, a petition to rescind the law on the Public Policy Proposal Platform received 7,441 signatures, exceeding the minimum number of 5,000 needed to require a government department to issue a response.

Continued: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4074322

Human Rights Watch Amicus Curiae in the case of Guzmán Albarracín y otros Vs. Ecuador

Human Rights Watch
July 15, 2020

Human Rights Watch respectfully requests that the Honorable Inter-American Court of Human Rights accept us as Friends of the Court, so that we may submit for consideration this statement briefly summarizing Human Rights Watch research and legal analysis of children’s rights issues relevant to the case of Guzmán Albarracín vs. Ecuador.

The case before the court pertains to the sexual exploitation and abuse of Paola Guzmán Albarracín by state officials in the public school she attended. Guzmán Albarracín became pregnant after her school’s vice principal sexually abused her, following which he asked her to get an abortion in the school’s medical service. When she sought an abortion from the school’s doctor, he agreed to help her only if he had sex with him. Guzmán Albarracín died by suicide in 2002 at age 16.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/07/15/amicus-curiae-case-guzman-albarracin-y-otros-vs-ecuador

India – Abortion is legal but coloured by prejudice: Malayalam short film ‘Aval’ shows you how

Abortion is legal but coloured by prejudice: Malayalam short film ‘Aval’ shows you how
The film is produced and co-written by a medical professional who says she has seen these violations happening for years.

Flix Cinema Monday, June 15, 2020 - 17:30
Sowmya Rajendran

Although India has fairly liberal laws when it comes to abortion, medical professionals are often hostile to women who approach them to get the procedure done. In cinema, too, abortion has been equated to murder far too many times. With the glorification of pregnancy and motherhood, this important reproductive right which gives women autonomy over their own bodies is demonised repeatedly.

A Malayalam short film called Aval, directed by Adarsh Kumar Aniyal (of Raven fame) and released on YouTube recently, presents the bitter truth about the issue. In the film, a young woman in an abusive marriage who did not want to keep her pregnancy, develops postpartum depression and ends up killing her child. Interestingly, the film has been produced and co-written by a medical professional, Dr Veena JS.

Continued: https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/abortion-legal-coloured-prejudice-malayalam-short-film-aval-shows-you-how-126592