A helping hand, a listening ear: abortion helpline in India

A helping hand, a listening ear: abortion
helpline in India, where 10 women a day die from unsafe terminations, offers
counselling and access to a safe clinic

Priti Salian
6 Aug, 2020

Yet another consequence of the coronavirus pandemic has been to restrict the
access of millions of women in lockdown to their choice of birth control. India
is seeing millions of unintended pregnancies – and risky abortions.

Zainab Mandlawala will never forget her own experience on a March afternoon in
2018. After waiting for hours, a gynaecologist finally led her into the
operating room and numbed her cervix with a local anaesthetic. She then
performed a “D&C” – dilation and curettage – abortion.

Continued: https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3096082/helping-hand-listening-ear-abortion-helpline-india-where

In Kenya, alarm over rise in teen pregnancies during pandemic

Issued on: 03/08/2020

Sixteen-year-old Linnet covers her face bashfully, mumbling into her hands as she recounts how she met the young man who bought her fries and gave her money, before leaving her pregnant and facing even greater poverty than before.

She is one of thousands of teenagers who fall pregnant every year in Kenya, a problem experts fear is worsening during the coronavirus pandemic, with some girls pushed into transactional sex to survive while others have more sex as they stay home from school.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/20200803-in-kenya-alarm-over-rise-in-teen-pregnancies-during-pandemic

There could be 7 million unplanned pregnancies because of COVID-19

Angela Betsaida B. Laguipo
Aug 2 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has rippled across the globe, infecting nearly 18 million individuals worldwide to date. Though the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) affects people from all walks of life, women and girls may experience devastating effects of the outbreak.

A new report published in the journal The Lancet reveals the adverse effects of the coronavirus disease, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and highlights the impacts of COVID-19 on women's health.

Continued: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200802/There-could-be-7-million-unplanned-pregnancies-because-of-COVID-19.aspx

02.08.2020

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USA – Coronavirus pandemic is fueling efforts to increase access to abortion pills

Coronavirus pandemic is fueling efforts to increase access to abortion pills

Marie McCullough - The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)
May 29, 2020

The pandemic is helping U.S. abortion-rights advocates achieve a long-standing goal: Make it easier for women to use pills to end pregnancies up to 10 weeks.

Federal and state regulations have restricted access to “medication abortion” ever since the Food and Drug Administration approved it two decades ago. Nonetheless, use of the two-drug regimen has grown steadily, accounting for at least 40% of all abortions, even as the national abortion rate has fallen to historic lows, data show.

Continued: https://www.readingeagle.com/living/health/coronavirus-pandemic-is-fueling-efforts-to-increase-access-to-abortion-pills/article_7e9ee4b3-0d65-5160-8d96-481d14e7ee63.html

USA – ‘I see a danger in returning to a pre-Roe world:’ Abortion advocates view coronavirus-era restrictions as a dark sign of what could come

'I see a danger in returning to a pre-Roe world:' Abortion advocates view coronavirus-era restrictions as a dark sign of what could come

Kayla Epstein
May 15, 2020

In non-pandemic times, obtaining an abortion already presented serious legal and logistical challenges for millions of women. For patients who live in certain states, getting care means enduring state-imposed waiting periods, submitting to unnecessary ultrasounds, or rushing to receive care before an arbitrary legal deadline. For patients who already have children, care must be arranged. Those without a car need a ride, especially if the nearest clinic is hours away. Some need flights to more accommodating states. And many, many need funds.

But women seeking abortions since the coronavirus outbreak began faced a new challenge — states' attempts to temporarily limit or ban abortion outright by deeming them "non-essential" procedures, under the pretext of preserving medical supplies for COVID-19 treatment. These restrictions collided with the travel and social distancing restrictions put in place to limit the spread of the virus, leading to an even more precarious situation for abortion care than the one already in place.

Continued: https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-arkansas-abortion-bans-coronavirus-advocates-fear-lack-of-access-2020-5

15.05.2020

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USA – Abortion funds see an increase in calls during the coronavirus pandemic

Abortion funds see an increase in calls during the coronavirus pandemic
The increase in need comes as unemployment reaches new highs.

By Alexandra Svokos
15 May 2020

As the novel coronavirus continues to impact most aspects of American life, including health care, abortion funds across the country are reporting that calls for assistance have increased.

Abortion funds provide money and other forms of assistance to patients seeking abortions, including to help cover the cost of the procedure itself as well as associated costs like transportation, child care and hotel stays as getting an abortion for many U.S. patients involves traveling long distances to clinics and multi-day processes due to state laws.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/US/abortion-funds-increase-calls-coronavirus-pandemic/story?id=70703745

Abortion After the Pandemic

Abortion After the Pandemic
The status of abortion rights and access in the United States is bleak. But a movement for universal healthcare offers the chance to give reproductive rights material, institutional force.

Joanna Wuest
May 13, 2020

It only took until the second week of the COVID-19 pandemic for GOP state lawmakers to clamp down on reproductive rights under the pretense of the crisis. Since then, governors and healthcare officials in ten states have classified abortions as “nonessential” medical procedures unless necessary to save the life or health of the pregnant person, bucking the recommendations of professional medical associations. Officials have justified such policies as acts of preservation in the face of a virus that could overwhelm healthcare systems across the country. With states already closing down clinics and limiting the time frame for legal abortions before the pandemic—Ohio just last year passed a controversial “heartbeat bill,” an abortion ban that extends to the first trimester of many pregnancies—it is clear that these emergency measures are more about stopping abortions than they are about delaying care for public health purposes.

Continued: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/abortion-after-the-pandemic

USA – COVID-19 Abortion Bans Could Have Alarming Effects Far Beyond This Crisis

COVID-19 Abortion Bans Could Have Alarming Effects Far Beyond This Crisis | Opinion

Rachel Rebouché and Mary Ziegler
On 5/13/20

The right to an abortion may be enshrined in Roe v. Wade, but it is never safe. A new attack is underway, even as tens of thousands of Americans die and tens of millions file for unemployment.

A month into the COVID-19 pandemic, 11 states began to effectively ban abortions by categorizing them as "nonessential" medical procedures. These states argue they have to stop abortions to conserve hospital beds and personal protective equipment, such as surgical masks.

Continued: https://www.newsweek.com/covid-19-abortion-bans-could-have-alarming-effects-far-beyond-this-crisis-opinion-1503511

From Poland To Uruguay, What The Pandemic Means For Abortion

From Poland To Uruguay, What The Pandemic Means For Abortion

Michaela Kozminova, WORLDCRUNCH
2020-05-13

Across the globe, swamped hospitals and shelter-in-place measures have impacted people's access to healthcare for any number of non-COVID-19 issues. One of them is abortion, a time sensitive procedure that is also — even the best of times — both emotionally and politically charged.

Now, in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, some countries have used emergency decrees to change their policies related to pregnancy terminations. While several have extended access to abortions in an effort to ease pressure on women and guarantee their rights, others have seen the situation as an opportunity to make abortions more difficult to access.

Continued: https://worldcrunch.com/coronavirus/from-poland-to-uruguay-what-the-pandemic-means-for-abortion

India – Women are finding it difficult to access abortion care, an essential service during lockdown

Women are finding it difficult to access abortion care, an essential service during lockdown
The closure of private clinics, lack of mobility and lockdown rules are restricting women from access to abortion care.

By Nirandhi Gowthaman
6th May 2020

The coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has adversely affected many communities and subsections of society especially the poor, migrant labourers, marginalised communities and women. Particularly, pregnant women, new mothers and women seeking abortions have been affected due to lack of resources during the lockdown.

The Ministry of Health in its note on providing essential healthcare services said, “Focusing on COVID-19 related activities, and continuing to provide essential services, is important not only to maintain people’s trust in the health system to deliver essential health services, but also to minimise an increase in morbidity and mortality from other health conditions.”

Continued: https://yourstory.com/herstory/2020/05/women-difficult-access-abortion-lockdown-essential-service