Abortion debate in the European Parliament sparks divisions and hatred

Lead MEP targeted ahead of vote on women’s reproductive health and rights.

BY MAÏA DE LA BAUME
June 23, 2021

A resolution on abortion that will be voted on by the European Parliament on Thursday has proved so divisive that the MEP behind it has received hate mail, been compared to Hitler and had dolls of fetuses sent to his office.

The text — on “the situation of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the EU, in the frame of women’s health” — resulted in more than 500 amendments from members of the Parliament in its original form, with two alternative texts put forward by conservative MEPs, and it led to serious disputes within the center-right European People’s Party.

Continued: https://www.politico.eu/article/abortion-debate-european-parliament-division-hatred/

‘Misleading and wrong’: South African experts condemn ‘abortion pill reversal’

openDemocracy has found doctors willing to prescribe this controversial ‘treatment’ on four continents, including Africa

Kerry Cullinan
25 March 2021

“If you go to a pharmacy and you can get them to call me […] I will prescribe it telephonically,” a South African doctor emailed our undercover reporter, who was posing as a young pregnant woman.

The doctor was referring to ‘abortion pill reversal’ (APR), a controversial method to ‘reverse’ a medical abortion (which consist of two pills taken a few days apart).

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/misleading-and-wrong-south-african-experts-condemn-abortion-pill-reversal/

Covid: Locked-down women turn to pills amid Malta abortion ban

Catholic Malta has the strictest ban on abortion in the EU, but during the pandemic more Maltese women have been ordering abortion pills from abroad, unable to travel because of the lockdown.

By Sophia Smith-Galer, BBC World Service
January 8, 2021

Veronica - not her real name - was among them. "It was a big burden for me. I already have two kids with learning difficulties. I came off the pill, as the doctor suggested I switch to an IUD for health reasons. I was waiting for the appointment, but Covid came and cancelled all the hospital appointments."

Not long after that Veronica got pregnant. "I had to decide what is best for me and the children," she says. "The best for my health, the best financially… plus the father immediately told me to abort."

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55579339

A closer look at Germany’s abortion law

A closer look at Germany’s abortion law

February 1, 2020
By Monika Müller-Kroll
Studio Berlin, broadcast Feb. 1, 2020 (25 minute podcast)

It’s been almost a year since the German parliament voted to amend Paragraph 219a, regarding the advertisement of abortion services, in the country’s criminal code. What does this look like in practice, and what are abortion rights activists and opponents calling for in 2020?

Host Sylvia Cunningham takes a closer look at Germany’s abortion law with Kate Cahoon from the pro abortion rights group, Bündnis für sexuelle Selbstbestimmung, Dr. Alicia Baier from Doctors for Choice Germany, and Dr. Paul Cullen, chairman of Ärzte für das Leben (Doctors for Life).

Continued: https://kcrwberlin.com/2020/02/studio-berlin-broadcast-feb-1-2020-a-closer-look-at-germanys-abortion-law/

The last taboo: Malta is the last EU country to have a full ban on abortion

The last taboo: Malta is the last EU country to have a full ban on abortion
Pro-choice activists will struggle to overturn it

Jul 27th 2019

POPE PIUS XI, who died in 1939, described Malta as “Malta Cattolicissima”. Today, that is not quite as true as it once was. The first schism with Catholic doctrine came in 2011, when divorce was legalised after a bitterly fought referendum. For the past four years, Malta has retained its top spot in ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Index, a ranking of policy towards LGBT people in 49 European countries. Same-sex couples now have equal marriage and adoption rights.

Yet Malta remains the only European Union member state which bans abortion in all circumstances. Under a law dating to 1724, women who procure an abortion in Malta risk being imprisoned for up to three years. The second-most-stringent EU country, Poland, allows abortion in very limited circumstances (as does Northern Ireland, which is even stricter, though a law passed in Westminster earlier this month could change that).

Continued: https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/07/27/malta-is-the-last-eu-country-to-have-a-full-ban-on-abortion

Argentine doctors protest legal abortion ahead of key vote

Argentine doctors protest legal abortion ahead of key vote

By almudena calatrava, associated press
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Aug 1, 2018

A campaign to expand legal abortions in the homeland of Pope Francis is bitterly dividing Argentines — and increasingly even the profession that would be asked to carry them out.

Hundreds of physicians have staged anti-abortion protests as an abortion rights bill moves toward a vote in the Senate next week. Some have demonstrated while carrying fetus-shaped dolls and waving signs saying: "I'm a doctor, not a murderer." At one recent protest, they laid white medical coats on the ground outside the presidential palace.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/argentine-doctors-protest-legal-abortion-ahead-key-vote-56955758

Argentinian Doctors Are Protesting Abortion Legalization & It Shows How Contentious The Issue Is

Argentinian Doctors Are Protesting Abortion Legalization & It Shows How Contentious The Issue Is

By Monica Busch
Aug 1, 2018

Although there has been considerable progress over the years, in most corners of the world, abortion remains a divisive, contentious topic. This remains the case in Argentina, where even some doctors are protesting legalizing abortion procedures. Like anywhere else where the topic is debated, Argentinian doctors against the procedure argue that they believe they would be complicit in ending a human life.

As of now, abortion is only legal in Argentina in circumstances of rape, or when there is a severe risk to a pregnant woman's health. The doctors demonstrating in Argentina this week are protesting a bill that would legalize abortions up to 14 weeks of gestation. That bill already passed in the government's lower house on June 14, albeit by a slim, four-vote majority. Even then, the successful vote only took place after 22 hours of debate, NPR reports.

Continued: https://www.bustle.com/p/argentinian-doctors-are-protesting-abortion-legalization-it-shows-how-contentious-the-issue-is-9969087