FIGO at 70: Our journey towards improving sexual and reproductive rights with the Advocating for Safe Abortion Project

As FIGO celebrates its 70th anniversary, we mark the vital role the Advocating for Safe Abortion (ASA) Project has had in improving the sexual and reproductive health and rights of people in lower income and lower middle-income countries. Here we reflect on the project's evolution, successes and enduring legacy.

11 April 2024
Jessica Morris

Building on strong foundations
The ASA Project launched in 2019 expanding on the work of the 2007 Prevention of Unsafe Abortion Initiative. A testament to FIGO's continuous commitment to sexual and reproductive rights, the project has become a vital piece of FIGO's efforts to address critical issues surrounding access to safe abortion. The ASA Project’s work focuses on implementing a dual pillar approach which supports societies to become stronger institutions and national leaders of SRHR, as well as implementing multi-pronged strategies to improve access to safe abortion.

Our work with national member societies – driven advocates, catalysing change
Through partnership with 12 national member societies in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, The ASA Project has emphasised the need for intersection of medical expertise and rights-based advocacy in diverse contexts. 

Continued: https://www.figo.org/blog/figo-70-our-journey-towards-improving-sexual-and-reproductive-rights-advocating-safe-abortion


New clinical handbook launched to support quality abortion care

World Health Organization
12 June 2023

The World Health Organization (WHO) today released a new handbook for health workers to help them deliver quality abortion services for women and girls. The publication provides detailed clinical advice to support implementation of WHO’s consolidated guidance on abortion care, published in 2022.

Clinical services relating to abortion include not only the procedure itself, but also the provision of information and counselling, pain management and post-abortion care, including contraception. In line with WHO’s updated recommendations, the Clinical practice handbook for quality abortion care additionally provides expanded guidance on how health workers can support self-management approaches, and telemedicine, where this is available.

Continued: https://www.who.int/news/item/12-06-2023-new-clinical-handbook-launched-to-support-quality-abortion-care


Do restrictive abortion laws actually reduce abortion? A global map offers insights

May 27, 2022
Michaeleen Doucleff

In countries where abortion is illegal, are there fewer abortions?

The question sounds simple. But it's tough to answer, says social demographer Jonathan Bearak at the Guttmacher Institute. That's largely because, in places with strict abortion laws, the procedure is almost completely hidden. So estimating the rate of abortions is extremely difficult.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/05/27/1099739656/do-restrictive-abortion-laws-actually-reduce-abortion-a-global-map-offers-insigh


Ghana records 266,000 abortions in 4 years

A newly released model of estimates for pregnancies and abortions in the world shows that some 266,000 abortions were done in Ghana within four years.

March 26, 2022
The Pulse

The Guttmacher Institute, the World Health Organisation and the UN’s Human Reproduction Programme (HRP) released the first-ever model-based estimates of unintended pregnancy and abortion rates for 150 countries, highlighting major disparities in access to sexual and reproductive health care.

The study analyses rates from 2015 to 2019, with the aim of providing deeper insights into access to sexual and reproductive health services in countries of all income levels across the globe.

Continued; https://www.pulse.com.gh/news/local/ghana-records-266000-abortions-in-4-years/n2dmvvv


WHO publishes first-ever country estimates on unintended pregnancy, abortion

24 March 2022
United Nations

Data analysis on unintended pregnancy and abortion from 150 countries has revealed major disparities in accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare, the UN health agency, WHO, said on Thursday.

With partner organisation the Guttmacher Institute, the WHO said that the results would allow health authorities to better understand family planning needs in their countries, including contraception and abortion care.

Continued: https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1114642


Kenya On Course In Post-Abortion Care Guidelines, To Deliver Life-Saving Care

By MUTHONI WAWERU
March 22, 2022

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 22 – Acting Director-General for Health Dr. Patrick Amoth says adequate measures on Post-Abortion Care (PAC) guidelines as well as capacity building in all counties, to be able to bring health care workers to speed on the quality of abortion care.

Abortion in Kenya is illegal but is permitted under specified circumstances, including danger to the life and health of the expectant mother and rape.

Continued: https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2022/03/kenya-on-course-in-post-abortion-care-guidelines-to-deliver-life-saving-care/


Africa: ‘Let’s Treat Sexual and Reproductive Health Services as a Regular Part of Health Care to Remove Stigma’

11 MARCH 2022
INTERVIEW By Sethi Ncube

Johannesburg — Too many girls and women continue to die and face both the short and long-term repercussions of unsafe abortions, yet potentially life-saving information on receiving quality care for abortion-related complications, remains in short supply.

To address this gap, the UN system for Human Reproduction Research (HRP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, published new data on the issue, in the latest edition of the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. The newly published papers also explore the experiences of adolescents and women in accessing support in insecure environments, reports UN News.

Continued: https://allafrica.com/stories/202203110732.html


WHO issues new guidelines on abortion to help deliver lifesaving care

9 March 2022
United Nations

New guidelines on abortion are now available from the World Health Organization (WHO), in a bid to prevent more than 25 million unsafe terminations that happen each year.

Craig Lissner, the UN health agency’s acting director for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, said on Wednesday’s launch, that “being able to obtain a safe abortion is a crucial part of healthcare”.

Continued: https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1113612


Guatemala triples jail time for women seeking abortion and bans same-sex marriage

Critics said the bill, which was approved on International Women's Day, 'should really be called a law to imprison and kill women'

By Sarah Newey,  GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY CORRESPONDENT
9 March 2022

Women in Guatemala face spending a decade behind bars if they choose to have an abortion, under legislation approved by the country’s conservative-led Congress on Tuesday.

The so-called ‘Life and Family Protection Law’ will more than triple the current prison sentence imposed on a woman who has an abortion, from three to 10 years. It also bans same-sex marriages and any initiatives teaching about sexual diversity.

Continued: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/guatemala-triples-jail-time-women-seeking-abortion-bans-same/


Unsafe Abortion – Time to Step-Up Family Planning Services in Nigeria

8 AUGUST 2021
Leadership (Abuja)

Unplanned pregnancy and unsafe abortion is still a problem in some societies despite the increase in effective and safe methods of contraception and the distribution of information about these methods. Unsafe abortion constitutes a major threat to the health and lives of women and children.

Unsafe abortions carry a high risk of
maternal mortality and morbidity, accounting for more than 80,000 maternal
deaths per year. Although many countries do not keep statistics on abortions,
there is evidence that millions of "legal" and illegal abortions take
place in the world every year.

Continued: https://allafrica.com/stories/202108090108.html