The Elephant in the Womb: Unintended Pregnancies

22 APRIL 2022
Population Matters

This year’s State of the World Population (SWOP) report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) focuses on the worrying issue of unintended pregnancies. Still approximately half of all pregnancies today are unplanned and the number of affected women is increasing. Tackling this crisis is key to achieving a better future and should be an utmost priority.

RUNNING TO SLIDE BACKWARDS?
Since 2019, the annual unintended pregnancy rate fell from 79 to 64 unintended pregnancies for every 1,000 women of child-bearing age (15 to 49 years) – in other words, roughly 6% of the world’s women experience an unintended pregnancy each year, down from 8% in 2019. However, the report points out that due to population growth, the absolute number of affected women has increased by as much as 13% during this time period. This inconvenient truth also applies to the number of girls and women affected by other injustices, such as child marriage and unmet contraceptive needs, alongside many other development indicators, as shown in Population Matters’ 2019 report on population and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Continued: https://populationmatters.org/news/2022/04/elephant-womb-unintended-pregnancies

22.04.2022

State of the World Population Report 2022

Sustainable Development Goals

UNFPA

unintended pregnancy

United Nations Population Fund

An unseen crisis: nearly half of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended

by Seema Jalan, United Nations Foundation
MARCH 30, 2022

A new report from UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, features a staggering statistic: Nearly half of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended. “For the women affected, the most life-altering reproductive choice — whether or not to become pregnant — is no choice at all,” says UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem.

UNFPA is sounding the alarm on a human rights crisis that has ramifications for women, societies, and the world in light of its 2022 State of World Population report, Seeing the Unseen: The case for action in the neglected crisis of unintended pregnancy, which estimates there are 121 million unintended pregnancies each year. The report builds on new data from the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization (WHO) that outlines the first-ever estimates of unintended pregnancy and abortion at the country level, highlighting major disparities across 150 countries in access to quality sexual and reproductive health care.

Continued: https://unfoundation.org/blog/post/an-unseen-crisis-nearly-half-of-all-pregnancies-worldwide-are-unintended/

Meet the Public Official Behind Argentina’s Landmark Abortion Ruling: Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta, Minister of Women

2/2/2021
by CORA FERNÁNDEZ ANDERSON

On Dec. 29, 2020, Argentina legalized abortion until the 14th week of pregnancy—becoming the third country in Latin America (after Cuba and Uruguay) to do so. This landmark victory was the result of many years of arduous activist work to raise awareness of the harm that comes with the criminalization of abortion.

In 2005, the women’s movement launched the Campaign for Safe, Free and Legal Abortion (La Campaña Nacional por el Derecho al Aborto Legal Seguro y Gratuito), which grew more powerful, reaching massive support across the country in the past three years. From there, activists drafted a bill and sought the support of legislators to advance abortion reform in Congress. In 2018, the campaign’s bill was discussed in Congress for the first time. It passed in the Lower Chamber but was rejected in the Senate by a vote of 38-31.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2021/02/02/argentina-abortion-ruling-feminist-latin-america-elizabeth-gomez-alcorta-minister-of-women-gender-diversity/

COVID-19 lockdowns leading to a rise in violence against women and girls

COVID-19 lockdowns leading to a rise in violence against women and girls
The global COVID-19 pandemic in its indiscriminate spread has claimed loved ones before their time - once bustling cities and neighbourhoods now stand in ‘lock-down’.

14 May 2020
Jameen Kaur

While the spread of COVID-19 is indiscriminate, mounting evidence has revealed that COVID-19 has further compounded existing inequalities putting already marginalised women and girls, often with weaker access to political and economic power, at greater risk, not only to the coronavirus but also to the direct and indirect consequences of lock-down.

FIGO and our 132 National Member Societies commitment to promote women’s health and rights precedes the COVID-19 pandemic, yet the two are explicably linked. UN Women has reported a global rise in domestic violence cases and new evidence released by UNFPA reveals that for every 3 months the lockdown continues an additional 15 million cases of gender-based violence are expected, 13 million women will not be able to access modern contraceptives and there will be an estimate of 325,000 unintended pregnancies.

Continued: https://www.figo.org/covid-19-lockdowns-leading-rise-violence-against-women-and-girls

Gender counts: Why investing in data on girls means transforming the future

OPINION: Gender counts: Why investing in data on girls means transforming the future
We cannot possibly understand the situation and needs of girls without reliable data, especially for the most vulnerable and marginalised

by Karin Hulshof and Bjorn Andersson | UNFPA
Friday, 11 October 2019

It’s an undeniable fact that even in the 21st century, whether you are born a girl or a boy will shape to a large extent the lives and opportunities of the vast majority of the 2.3 billion children and adolescents around the world.

Quite simply, gender counts – with girls at a distinct disadvantage.

Continued: http://news.trust.org/item/20191011094802-6ijk7

11.10.2019

International Day of the Girl

Karin Hulshof

sex selection abortion

Kenya – Abortion stigma pushes women to back-alley methods

Abortion stigma pushes women to back-alley methods
When society lashes out at a woman for choosing to terminate a pregnancy, they run to unsafe methods

by Michael Okun Oliech
Star Blogs
15 May 2019

Being a mother should be a choice and no woman or girl should feel obligated to have children.

Unfortunately, due to the society that we live in, the choice of motherhood for women and women’s right has been eroded by either the law, patriarchal manipulation, gender inequality, religious doctrines or culture.

Continued: https://www.the-star.co.ke/opinion/star-blogs/2019-05-15-abortion-stigma-pushes-women-to-back-alley-methods/

15.05.2019