Filipinas buy, sell, rate abortions in online forum

Part 1 of 3: Filipinas buy, sell, rate abortions in online forum
In the Philippines, abortion is illegal and deeply stigmatized, leaving desperate women with no choice but to seek unsafe options online

By Natashya Gutierrez
August 13, 2018

MANILA, Philippines – It was a desperate cry for help.

On the evening of August 2, 2015, a woman with username "aifa2500" posted on an online forum in the Philippines. She had gotten an abortion a day prior, from a backstreet abortionist she referred to as "Miss Shine."

In broken English, she explained that she had gone for her procedure to abort her 6-month-old fetus. Upon arrival, she explained she was made to go to the toilet to pee, before being asked to remove her pants and underwear because “she's going to put the catheter to push the baby out.”

Continued: https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/208267-online-forum-sells-abortions-in-the-philippines

Brazil: Decriminalize Abortion

Brazil: Decriminalize Abortion
Court Considering Petition to Expand Access

July 31, 2018

(São Paulo) – Brazil’s abortion laws are incompatible with its human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said today, releasing a video about the issue. Human Rights Watch will speak at a public hearing on August 3 and 6, 2018, as part of a Supreme Court case challenging the criminalization of abortion in Brazil in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Human Rights Watch will urge the court to consider Brazil’s obligations under international law in reaching its ruling.

Abortion is legal in Brazil only in cases of rape, when necessary to save a woman’s life, or when the fetus suffers from anencephaly – a fatal congenital brain disorder. Women and girls who terminate pregnancies under any other circumstances face up to three years in prison.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/07/31/brazil-decriminalize-abortion

Kenya – State spent Sh533 million on unsafe abortions patients in 2016

State spent Sh533 million on unsafe abortions patients in 2016

Apr. 06, 2018
By RHODA ODHIAMBO

Public hospitals spent Sh533 million treating patients who sought medical services after botched abortions in 2016, a new report suggests.

The amount was used to purchase medical supplies and pay health personnel.

This was an increase by Sh100 million that was used in 2012 to treat unsafe abortions.

continued: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018/04/06/state-spent-sh533-million-on-unsafe-abortions-patients-in-2016_c1741531

06.04.2018

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Africa Health Population Research

Chimaraoke Izugbara

cost of treating unsafe abortion complications

Guttmacher Institute

maternal mortality

unsafe abortion complications

Landmark Report Concludes Abortion In U.S. Is Safe

Landmark Report Concludes Abortion In U.S. Is Safe

March 16, 2018
Alison Kodjak

Abortions in the United States are safe and have few complications, according to a landmark new study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

The report, called "The Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the United States," examined the four major methods used for abortions — medication, aspiration, dilation and evacuation, and induction — and examined women's care from before they had the procedure through their follow-up care.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/03/16/593447727/landmark-report-concludes-abortion-is-safe

UK aid official offers ‘loud and strong’ support for access to abortion worldwide

UK aid official offers 'loud and strong' support for access to abortion worldwide

By Sophie Edwards
09 March 2018

LONDON — A top United Kingdom aid official has reassured advocates that the Department for International Development remains a “loud and strong voice for universal access to sexual and reproductive health” services, including abortion, for women and girls in developing countries.

Speaking at the launch of a new report from the U.K. All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health, which calls for the U.K. government to support safe abortion at home and abroad, international development minister Alistair Burt said:

Continued: https://www.devex.com/news/uk-aid-official-offers-loud-and-strong-support-for-access-to-abortion-worldwide-92282

Global Gag Rule: Implications For Women In Nigeria

Global Gag Rule: Implications For Women In Nigeria

By Ijeoma Ukazu
On Mar 7, 2018

March of each year is set aside to celebrate women worldwide as pillars who despite gender disparity strife to make headway in life.

A common saying, “educate a woman or girl child, you educate a nation” resonates strongly, but sadly, most issues concerning the girl-child is relegated to the background as she is believed in some parts of the world to be seen and not heard.

Continued: https://thewhistler.ng/story/global-gag-rule-implications-women-nigeria/

Unintended Pregnancy Rates Declined Globally from 1990 to 2014

Unintended Pregnancy Rates Declined Globally from 1990 to 2014
Larger Declines in Developed Than Developing Regions

March 5, 2018
News Release, Guttmacher Institute

Rates of unintended pregnancy have decreased globally since 1990, according to a new study published today in The Lancet Global Health. While the unintended pregnancy rate fell worldwide from 1990–1994 to 2010–2014, it dropped less sharply in developing regions (16%) than in developed regions (30%). “Global, Regional, and Subregional Trends in Unintended Pregnancy and Its Outcomes from 1990 to 2014,” by Guttmacher Institute researcher Jonathan Bearak and colleagues, highlights the incidence of unintended pregnancies in all world regions, using an updated methodology and a broader evidence base than past studies to examine changes over time.

The researchers found that during the most recent period (2010–2014), an estimated 44% of pregnancies worldwide were unintended. This translates to a rate of 62 unintended pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15–44, a decrease from 74 per 1,000 women in 1990–1994.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2018/unintended-pregnancy-rates-declined-globally-1990-2014

The rate of abortion in Australia is lower than you think

The rate of abortion in Australia is lower than you think
By the National Reporting Team's Alison Branley and medical reporter Sophie Scott

Updated December 13, 2017

An ABC investigation has found that Australia has been following international trends and many of the available statistics point to a marked reduction in terminations across the country to a rate as low as 13.5 per 1,000 women.

Despite the available evidence, key opinion leaders, including the College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, academics and family planning clinics, continue to mistakenly suggest Australia has one of the highest rates of abortion in the developed world — even though it is lower than countries like the UK and Canada.

Continued at source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-13/the-rate-of-abortion-in-australia-is-lower-than-you-think/9250122

The Trump global gag rule: an attack on US family planning and global health aid

The Trump global gag rule: an attack on US family planning and global health aid
by Ann M Starrs
Published: 04 February 2017
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30270-2

On Jan 23, 2017, on his fourth day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing the global gag rule,1 an anti-abortion policy that under other conservative presidential administrations has caused serious disruptions to US overseas family planning efforts. Alarmingly, Trump's order goes even further than in the past, with potentially devastating effect.

The global gag rule, also known as the Mexico City policy, was devised in 1984 by the administration of Ronald Reagan to impose a draconian set of anti-abortion rules on US overseas family planning programmes.2 This policy banned US family planning funds from going to foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that provide abortion services, counselling, or referrals, or advocate for liberalisation of their country's abortion laws—even if they use non-US government funds for these activities. In 1984, and every time the global gag rule has been imposed since then, foreign governments were exempt for diplomatic reasons, as were US-based NGOs on constitutional grounds.

Continued at link
Source, The Lancet: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)30270-2/fulltext