Why restricting access to abortion damages women’s health

The PLOS Medicine Editors
Published: July 26, 2022
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004075

In late June, the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling was overturned by the United States Supreme Court, a decision, decried by human rights experts at the United Nations [1], that leaves many women and girls without the right to obtain abortion care that was established nearly 50 years ago. The consequences of limited or nonextant access to safe abortion services in the US remain to be seen; however, information gleaned from abortion-related policies worldwide provides insight into the likely health effects of this abrupt reversal in abortion policy. The US Supreme Court’s decision should serve to amplify the global call for strategies to mitigate the inevitable repercussions for women’s health.

Continued: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1004075

Dominican Republic: Abortion Ban Endangers Health

Dominican Republic: Abortion Ban Endangers Health
Criminal Penalties Violate Rights

November 19, 2018

(Santo Domingo) – The Dominican Republic’s total ban on abortion threatens women's health and lives and violates their rights, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Abortion is illegal in the Dominican Republic in all circumstances, even when a pregnancy is life-threatening, unviable, or the result of rape.

The 78-page report, “‘It’s Your Decision, It’s Your Life’: The Total Criminalization of Abortion in the Dominican Republic,” documents that women and girls facing unwanted pregnancies have clandestine abortions, often at great risk to their health and lives. Many experience health complications from unsafe abortions, and some die. Some women and girls face abuse, neglect, or mistreatment by healthcare providers. The ban does not stop abortion but drives it underground and makes it less safe. As a starting place toward meeting the country’s human rights obligations, Congress should decriminalize abortion in three circumstances.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/11/19/dominican-republic-abortion-ban-endangers-health

USA – Women Who Face Prosecution for Home Abortions Finally Have a Number to Call

Women Who Face Prosecution for Home Abortions Finally Have a Number to Call
“Folks need to know there are lawyers who respect their dignity and will back them up.”

Nina Liss-Schultz
October 30, 2018

During his campaign for president, Donald Trump told voters he believed that women who end their pregnancies should face “some form of punishment.” He soon walked back his remarks, but the statement, along with his promise (since fulfilled) to put anti-abortion justices on the Supreme Court, sent a message: Women should no longer assume that abortion will remain a legal option.

In some circles, at least, the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has raised concerns about a future America in which extra-clinical abortions are the new normal—and criminal.

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2018/10/self-induced-abortion-diy-home-prosecution-legal-help-1/

30.10.2018

Commentary

News

Brett Kavanaugh

harms of criminalizing abortion

Jill E. Adams

Michelle Roberts

prosecuting women for abortion

New report on women’s health criticises Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws

New report on women’s health criticises Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws
European Commissioner for Human Rights focuses on laws in Republic and North

Dec 5, 2017
Seán Dunne

A new report published by the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights has questioned Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws.

The report, ‘Women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights in Europe’, examines women’s health within the EU and looks at abortion services.

Continued at source: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/new-report-on-women-s-health-criticises-ireland-s-restrictive-abortion-laws-1.3316324

El Salvador’s FMLN Backs Women’s Group Reforms on Abortion Ban

El Salvador's FMLN Backs Women's Group Reforms on Abortion Ban

Published 1 November 2017
by Roberto Hernández Montoya

The current Article 133 of the Penal Code punishes women with up to 40 years in prison for undergoing an abortion.

Women's groups have presented reforms to the Salvadoran Legislative Assembly to push for the decriminalization of abortion in four cases, which was backed by FMLN lawmakers.

"We come before the deputies because it is urgent to approve a reform to decriminalize abortion when the life of the woman is in danger, and for other reasons," Margarita Posada, from the board of the Alliance for Women’s Life and Health in the Americas, told AFP.

Continued at source: https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/El-Salvadors-FMLN-Backs-Womens-Group-Reforms-on-Abortion-Ban-20171101-0020.html