Women in Kenya Are Using Knitting Needles to End Their Pregnancies. Blame Donald Trump.

The president has given fringe anti-abortion groups unprecedented influence.

OCTOBER 8, 2020
By NEHA WADEKAR

On a rainy morning in May 2019, Dr. John Nyamu was attending to patients on the cluttered first floor of an office building in downtown Nairobi when he heard raucous shouts from down the street. A caravan of protesters was winding toward him, a few hundred people teeming in the streets, bellowing through loudspeakers, and stopping traffic.

As the crowd reached his building, Nyamu, a well-known gynecologist who performs abortions in a private clinic, peered through his window at the protesters below to make out what they were saying. It turns out they were targeting him. “Abortion is murder! Abortion must go! Nyamu must go!” Some held signs with photos of mutilated fetuses. Others clutched baby-size cardboard coffins with crosses on them.

Continued: https://www.typeinvestigations.org/investigation/2020/10/08/abortion-kenya-knitting-needles-donald-trump/


Colombia’s Upcoming Abortion Ruling Could Have A Big Impact On Latin America

Colombia's Upcoming Abortion Ruling Could Have A Big Impact On Latin America

By Tim Padgett
Feb 17, 2020

Colombia’s highest court is about to issue a ruling that could return the country to a total ban on abortion – or bring it in line with Roe v. Wade, the decision that legalized abortion in the U.S. Either way, because Colombia is one of the region's largest and more culturally influential countries, the decision could have a profound effect on abortion rights in Latin America.

The region already has some of the world’s strictest abortion laws – and now people on both sides of the debate hope a recent – and admittedly unusual – case will affirm their agendas.

Continued: https://www.wlrn.org/post/colombias-upcoming-abortion-ruling-could-have-big-impact-latin-america#stream/0


How openDemocracy is tracking anti-abortion misinformation around the world

How openDemocracy is tracking anti-abortion misinformation around the world
Nine months ago, we began following the money of two US religious right groups. Then, we deployed our own global network – of feminist investigative journalists.

Claire Provost and Nandini Archer
12 February 2020

US religious right activists with links to Trump’s White House have supported the spread of what are called ‘crisis pregnancy centres’ around the world, openDemocracy’s Tracking the Backlash project revealed this week.

There are thousands of these centres in the US where some have been previously criticised for presenting themselves as neutral health facilities while hiding their anti-abortion and religious agendas from women who are looking for help. But the global scale of these activities has not been mapped until now.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/how-opendemocracy-tracking-anti-abortion-misinformation-around-world/


European lawmakers demand action on anti-abortion misinformation

European lawmakers demand action on anti-abortion misinformation
openDemocracy investigation sparks cross-party European legislators' call for action on “deliberate disinformation” of vulnerable pregnant women.

Peter Geoghegan and Francesca Visser
12 February 2020

A growing number of European lawmakers from across the political spectrum are calling for action against “deliberate disinformation” targeted at vulnerable women following an openDemocracy special investigation.

This week, openDemocracy revealed that some ‘crisis pregnancy centres’ around the world discourage women from using contraception and say, incorrectly, that abortions increase risks of getting cancer or becoming abusive towards children.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/european-lawmakers-demand-action-anti-abortion-misinformation/


Revealed: US-linked anti-abortion centres ‘lie’ and ‘scare women’ across Latin America

Revealed: US-linked anti-abortion centres ‘lie’ and ‘scare women’ across Latin America
Lawmakers in Mexico, Ecuador and Argentina demand action following “truly scandalous” misinformation revealed by openDemocracy..

Isabella Cota
12 February 2020

“Come on in my love, someone will be with you shortly,” a woman says, welcoming me into a ‘crisis centre’ for women with unwanted pregnancies in a suburb of Mexico City. "I'm going to give you a hug," she adds, with a kiss on the cheek.

The woman’s greeting is warm and it chimes with the centre’s online advertising, on a website called interrumpir-embarazo.com (‘interrupt-pregnancy.com’), as “a group of women who know how difficult it is to face an unwanted pregnancy”, who promise to “accompany you, with security and discretion”.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/revealed-us-linked-anti-abortion-centres-lie-and-scare-women-across-latin-america/


Exclusive: Trump-linked religious ‘extremists’ target women with disinformation worldwide

Exclusive: Trump-linked religious ‘extremists’ target women with disinformation worldwide
Lawmakers demand action as openDemocracy reveals global spread of false and “manipulative” activities, posing “grave risks” to women and democracy.

Claire Provost and Nandini Archer
10 February 2020

A global network of ‘crisis pregnancy centres’, backed by US anti-abortion groups linked to the Trump White House, has been condemned by lawmakers, doctors and rights advocates for targeting vulnerable women with “disinformation, emotional manipulation and outright deceit”.

There are thousands of such centres in the US. Many have been criticised for posing as neutral health facilities for women with crisis pregnancies while hiding their anti-abortion and religious agendas. But the global scale of these controversial activities has not been mapped until now.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/trump-linked-religious-extremists-global-disinformation-pregnant-women/


Latin America’s New Anti-Abortion Battle Line: Fetus Adoption Over Abortion

Latin America's New Anti-Abortion Battle Line: Fetus Adoption Over Abortion
These innovative but controversial initiatives could serve as a model for abortion battles elsewhere.

By Deborah Bonello
Sept 29 2019

There is no word in Spanish for miscarriage. The term aborto espontaneo, which translates to spontaneous abortion, is the language used when pregnancy in Latin America ends suddenly. But as popular opinion in the region — home to some of the world’s most draconian legislation against abortion — slowly moves away from rigid opposition, anti-abortion actors are changing their language and tactics to fight back.

For decades, anti-abortion campaigns in Latin America have been built around principles outlined in the Bible, and values of morality and decency, says Fernanda Doz Costa, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Americas. Now, a new generation of activists opposed to abortion has adopted a rights-based approach arguing in favor of both the mother’s and the child’s rights, or that abortion can be avoided in many cases without the mother having to raise the child.

Continued: https://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/latin-americas-new-anti-abortion-battle-line-fetus-adoption-over-abortion/96949


Mexican president considers abortion referendum

Mexican president considers abortion referendum
López Obrador is unlikely to push for legalization now, as he needs Catholic Church to help fight violence.

John Burger
Mar 27, 2019

Andres Manuel López Obrador did a good job keeping the abortion issue out of his campaign for president of Mexico last year. But he might be confronting it now.

At a recent celebration for International Women’s Day, the Mexican President had to deflect charges that he wants a referendum on abortion.

Continued: https://aleteia.org/2019/03/27/mexican-president-considers-abortion-referendum/


How US organizations support anti-abortion laws in Mexico and elsewhere

How US organizations support anti-abortion laws in Mexico and elsewhere

By Rossalyn Warren, CNN
Tue March 12, 2019

Mexico City (CNN)Susana Dueñas Rocha was just 21 years old when she was sentenced to 30 years in prison. A court found her guilty of obtaining an abortion, a criminal offense in Mexico.

Rocha's throat dried and her eyes welled as she listened to the ruling in 2004 in Guanajuato, a state just north of Mexico City. Her mind kept racing: Why would no one believe her? She told everyone who would listen that she didn't have an abortion but a miscarriage.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/12/health/mexico-abortion-us-org/index.html


Ireland: Anti-abortion and pro-choice groups claim venues cancelling events

Anti-abortion and pro-choice groups claim venues cancelling events
Group calls for full Garda investigation into alleged threats by pro-choice activists
Sep 28, 2017

Conor Gallagher, Kitty Holland, Marie O'Halloran

Three Dublin hotels have cancelled anti-abortion events this week due to online campaigns from pro-choice activists, according to the organising groups.

Meanwhile, pro-choice groups have said a number of venues have also canclled meetings they had organised, citing political concerns.

Continued at source: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/anti-abortion-and-pro-choice-groups-claim-venues-cancelling-events-1.3237141