Decriminalising abortion in Asia: Perspectives from India and Nepal

Decriminalising abortion encourages access to safe abortion and proper post-abortion care. It does not mean that the law would no longer regulate abortion, but that no one would be punished for providing or having an abortion, and the law provides a positive framework to ensure access to safe abortion.

RADHIKA SAXENA AND PRABINA BAJRACHARYA
MAY 28, 2023

“FIFTEEN-year-old Sita (name changed), who got pregnant due to rape, ended her pregnancy by consuming medical pills her father obtained from a local pharmacist. Sita’s district court statement noted that she sought an abortion to safeguard her and her family’s reputation. The court convicted Sita of illegal abortion and sentenced her based on her admission.” – Center for Reproductive Rights & Forum for Women, Law and Development, Decriminalization of Abortion in Nepal: Imperative to Uphold Women’s Rights, 2021

The ability to make and exercise decisions about one’s body, sexuality and reproduction is at the core of gender, economic and social justice. Under international human rights law, States are obliged to respect, protect and fulfil rights related to sexual and reproductive health, including the rights to life, health, privacy, information, freedom from ill-treatment, non-discrimination and equality. States are also required to guarantee access to quality sexual and reproductive health information and care, including abortion services.

Continued: https://theleaflet.in/decriminalising-abortion-in-asia-perspectives-from-india-and-nepal/

Nepal – ‘Govt not serious about decriminalising abortion’

By Ram Kumar Kamat
Apr 03, 2022

KATHMANDU, APRIL 2 - Even one year after Nepal accepted the Human Rights Council's universal periodic review recommendation that it should decriminalise abortion, the government has not taken any concrete steps to amend the prevailing laws that criminalise abortion.

In 2018, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women Committee had also recommended that Nepal fully decriminalise abortion in all cases and legalise it at least in the cases of health complications of the mother.

Continued: https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/govt-not-serious-about-decriminalising-abortion

UN experts condemn Texas abortion law as sex discrimination ‘at its worst’

Exclusive: human rights lawyer criticizes the supreme court and says new law will ‘make abortion unsafe and deadly’

Ed Pilkington in New York
Tue 7 Sep 2021

United Nations human rights monitors have strongly condemned the state of Texas for its new anti-abortion law, which they say violates international law by denying women control over their own bodies and endangering their lives.

In damning remarks to the Guardian, Melissa Upreti, the chair of the UN’s working group on discrimination against women and girls, criticized the new Texas law, SB 8, as “structural sex and gender-based discrimination at its worst”.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/07/un-experts-condemn-texas-anti-abortion-law

07.09.2021

UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls

The Reality of Abortion in Northern Ireland

Consistent vetoes have blocked the power-sharing government from passing abortion reform in Northern Ireland.

By Julia Canney
Jun 18, 2021

In April, the UK House of Commons formally approved a new directive requiring Northern Ireland’s Department of Health to take “concrete steps” to ensure full abortion services in the north before summer. The directive, which came after years of pressure from inside and outside the north, is the result of the Northern Ireland executive’s delay in commissioning services that were formally decriminalized in 2019.

It is time for Northern Ireland’s secretary of state, Brandon Lewis, to ensure that reproductive rights in the north are safe, legal and accessible to all who need them. The complicated politics of Northern Ireland have led to this dilemma of jurisdiction. The House of Commons was able to decriminalize abortion services in the north specifically because there was no sitting Northern Ireland executive in Stormont. However, now that there has been a sitting government in Stormont for over a year, many are calling for an end to the executive’s stall tactics.

Continued: https://www.fairobserver.com/region/europe/julia-canney-northern-ireland-abortion-rights-ireland-news-irish-abortion-news-23840/

Humanists International joins 354 NGOs calling for an end to barriers to abortion access

DATE / 7 OCTOBER 2020

On 28 September, in honour of International Safe Abortion Day, Humanists International co-sponsored a joint statement at the UN on ongoing threats to sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) in light of COVID-19.

The statement was delivered during the General Debate of the 45th session of the Human Rights Council and was supported and signed by a total of 354 organizations and 643 individuals.

States are ignoring their duties to ensure abortion access during COVID-19

Continued: https://humanists.international/2020/10/humanists-international-joins-354-ngos-calling-for-an-end-to-barriers-to-abortion-access/

UN Experts Say U.S. Abortion Restrictions During COVID-19 Crisis Violate Human Rights

Experts Condemn States’ Efforts to Restrict Access to Abortion Care

09.08.2020

UN human rights experts have declared that efforts by U.S. states to restrict access to abortion care during the COVID-19 crisis are violations of human rights.

The UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls, together with the UN special rapporteur on right to health and the UN special rapporteur on violence against women, asserted in a statement that eight U.S. states—Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Iowa, Ohio, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee—“with a long history of restrictive practices against abortion, seem to have been manipulating the crisis to severely restrict women’s reproductive rights.”

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/story/un-experts-say-us-abortion-restrictions-covid-violate-human-rights

Independent submission to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Philippines

Independent submission to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Philippines as requested by the Human Rights Council (the Council) in its Resolution 41/2 adopted on 11 July 2019

Posted 10 February 2020
Supplementary information on the grave human rights violations resulting from women’s and girls’ lack of effective access to safe and legal abortion in the Philippines

Respectfully submitted on January 31, 2020

by Catholics for Reproductive Health
Center for Reproductive Rights
EnGendeRights, Inc.
Family Planning Organization of the Philippines
Filipino Freethinkers
Philippine Safe Abortion Network
WomanHealth Philippines
Women’s Clinic Pilipinas
Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights

1. This submission was prepared by a coalition of civil society groups working in the Philippines to contribute to the upcoming report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the situation of human rights in the Philippines as requested by the Human Rights Council (the Council) in its Resolution 41/2 adopted on 11 July 2019 on the promotion and protection of human rights in the country. We would like to direct the attention of the OHCHR to grave violations of fundamental human rights resulting from one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world which causes preventable deaths and injuries among women and girls who are unable to access safe and legal abortion services.

Continued: https://mailchi.mp/safeabortionwomensright/feature-independent-submission-to-ohchr-on-human-rights-violations-in-the-philippines-related-to-abortion-10-february-2020?e=372dd34034

10.02.2020

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Women Activists Escalate Demand for “Bodily Autonomy” as 19 Nations Dissent

Women Activists Escalate Demand for “Bodily Autonomy” as 19 Nations Dissent

By Thalif Deen
Jan 17, 2020

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - The United States and 18 other UN member states have come under fire for denying a woman’s legitimate right to “bodily autonomy”—the right to self-governance over one’s own body without coercion or external pressure.

The Executive Director of Women’s March Global, Uma Mishra-Newbery, told IPS the United Nations has worked towards progress in fighting for women’s rights.

Continued: http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/01/women-activists-escalate-demand-bodily-autonomy-19-nations-dissent/

Philippines – Lives in danger: Extrajudicial killings and the denial of abortion

[OPINION] Lives in danger: Extrajudicial killings and the denial of abortion
Permitting access to safe and legal abortion saves lives; extrajudicial killings take them away

Jihan Jacob
July 29, 2019

While President Duterte left out the status of women’s reproductive health and rights in the country from his 4th State of the Nation Address, the recent UN Human Rights Council resolution and false claims against those who advanced it demonstrate that the government still has a long way to go in respecting, protecting, and promoting the reproductive rights and human rights of all Filipinos. (READ: Quick point-by-point summary of Duterte's SONA 2019)

For the past 3 years, a slate of extrajudicial killings has been committed as part of the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign. Thousands have gone missing or have been killed, prompting the United Nations Human Rights Council to adopt a resolution condemning these acts. It urged the country to prevent more killings, conduct investigations, and ensure accountability.

Government officials who are sympathetic to the campaign have attempted to undermine those who passed the resolution, on the false pretext that such countries lack the moral legitimacy to condemn the Philippines because they permit legal abortion.

Continued: https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/ispeak/236392-extrajudicial-killings-legal-abortion

New Zealand – Family Planning welcomes landmark Human Rights Council resolution

Family Planning welcomes landmark Human Rights Council resolution

Contributer: Fuseworks Media Fuseworks Media
Wednesday, 3 October, 2018

Family Planning New Zealand is thrilled with a landmark resolution which recognises the need for comprehensive sexuality education, and accessible sexual healthcare and services, including safe abortion.

The resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council was led by a number of countries including New Zealand and is supported across the board by international family planning organisations.

Continued: http://www.voxy.co.nz/health/5/322450

03.10.2018