UN experts say U.S. abortion bans violate human rights

New recommendations call on the U.S. to fully decriminalize abortion

November 17, 2023

The United States is violating human rights by denying legal access to abortion—and should take immediate action to end the criminalization of abortion at the federal, state and local levels. This is the newly released conclusion of the United Nations Human Rights Committee in response to testimony from Ipas and partners in October.

“This is a reckoning for U.S. policymakers at every level of government,” said Bethany Van Kampen Saravia, Ipas senior legal and policy advisor, who attended the October hearing in Geneva. “The UN Human Rights Committee has appropriately called on the U.S. government to acknowledge the human rights crisis that is taking place within America, as states continue to ban abortion and limit access to sexual and reproductive health care.”

Continued: https://www.ipas.org/news/un-experts-say-u-s-abortion-bans-violate-human-rights/

Poland: A hunt for traces of abortion pills in women’s blood

How researchers test for traces of misoprostol and mifepristone — the two drugs used in medication abortions — in women who have experienced a miscarriage.

Sushmitha Ramakrishnan
Nov 6, 2023

A 22-year-old woman arrived at a hospital in Wroclaw, Poland, with a dead fetus. She said she'd had a miscarriage, but hadn't known she was pregnant.

Her apartment, which was subsequently raided by Polish authorities, told a different story. Officials found painkillers, antibiotics, a used pregnancy testing kit and tablets commonly dubbed "abortion pills" scattered around the home.

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/poland-a-hunt-for-traces-of-abortion-pills-in-womens-blood/a-67287124

British police testing women for abortion drugs

Forensic reports seen by Tortoise show police requesting tests for mifepristone and misoprostol

Monday 30 October 2023
Phoebe Davis, Tortoise Media

British police are testing women for abortion drugs and requesting data from menstrual tracking apps after unexplained pregnancy losses.

Tortoise has seen forensic reports in which police have requested a mass spectrometry test, which can detect the presence of the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol in the urine, blood and placenta of women under investigation.

Other reports include requests for “data related to menstruation tracking applications” as part of the police’s investigations.

Continued: https://www.tortoisemedia.com/2023/10/30/british-police-testing-women-for-abortion-drugs/

Brazil´s Supreme Court A Step Closer to Decriminalizing Abortion

Chance to Finally Uphold Women’s and Pregnant People´s Rights

Regina Tamés, Cristina Quijano Carrasco, Human Rights Watch
Oct 5, 2023

Brazil’s Supreme Court is now considering a case that could decriminalize abortion in the country up to 12 weeks of gestation.

This case had previously been on hold since 2018, when the Court held a public hearing at which Human Rights Watch urged it to consider Brazil’s obligations under international law in reaching its ruling. Brazil’s current legislation regulating abortion, which dates to 1940, is incompatible with the country's human rights obligations. Abortion is criminalized except in cases of sexual violence, when the life of the pregnant woman is in danger, or when a fatal fetal condition known as anencephaly is detected.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/05/brazils-supreme-court-step-closer-decriminalizing-abortion

On International Safe Abortion Day, women demand access to abortion through strong public health systems

On September 28, health and women’s rights activists are mobilizing to demand universal access to safe abortion and an end to the persecution of reproductive justice advocates

September 28, 2023
by Peoples Health Dispatch

On September 28, health and women’s rights activists worldwide commemorate International Safe Abortion Day, warning against the persisting disparities in access to sexual and reproductive health services in different countries. Numerous international treaties and declarations, such as the 1993 Vienna Declaration, advocate for the universal guarantee of access to safe abortion, and international bodies like the World Health Organization (WHO) actively promote this cause, yet countless women continue to face barriers when seeking this essential health care service.

As part of a global call to action, this year, activists are rallying for the universal decriminalization of abortion, improved access to high-quality post-abortion care, the inclusion of medical abortion pills on national essential medicines lists, and an end to the persecution of reproductive justice advocates, among other objectives.

Continued: https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/09/28/on-international-safe-abortion-day-women-demand-access-to-abortion-through-strong-public-health-systems/

28.09.2023

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Doctors, MEPs call for safer access to abortion in the EU

EU parliamentarians and women’s health experts are calling to guarantee the right to safe abortions across the EU, stressing that sexual and reproductive health is a fundamental human right.

By Clara Bauer-Babef | EURACTIV.com
Sep 19, 2023

Experts and MEPs discussed women’s reproductive and sexual health and access to abortion in the European Union on Tuesday (September 19) in the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM).

“Many women do that illegally in a dangerous way,” said Polish MEP Robert Biedroń from S&D, president of the FEMM committee, ahead of the International Safe Abortion Day coming up on 28 September.

Continued: https://www.euractiv.com/section/health-consumers/news/doctors-meps-call-for-safer-access-to-abortion-in-the-eu/

Poland: Abortion Witch Hunt Targets Women, Doctors

Criminalization, Pursuit of Alleged Offenders Violates Rights

September 14, 2023
Human Rights Watch

(London) – Poland’s government is targeting people for alleged abortion-related activities, intensifying a climate of fear that heightens risks for women and girls, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch released a video highlighting how the government’s dubious use of its powers to chase down alleged abortion-related activity threatens people’s rights to privacy, autonomy, and health, amongst others.

Since a near-ban on legal abortion in 2020, Polish officials have increasingly opened investigations on questionable legal grounds against women and girls seeking medical care for miscarriages or after legal medication abortions, as well as against doctors. Polish law does not criminalize having an abortion but rather anyone who provides or assists someone in having an abortion outside of highly restricted grounds. The government is apparently attempting to find a basis for prosecuting family members, friends, and healthcare providers for illegally providing or assisting abortions.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/14/poland-abortion-witch-hunt-targets-women-doctors

Mexican State Becomes 12th to Decriminalize Abortion

Supreme Court Ruling Affirms Rights to Health, Reproductive Autonomy

Regina Tamés, Deputy Director, Women's Rights Division
Human Rights Watch

Sep 6, 2023

On August 30, Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalized abortion in Aguascalientes state, making it the 12th Mexican state to remove criminal penalties for abortion. The move towards decriminalization in Mexico began in 2007 when Mexico City passed the country’s first abortion decriminalization law. It took 12 years for a second state, Oaxaca, to follow. While progress for a time seemed slow, 10 more states have decriminalized abortion in the last 3 years. This positive shift is largely thanks to the vision and perseverance of Mexican civil society.

While most states decriminalized abortion through changes in local legislation, Aguascalientes, as well as Coahuila states, are different in that the change came through a Supreme Court ruling. Five civil society organizations – GIRE, CECADEC, Cultivando Género, Morras Help Morras, and TERFU A.C. – challenged the abortion prohibition in Aguascalientes’ criminal code. The Supreme Court found that the prohibition violated the right to reproductive autonomy, the right to health, and the right to equality and nondiscrimination, among other rights, and confirmed the state´s obligation to provide abortion services.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/06/mexican-state-becomes-12th-decriminalize-abortion

06.09.2023

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Dominican Republic: Submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – 94th Session

Human Rights Watch
August 31, 2023

The National Confederation of Rural Women (Confederación Nacional de Mujeres del Campo or CONAMUCA), Network of United Youth Voices (Red Juvenil Voces Unidas), the Coalition for Women’s Life and Dignity (Coalición por la Vida y la Dignidad de las mujeres), and Human Rights Watch write in advance of the 94th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (the “Committee”) and its review of the Dominican Republic. This submission addresses articles 3, 6, 24, 28, and 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and covers access to abortion and specific aspects of the right to education.

The total abortion ban in the Dominican Republic, in effect since 1884, threatens the health and lives of girls, women, and pregnant people, and is incompatible with the country’s international human rights obligations.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/31/dominican-republic-submission-un-committee-rights-child

31.08.2023

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Colombia: Abortion Rights Under Threat

July 3, 2023

Regina Tamés, Deputy Director, Women's Rights Division – Human Rights Watch
Mauricio Albarracín-Caballero, Deputy Director, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program

Colombia has attracted a lot of attention in the news over the past year for being the country that offers the best protection for abortion rights in Latin America. In February 2022 we celebrated the landmark ruling of Colombia’s Constitutional Court, which decriminalized abortion on all grounds up to week 24 of pregnancy and ordered health care providers to guarantee access to abortion services. The Court also confirmed that abortion will continue to be legal after 24 weeks where the pregnancy poses a risk to the health or life of the pregnant person, is non-viable or is the result of rape. These exceptions were introduced by the Constitutional Court in 2006.

But now the topic of abortion rights is back in the headlines in Colombia and not for the right reasons. The past few days have seen the spread of confusion and misinformation about recent rulings that could pose a threat to access to abortion. The Fourth Review Chamber of the Constitutional Court recently ruled on two tutela actions (T-158 from 2023 and T-430 from 2022) in a manner which could undermine full access to abortion services, contradicting last year’s ruling of the Full Chamber.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/03/colombia-abortion-rights-under-threat

03.07.2023