Latin America – Covid-19 hospital beds and abortion

There is hard evidence that the pandemic presents a heightened risk to reproductive health

DEBORA DINIZ and GISELLE CARINO
31 JUL 2020

“Abortion is a public health matter,” scientists say. This notion seems a bit abstract – how can a criminalized practice constitute a public health need? The Covid-19 pandemic is a teachable moment. But it is the teaching of horror: according to the World Health Organization, thousands of women visit health services every month to receive care for incomplete abortions. In Argentina, the figure was 3,330 women; in Chile, 1,522; in Colombia, 7,778; and in Mexico, 18,285, in different years. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 760,000 women in Latin America and the Caribbean are treated annually at healthcare services because of complications from unsafe abortions, averaging out to 63,000 beds a month. When a woman goes to a hospital for complications from an unsafe abortion, she might end up needing a bed twice: once, to treat the unsafe abortion and next, to be treated for the Covid-19 she contracted in the hospital.

Continued: https://english.elpais.com/opinion/2020-07-31/covid-19-hospital-beds-and-abortion.html


UK – What Happens When an Abortion Doesn’t Fully Work

What Happens When an Abortion Doesn't Fully Work
I had an incomplete abortion last year. This is what I wish I'd known about them.

by Rose Stokes
Aug 15 2019

Last year, I had an abortion. My reasons for doing so are deeply personal, painful, and nobody’s business but mine. Once I'd decided to terminate the pregnancy, a woman from British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) asked me over the phone if I wanted a medical abortion—which was still possible at my stage of pregnancy (nine weeks)—or a surgical one. I had no idea.
Advertisement

“What’s the difference?” I asked.

“Well, one you take a pill and the other is more invasive."

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7x5pqz/what-is-incomplete-failed-abortion


BOTSWANA – In Botswana it is easier to have a back street abortion than to be treated for flu at Princes Marina Hospital

BOTSWANA – In Botswana it is easier to have a back street abortion than to be treated for flu at Princes Marina Hospital

by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
Dec 6, 2018

For Pula 800 and a click of the mouse, Batswana women who wish to terminate unwanted pregnancies can have their wishes fulfilled in a few hours while influenza patients are still queuing to see a doctor, according to Sunday Standard investigations.

The right of women to terminate a pregnancy in Botswana has been the subject of political, medical, social and legal debate, but 18 years later it remains a criminal offence unless it is permitted under the Penal Code 1991, which permits abortion up to 16 weeks of pregnancy on grounds of rape, defilement or incest; if the pregnancy puts the life of the woman at risk or may cause harm to her physical or mental health; or the fetus would suffer or later develop physical or mental abnormality.

Continued: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/botswana-in-botswana-it-is-easier-to-have-a-back-street-abortion-than-to-be-treated-for-flu-at-princes-marina-hospital/


Malawi: Can incomplete abortion be treated more safely and less expensively?

Can incomplete abortion be treated more safely and less expensively?
March 22, 2017

Incomplete abortion is one of the main causes of obstetric complications in Malawi. Surgical management with curettage is the most common treatment, despite WHO’s recommendation to use manual vacuum aspiration (MVA). Researchers are looking to see whether training health personnel in MVA can increase the use of this method.

In Malawi today, abortion is generally illegal and punishable by up to 14 years’ imprisonment. Malawi is not alone, as access to abortions is limited in the majority of the world’s nations. In Malawi, abortion is permitted if the pregnancy poses a danger to the mother’s life. However, there is ongoing debate on expanding the law to allow for abortion in cases of rape and incest, if the pregnancy will cause severe psychological or physiological harm to the mother, or if the foetus is severely malformed. Nonetheless, due to conservative forces in Malawian society, general legalisation is not likely to be passed until far into the future.

Continued at source: Health Canal: https://www.healthcanal.com/pregnancy-childbirth/236217-can-incomplete-abortion-treated-safely-less-expensively.html