Pro-Life? Trump Administration is Endangering Women’s Lives

Pro-Life? Trump Administration is Endangering Women’s Lives
By Nina Besser Doorley
7/25/17

Last Wednesday night, the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee finalized a foreign assistance bill that guts funding for women’s health around the world. During a debate over the proposal, which would likely increase unsafe abortions and maternal deaths, Republican legislators boasted on Twitter that their legislation “protects the sanctity of life.” In reality, the funding package does exactly the opposite: It undermines global health priorities and endangers women’s lives.

Continued at source: Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/trump-administration-pro-life-endangers-women-641520

Sierra Leone: teenage girls are dying from unsafe abortions and risky pregnancies

Sierra Leone: teenage girls are dying from unsafe abortions and risky pregnancies

Abortion is illegal in Sierra Leone, with one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the world. Attitudes need to change to save the lives of young girls

Hannah Mitchell
Thursday 20 July 2017

I recently saw a girl in clinic with terrible complications following a caesarean section. The operation had been botched and she had an infection around her uterus. She was in terrible pain and critically unwell. This was in the children’s clinic; the girl was 14 years old.

This scenario is all too common. She is just one of the thousands of adolescent girls estimated to have become pregnant this year in Sierra Leone. In 2013 the country had the 7th highest teenage pregnancy rate in the world, 38% of women aged 20-24 had their first baby before the age of 18. Sierra Leone is by no means an exception. Worldwide teenage pregnancy is a huge issue, 11% of births globally are to women aged 15-19, with the majority of these taking place in low- and middle-income countries.

Continued at The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jul/20/teen-pregnancy-sierra-leone-involve-men

Nepal: Cutting the lifeline

Cutting the lifeline
‘Protecting life’ under the Trump administrtion in the US will put more Nepali women's lives on the line

14-20 July 2017 #867
Nepali Times Buzz
Kate Ryan

Last week, governments and private partners gathered in London for the 2017 Family Planning Summit. The goal: to evaluate progress toward commitments to improve healthcare for more than 120 million women worldwide from 2012-2020.

More than half-way to 2020, only 30 million women have been reached. At a time when activities need to be sped up, the United States, the leading bilateral funder of family planning worldwide, just pulled out billions of dollars from organisations serving the world’s poorest nations, claiming they funded abortion services.

Continued at source: Nepali Times: http://nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/globe-rallies-to-aid-nepals-women,3841

Her future depends on our actions today

Her future depends on our actions today
by Francoise Girard
International Women's Health Coalition
Tuesday, 11 July 2017

Family planning programs still tend to focus on married women, leaving adolescent girls without access to contraceptives

At 1.8 billion, the world’s youth population is at an all-time high. Many are young women and girls who are sexually active and want to prevent pregnancy, stay healthy, and plan their futures.

Yet information and services about contraception remain out of reach. Without that access, these girls are more likely to drop out of or be expelled from school, and they are more susceptible to unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion, early and forced marriage, and sexually transmitted infections including HIV.

Continued at source: Reuters: http://news.trust.org/item/20170710104937-vm6ri

Contraception is Lifesaving but Often Out of Reach

Contraception is Lifesaving but Often Out of Reach
Family Planning Donors Should Assess Effects of US Funding Restrictions

Nisha Varia
Advocacy Director, Women’s Rights Division
July 10, 2017

Tomorrow, the Family Planning Summit will take place in London. There, governments, donors, and civil society will meet to review progress and recommit to enabling 120 million more women worldwide to access a modern form of contraception by 2020.

Family planning is lifesaving. Complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the second leading cause of death for adolescents ages 15 to 19 globally and cause 800 women and girls to die each day. The World Health Organization estimates that at least 22,000 women die from abortion-related complications each year.

Continued at source: Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/07/10/contraception-lifesaving-often-out-reach

Canada: In the world’s worst crises, access to sexual and reproductive health and rights is paramount

In the world’s worst crises, access to sexual and reproductive health and rights is paramount

As countries prepare to meet in London for the Family Planning 2020 conference on July 11, Canada has a unique opportunity to remind the international community that promoting sexual and reproductive rights during humanitarian crises saves lives — just like clean water, shelter and food.

By: Gillian Barth, Sandeep Prasad
July 7, 2017

Every day, some 2,000 refugees pour into northwestern Uganda from South Sudan. Fearing conflict, over 600,000 refugees — mostly women and children — have migrated this past year alone. South Sudan is the fastest-growing refugee crisis, but the pattern is not isolated to the world’s youngest country.

In Yemen, more than half of women’s demand for contraception is unmet. Along with the reality of contraceptive failure, this led to over 550,000 unintended pregnancies in 2016. Women who want access to contraceptive and safe abortion services don’t have such a choice.

As the international community scrambles to meet basic needs like water, shelter, food and sanitation, access to sexual and reproductive health and rights — including abortion — are often treated as low priority. The consequences are grave.

Continued at source: Open Canada: https://www.opencanada.org/features/worlds-worst-crises-access-sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-rights-paramount/