Providing Choice During A Humanitarian Crisis

Aug 1, 2023
By Amanda Seller, President, MSI United States

In the Northern Central region of Burkina Faso, Yvette Yoda is part of a team of mobile midwives working to provide life-saving reproductive healthcare services to women and girls who have been forced from their homes by violence.

More than two million people are internally displaced in Burkina Faso, with many living in camps. Yvette makes the difficult journey to reach them because she knows how important it is for women facing a crisis to be able to control their own futures.

Why is reproductive choice important in emergency settings?

Continued: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2023/08/01/providing-choice-during-a-humanitarian-crisis/?sh=209d75cb1591

Abortion Providers From Around the World Share the Dangers of Practicing Under Bans

7/13/2022
by MSI REPRODUCTIVE CHOICES

Over the last 30 years, 59 countries have relaxed abortion restrictions. This includes 18 countries that have overturned complete bans on abortion. In stark contrast, with Roe v. Wade overturned, the U.S. joins the ranks of only three other countries to have restricted access in that time: Poland, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

So, while the news from the U.S. is cause for alarm, it also reminds us of how far we’ve come, and why we cannot turn back the clock in countries that have liberalized abortion. The following stories of abortion providers in Cambodia, Ethiopia and Nepal of life before their countries legalized abortion show the U.S. how restricting abortion rights can endanger women’s lives.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2022/07/13/abortion-providers-bans-maternal-mortality-women-die-nepal-ethiopia-cambodia/

19 States Ignore Global Evidence and Move to Block Access to Abortion Pills

Despite a wealth of research that shows medical abortion at home is effective, safe, acceptable and improves access to care, 19 U.S. states are introducing laws to block access to the medication.

2/10/2022
by SARAH SHAW, Ms. Magazine

At the end of 2021, the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would permanently ease federal restrictions on abortion pills. They’re allowing these drugs to be sent by mail, after a medical consultation by phone rather than requiring an in-person visit. The change has been welcomed by healthcare providers who point to the importance of providing women with safe methods in the fight to eliminate unsafe abortion and related deaths and injury.

Along with the need to overcome obstacles created by COVID-19, so that women can safely exercise their right to choose even during the pandemic, supporters also point to the sharp increase in gender-based violence during the pandemic—with many women unable to leave their homes—as another reason why medical abortion at home is so important.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2022/02/10/medication-abortion-pills-usa-states-reproductive-health/

COVID-19 has “devastating” effect on women and girls

Sophie Cousins, The Lancet
August 01, 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31679-2

Natalia Kanem, executive director of the UN Population Fund, is among experts warning about disrupted health services and a surge in gender-based violence. Sophie Cousins reports.

As the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates, fears are increasing about the effect of the pandemic on women's and girls' sexual and reproductive health and their access to care. In response to COVID-19, in March, WHO issued interim guidance for maintaining essential services during an outbreak, which included advice to prioritise services related to reproductive health and make efforts to avert maternal and child mortality and morbidity.

Continued: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31679-2/fulltext

The Pandemic And Legal Abortion: What Happens When Access Is Limited?

The Pandemic And Legal Abortion: What Happens When Access Is Limited?

June 8, 2020
Isabella Gomez Sarmiento

In April, Johanna Cruz terminated her pregnancy with drugs obtained through a telemedicine consultation.

Abortion is legal in Colombia. And Cruz, a street performer from Chile who was backpacking through the Colombian state of Antioquia, did not feel she was in a position to raise a child. She didn't have a steady income or stable housing. And with stay-at-home orders in place to control the spread of coronavirus, she found herself facing homelessness in the town of San Rafael and unable to travel to Medellin, the nearest city with an abortion clinic.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/06/08/864970278/lockdown-limits-access-to-legal-abortion-in-colombia-telemedicine-is-now-an-opti