USA – Abortion bans complicate medical training, risk worsening OB/GYN shortages

Thousands of doctors-in-training have lost access to abortion training. Some are fleeing to other states.

By Sara Hutchinson, Washington Post
October 13, 2023

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The journey to Boston was more than 1,500 miles. The plane ticket cost about $500. The hotel: another $400. Amrita Bhagia felt a little guilty about going, knowing that not everyone could afford this trip. But it was important; she was headed there to learn.

So Bhagia, a second-year medical student from Sioux Falls, S.D., caught that flight to Boston to attend a weekend workshop hosted by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. There, she joined medical students from around the country for a summit on abortion care. She learned about medication abortion, practiced the technique of vacuum aspiration using papayas as a stand-in for a uterus, and sat in on a workshop about physicians’ rights.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/10/13/obgyn-training-abortion-restrictions/


The German medical students who want to learn about abortion

Sept 25, 2020

Abortion has been available throughout Germany since the 1970s but the number of doctors carrying out the procedure is now in decline. Jessica Bateman meets students and young doctors who want to fill the gap.

The woman at the family planning clinic
looked at Teresa Bauer and her friend sternly. "And what are you
studying?" she asked the friend, who had just found out she was pregnant,
and wanted an abortion.

"Cultural studies," she replied.

"Ahhh, so you're living a colourful lifestyle?" came the woman's retort.

Bauer sat still, hiding her rage.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-53989951


USA – I Learned How to Do an Abortion on a Papaya

I Learned How to Do an Abortion on a Papaya
Papaya workshops have become a popular way to demystify and destigmatize abortion.

by Marie Solis
Jul 24 2019

“This is a 10-week gravid uterus,” Zoey Thill said, holding up a "pregnant" papaya the size of a large fist. “And this,” she added, gesturing to her own pregnant belly, “is a 38-week gravid uterus.”

Thill, a New York City-based abortion provider, was explaining the anatomy of the uterus to a group of about a dozen of us, in Verso Books’ Brooklyn office on a Monday night.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3k334w/how-to-do-an-abortion-with-manual-vacuum-aspiration-papaya-workshop


Asia / India – FII’s Asmita Ghosh Attends ASAP Youth Advocacy Institute For Abortion Rights

FII’s Asmita Ghosh Attends ASAP Youth Advocacy Institute For Abortion Rights

By FII Team -
December 26, 2018

This December, FII Campaign Manager Asmita Ghosh was selected to be a part of the Asia Safe Abortion Partnership’s Youth Advocacy Institute. The Institute was created for activists working in sexual and reproductive health and rights from across Asia to train in abortion rights advocacy. The four-day workshop saw a mix of hands-on activities, group discussions and seminars by experts in the field.

Asia Safe Abortion Partnership (ASAP) is an abortion rights advocacy organization committed to capacity building at the regional level by connecting and boosting the work of abortion rights activists across Asia in the form of workshops, conferences and small grants.

Continued: https://feminisminindia.com/2018/12/26/asap-youth-advocacy-institute-abortion-rights/


USA: Why medical students are practicing abortions on papayas

Why medical students are practicing abortions on papayas

Amid fears of a future abortion ban, a group teaches a discreet procedure using a fruit that looks a bit like the female reproductive system

Joanna Walters
Fri 22 Dec ‘17

Cheyenne Mangold’s hands shook ever so slightly as she reached with a long metal instrument to catch hold of what looked like the cervix. The medical student was attempting, for the very first time, the rudiments of performing an abortion.

As she inexpertly brought the pincers together on the soft flesh, you might have expected a little yelp of pain from the patient.

There was silence. Not because the “patient” was brave, but because it was a papaya.

Continued at source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/22/why-medical-students-are-practicing-abortions-on-papayas