Widening access to quality abortion care from the grassroots up

Testimonies of how access to quality abortion make a difference in the lives of women and girls

28 September 2023
World Health Organization

This year, International Safe Abortion Day profiles the unstoppable movement that is shaped by the diverse sexual and reproductive health community around the world, dedicated to protecting and promoting access to abortion care that is safe, affordable, timely and dignified.

In a series of captivating stories, the World Health Organization together with IBP Network highlights some important key players in this abortion care movement: local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs). In many parts of the world, these organizations are successfully translating WHO’s research and evidence-based recommendations into concrete actions that support women and girls’ agency and right to health.

Continued: https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/widening-access-to-quality-abortion-care-from-the-grassroots-up

Latin American feminists vow to continue fight for abortion rights in 2023

Sexual and reproductive rights activists in the region say ‘our struggle continues’ to maintain progress so far

Angelina De Los Santos, OpenDemocracy
3 January 2023

Last year, while US conservatives led the Supreme Court to remove constitutional protection for abortion, feminists across Latin America and the Caribbean moved several governments in the opposite direction.

But the powerful movement behind such progressive change faces difficult challenges in 2023, including safeguarding hard-won rights and overcoming the disparity of abortion policies between different countries.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/latin-america-caribbean-abortion-rights-feminists/

Activists welcome Colombia’s decriminalisation of abortion

Amy Booth, The Lancet WORLD REPORT| VOLUME 399, ISSUE 10328, P899
MARCH 05, 2022

The ruling consolidates Latin America's swing towards pro-choice, following similar recent decisions in Argentina and Mexico. Amy Booth reports.

Colombia's constitutional court has decriminalised elective abortion up to 24 weeks, giving the country some of the most liberal abortion legislation in Latin America. The ruling deepens a trend towards legalisation in a region where the procedure was almost universally banned until recently. Following extensive and litigious negotiations, the court announced its 5–4 verdict on Feb 21, 2022. Outside the courthouse, feminist campaigners clad in the emerald green of Latin America's green tide pro-choice movement hugged each other and jumped for joy, many bursting into tears.

Continued: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)00416-0/fulltext

Health Providers Worldwide Welcome Biden Reversal of Anti-Abortion Rule

By restoring funding cut off by his predecessor, President Biden ended four years of what abortion rights advocates called a concerted assault on women’s reproductive health in the developing world.

By Bhadra Sharma, Ruth Maclean, Oscar Lopez and Rick Gladstone
New York Times
Jan. 29, 2021

KATHMANDU, Nepal — When President Donald J. Trump scrapped tens of millions of dollars in aid to women’s health care providers around the world four years ago, the Family Planning Association of Nepal was forced to dismiss more than 200 people and close clinics in at least four parts of the country, one of Asia’s poorest.

Family planning education and birth-control distribution slowed or stopped in Nepal, which relies heavily on American financial assistance for public health programs. While abortion is legal in the country, the options for safe procedures were abruptly narrowed.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/world/asia/gag-rule-abortion.html

An Anti-Abortion Activist Tried to Make Colombia’s Abortion Law More Restrictive. Here’s Why That Could Backfire

An Anti-Abortion Activist Tried to Make Colombia's Abortion Law More Restrictive. Here's Why That Could Backfire

By Ciara Nugent
February 19, 2020

A case brought to Colombia’s top court by anti-abortion campaigner Natalia Bernal Cano could transform the country’s abortion law when the verdict is announced in the next few weeks – but perhaps not in the way she hoped.

Since a 2006 ruling by Colombia’s powerful Constitutional Court, women have been allowed to terminate a pregnancy in cases of rape or incest, fatal fetal abnormality, or danger to the physical or mental health of the mother.

Continued: https://time.com/5786500/colombia-abortion-ruling/

Duque opposes legalization of abortion in Colombia

Duque opposes legalization of abortion in Colombia

Issued on: 19/02/2020
Bogota (AFP)

Colombia's conservative President Ivan Duque questioned on Wednesday whether his country was ready to fully legalize abortion ahead of a debate in the Constitutional Court on whether to allow the practice in the first three months of a pregnancy.

Currently, like much of Latin America, Colombia allows abortion in three cases: a risk to the mother's life, if the fetus has a deformity and if the pregnancy was a result of rape.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/20200219-duque-opposes-legalization-of-abortion-in-colombia

19.02.2020

Colombia’s Upcoming Abortion Ruling Could Have A Big Impact On Latin America

Colombia's Upcoming Abortion Ruling Could Have A Big Impact On Latin America

By Tim Padgett
Feb 17, 2020

Colombia’s highest court is about to issue a ruling that could return the country to a total ban on abortion – or bring it in line with Roe v. Wade, the decision that legalized abortion in the U.S. Either way, because Colombia is one of the region's largest and more culturally influential countries, the decision could have a profound effect on abortion rights in Latin America.

The region already has some of the world’s strictest abortion laws – and now people on both sides of the debate hope a recent – and admittedly unusual – case will affirm their agendas.

Continued: https://www.wlrn.org/post/colombias-upcoming-abortion-ruling-could-have-big-impact-latin-america#stream/0

Colombia to decide on historic abortion ruling

Colombia to decide on historic abortion ruling

ELLA TORRES
February 16, 2020

Fourteen years after Colombia's landmark decision to legalize abortions in some cases, the country is once more bracing itself for a historic vote.

The Colombian Constitutional Court has until Feb. 19th to decide whether it will legalize abortion for pregnancies up to 12 weeks. The current law allows for abortion in only three instances: if the mother's life is at risk, if a fetus is malformed or if the pregnancy is a result of rape.

This is the "first real opportunity to actually advance reproductive rights," according to Paula Avila-Guillen, the director of Latin America Initiatives for the Women's Equality Center.

Continued: https://news.yahoo.com/colombia-decide-historic-abortion-ruling-120633539--abc-news-topstories.html

Trump’s foreign aid policies endanger women, experts say

Trump's foreign aid policies endanger women, experts say
“If it was done at the end of a gun, it would be denounced before the International Criminal Court,” the U.N. human rights commissioner said.

July 2, 2019
By Linda Givetash

LONDON — Caroline Nyandat will never forget the day she watched a 14-year-old girl die due to complications from an unsafe abortion.

Nyandat, 36, was then completing her training as a nurse midwife in Kisumu, Kenya, when the teen was in need of surgery but suffered from sepsis before doctors in the hospital could react.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/trump-s-foreign-aid-policies-endanger-women-experts-say-n1018056

Return Of ‘Global Gag Rule’ Could Be Setback For Health Care, Abortion Rights In Dominican Republic

Return Of 'Global Gag Rule' Could Be Setback For Health Care, Abortion Rights In Dominican Republic
By Rodrigo Cervantes
Published: Monday, April 10, 2017

SANTO DOMINGO — While politicians in Arizona debate the possibility of more regulations on abortions, in the Dominican Republic, in contrast, the debate centers on its legalization. But recent pro-life policies in the United States could reverse course for Dominican health services.

Near the boisterous Washington Avenue in Santo Domingo, a battling women’s rights organization is in hiding.

La Colectiva Mujer y Salud looks like any other house — for a reason. It had to remove its name from the facade after receiving threats from those who oppose its cause.

La Colectiva, as some people call it, has been on the front line of a struggle to decriminalize abortion. The Dominican Republic is currently one of the six countries in the world where a woman can go to jail for getting an abortion — and so can whoever helps, including doctors.

Continued at source: KJZZ: http://kjzz.org/content/458266/return-global-gag-rule-could-be-setback-health-care-abortion-rights-dominican