Public healthcare in northern Mexico is dodging federal rules on abortion

Mexican law allows abortion for victims of rape – but state hospitals and politicians often stand in their way

Dánae Vílchez, Verónica Martínez
2 November 2023

Mexican federal regulations to provide emergency abortion services to victims of rape are being systematically flouted by state government health workers and law enforcement bodies in regions bordering the US, an investigation by openDemocracy and La Verdad de Juárez has found.

Federal regulations permit women and girls to have an abortion if they are victims of rape. But hospitals and police in northern Mexican states – where there is a growing rate of sexual violence and high prevalence of under-age pregnancy – stop abused pregnant women from taking control of their healthcare decisions, say medical sources and rights advocates.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/mexico-abortion-legal-rules-regulations-supreme-court-chihuahua-nuevo-leon-sonora/

Argentina – President Alberto Fernández is to present new bill to Congress

Nov 17, 2020

Argentina's President Alberto Fernández is to present a new bill to Congress on legalising abortion - a campaign pledge delayed by the coronavirus outbreak.

He says the measure will help save lives, as every year almost 40,000 women are treated in hospital after botched illegal procedures.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54980266

17.11.2020

rape victims and abortion

Brazil: Revoke Regulation Curtailing Abortion Access

Reporting Rape Survivors to Police Can Endanger Their Health

September 21, 2020

Human Rights Watch

Brazilian authorities should revoke a Health Ministry regulation that erects
new barriers to legal abortion access, Human Rights Watch said today.

Among other measures in the August 27, 2020 regulation that could discourage
women and girls from accessing legal abortion, it requires medical personnel to
report to the police anyone who seeks legal termination of a pregnancy after
rape, regardless of the rape survivor’s wishes. The Ministry of Family, Women,
and Human Rights has also announced it will create a hotline for medical
personnel that could be used to report women and girls whom they suspect had an
illegal abortion.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/21/brazil-revoke-regulation-curtailing-abortion-access

The case of the girl from Espírito Santo: Is this a new turning point in the long journey for abortion rights in Brazil?

11 Sep 2020
by Sonia Corrêa

Since 1940, Brazilian law has permitted abortion in cases of rape, and sexual intercourse with persons under 14 years old is automatically defined as rape. In 1999, the Brazilian Ministry of Health’s issued the Technical Protocol orienting Care for Victims of Sexual Violence (MoH Protocol), considered by WHO as a main global reference for sexual and reproductive health policies. Though revised in 2005 and 2012, its content has not been substantially altered.

On August
8th, 2020, the Brazilian press reported the case of a 10-year-old girl who
became pregnant after being raped by her uncle, who lived with her, and her
grandmother in the municipality of São Mateus, state of Espírito Santo
(neighboring Rio de Janeiro). After suffering from abdominal pains, the
girl was taken to a local hospital. She told the medical team that she had been
abused since she was 6 years old.

Continued: https://sxpolitics.org/the-case-of-the-girl-from-espirito-santo-is-this-a-new-turning-point-in-the-long-journey-for-abortion-rights-in-brazil/21576

11.09.2020

Commentary

Damares Alves

minor rape victim

rape victims and abortion

Sara Winter

sexual violence

Technical Protocol orienting Care for Victims of Sexual Violence

El Salvador – Retrial for teenage rape victim accused of inducing an abortion and convicted of aggravated murder resumes

Retrial for teenage rape victim accused of inducing an abortion and convicted of aggravated murder resumes

August 15, 2019
by CNN Wire

The retrial of a teenage rape victim will resume on Thursday in El Salvador, in a case that has drawn global attention to the country’s strict anti-abortion laws.

Evelyn Beatriz Hernandez, now 21, will return to the Ciudad Delgado courtroom, after being accused of inducing an abortion and convicted of aggravated murder when she was a teenager. She pled not guilty to these charges when the retrial began last month.

Continued: https://pix11.com/2019/08/15/retrial-for-teenage-rape-victim-accused-of-inducing-an-abortion-and-convicted-of-aggravated-murder-resumes/

India – Why simply legalising abortion is not enough

Why simply legalising abortion is not enough
Governments need to pay equal attention to the safety of abortions, sex education and counselling, and varied problems faced by new borns of single mothers and the mothers

Jagriti Gangopadhyay
Saturday 30 June 2018

Recently, Ireland voted to legalise abortion after decades of debate and struggle. The law received international attention in the wake of the demise of Savita Halappanavar, an Indian dentist practising in Ireland, who was denied abortion while experiencing a septic miscarriage. Ireland’s victory is being celebrated all across the world, however, the question remains: is it enough to legalise abortion?

Though abortion has been legal in India for the last 47 years, about 10 women die every day due to unsafe abortions. Unsafe abortion is the third leading cause for maternal deaths in India. The law that governs abortion in the country is the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.

Continued: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/why-simply-legalising-abortion-is-not-enough-60866

Mexico’s Exciting Supreme Court Win for Women and Girls’ Access to Abortion

Mexico’s Exciting Supreme Court Win for Women and Girls’ Access to Abortion
“This sets a precedent for the whole country. This gives us hope and empowers victims of rape because they know now that the court is on their side.”

Amie Newman
May 14, 2018

Marimar* was 17 years old when she was raped and impregnated by her attacker. She reported the crime to the authorities in Morelos, Mexico where she lived and requested an abortion. The prosecutor’s office sent her to the hospital. Although abortion is legal in the case of rape in Mexico, the bioethics committee at Cuernavaca General Hospital where she sought help kept her in the hospital for two weeks, eventually denying her an abortion.

In 2016 Fernanda* was raped by an acquaintance and became pregnant. She requested access to an abortion, several times, from the health services of Oaxaca. The hospital was on strike and did not do anything but acknowledge receipt of her requests. Fernanda, like Marimar, was denied access to abortion care.

Continued: https://medium.com/@amienewman/mexicos-exciting-supreme-court-win-for-women-and-girls-access-to-abortion-9bab0d905c41