In Mozambique, Canadian aid funds a rare service: safe abortions

In Mozambique, Canadian aid funds a rare service: safe abortions
In an African nation where abortion was only recently legalized, the barriers to access are public education, medical training and money. An $18-million Canadian project is trying to help, and Mozambicans say it’s saving lives

Geoffrey York, Africa Bureau Chief
Manica, Mozambique
Published February 25, 2020

For years, the blood supply at Manica District Hospital was falling to worryingly low levels. So many women needed emergency transfusions, after undergoing dangerous abortions at home, that its blood stocks often became depleted.

“They would come here almost in shock from hemorrhaging,” said Flora Diomba, clinical director of the hospital in central Mozambique. “Women were trying to get rid of their pregnancy at any cost.”

Continued: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-in-mozambique-canadian-aid-funds-a-rare-service-safe-abortions/

Zimbabwe – Let’s break the silence on abortion and save lives

Let’s break the silence on abortion and save lives

08 Oct, 2019
Edinah Masiyiwa, Correspondent

The time to discuss unsafe abortions has never been more urgent in Zimbabwe, where nearly all abortions are clandestine and approximately 40 percent of these abortions result in complications such as severe bleeding, infection and even death.

Though the exact figures of women and girls who have died from unsafe abortions is not known, a study showed that abortions are the fifth leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in Zimbabwe.

Continued: https://www.herald.co.zw/lets-break-the-silence-on-abortion-and-save-lives/

08.10.2019

Termination of Pregnancy Act

Kenya – Abortion stigma pushes women to back-alley methods

Abortion stigma pushes women to back-alley methods
When society lashes out at a woman for choosing to terminate a pregnancy, they run to unsafe methods

by Michael Okun Oliech
Star Blogs
15 May 2019

Being a mother should be a choice and no woman or girl should feel obligated to have children.

Unfortunately, due to the society that we live in, the choice of motherhood for women and women’s right has been eroded by either the law, patriarchal manipulation, gender inequality, religious doctrines or culture.

Continued: https://www.the-star.co.ke/opinion/star-blogs/2019-05-15-abortion-stigma-pushes-women-to-back-alley-methods/

15.05.2019

My Experience As A Safe Abortion Advocate In Pakistan

My Experience As A Safe Abortion Advocate In Pakistan | #AbortionMeraHaq

By Asia Safe Abortion Partnership
May 14, 2019
Posted by Neelam Saleem Punjani

Working with women on some of the most stigmatised topics like women’s right to safe abortion is not a challenge that many people would welcome. It is sometimes difficult, often frustrating, and at times confrontational. But if you ask me, advocating for women’s right to safe abortion is simply the best job in the world!

I was motivated to work with women by my own experience of growing up in a patriarchal society, where speaking about women’s right has always been considered a taboo.

continued: https://feminisminindia.com/2019/05/14/abortion-advocate-pakistan/

14.05.2019

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sexual and reproductive health and rights

Rwanda – Sexual and reproductive health and rights are fundamental human rights

Sexual and reproductive health and rights are fundamental human rights

By Jenny Ohlsson
Published : December 10, 2018

On Human Rights Day 2018, I would like to put the spotlight on the many women that die every year because some of their most fundamental human rights are not respected.

I would also like to convey my sympathies to the many daughters, sons, mothers, fathers and siblings that has lost, and will lose, a loved one. But also to our societies that will continue to lose so many brilliant minds and changemakers – all in vain – unless we implement the necessary reforms. Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are not only human rights, but a matter of life and death.

Continued: https://www.newtimes.co.rw/opinions/sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-rights-are-fundamental-human-rights

Nepal – Women seeking safe abortion spike in Bajura

Women seeking safe abortion spike in Bajura

Published: December 05, 2018

BAJURA: Uma Thapa (name changed) residing in Budiganga Municipality of Bajura district underwent two unsafe abortions and had to visit Bayalpata hospital in Aacham district for treatment.

However, this time around, she aborted a fetus at a local Devalsen Health Centre as safe abortion service has been launched at the facility in the village.

continued: https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/women-seeking-safe-abortion-spike-in-bajura/

Zimbabwe – Make abortion safe: NGO

Make abortion safe: NGO

Mashonaland Central Correspondent
Dec 3, 2018

THERE is need to broaden circumstances under which abortion is permitted and to ensure the availability of safe, legal abortion services, as well as post-abortion care to reduce clandestine and unsafe procedures.

This was said by a non-governmental organisation, Right Here Right Now, in Bindura last week. Right Here Right Now, which is part of a consortium of NGOs that include Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Real Open Opportunities Trust Support and Katswe Sisterhood, revealed that Zimbabwe had one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world, estimated at 651 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births in contrast to a worldwide trend of declines.

Continued: https://www.herald.co.zw/make-abortion-safe-ngo/

Canada’s leadership on family planning

Canada’s leadership on family planning

From: Global Affairs Canada
November 14, 2018
Backgrounder

Canada’s announcement of up to $104.4 million at the International Conference on Family Planning in Kigali, Rwanda, will support family planning, advocacy and the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), while improving access to safe and legal abortion. All projects will also ensure the integration of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) into countries’ health systems.

This investment is part of Canada’s $650-million comprehensive approach to address gaps in funding for SRHR.

Continued: https://www.miragenews.com/canada-s-leadership-on-family-planning/

South Africa – Activists call for improved access to safe abortions

Activists call for improved access to safe abortions

By Zoë Postman‚ Groundup
30 September 2018

On Friday morning‚ hundreds of people from various civil society organisations marched from Braamfontein to Newtown to raise awareness about reproductive rights and unsafe abortions in South Africa.

The march was held on international safe abortion day. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)‚ Sonke Gender Justice‚ Amnesty International‚ Right2Know‚ Amandla.Mobi‚ Gender Links and other organisations participated.

Continued: https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-09-30-activists-call-for-improved-access-to-safe-abortions/

“I’ve seen with my own eyes, safe abortion saves lives”

"I’ve seen with my own eyes, safe abortion saves lives"

27 September 2018

Dr Manisha Kumar is a family medicine doctor and the coordinator of the Task Force for Safe Abortion Care, a project that aims to increase access to contraceptive and safe abortion care services offered by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) projects.

Before I started working at MSF field projects, I saw abortion as more of a political issue, or as an aspect of women’s rights. But now that I’ve seen women and girls in need of safe abortion, day after day, with my own eyes, I’ve come to understand abortion as a medical necessity, something that has a very real impact on people’s lives.

Continued: https://www.msf.org/ive-seen-my-own-eyes-safe-abortion-saves-lives