Childhood cut short: Three stories of adolescent pregnancy from Paraguay

28 November 2023
UNFPA

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay – No one seemed to mind when Noelia* got a boyfriend. Nobody in her family said a word, even though her boyfriend was 18 years old and she was just 13.

When Noelia went to see the cardiologist who had cared for her since birth through the public health service, the doctor explained the risk of pregnancy to her, but not how to prevent it. Although her mother accompanied her to medical appointments and knew about her daughter’s relationship, she did not express any concerns. Nor did anyone at school explain sexual abuse or birth control methods to her.

Soon, Noelia stopped going to school. Then she stopped going to the health service. She was pregnant.

Continued: https://www.unfpa.org/news/childhood-cut-short-three-stories-adolescent-pregnancy-paraguay


Kenya – Surviving incest, abortions: Kakamega’s struggle to protect girls

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

By Shaban Makokha

In the tranquil heart of Navakholo, Kakamega, a grim narrative unfolds – once shadowed by the specters of incest, teenage pregnancies, and the haunting tales of unsafe abortion.

Young girls find themselves entangled in pregnancies thrust upon them by older men, some of whom are guardians and relatives.

Continued: https://nation.africa/kenya/news/gender/surviving-incest-abortions-kakamega-s-struggle-to-protect-girls-4418232


How the Supreme Court’s Abortion Decision Left Many Youth Behind

BY ALEX BERG
DECEMBER 20, 2022

After having an abortion two years ago, B (whose name is withheld for privacy) didn’t think much about her experience with the procedure. As a 17 year-old at the time with a couple of months to go before her high school graduation, she “put it out of sight.” That was until June 24, 2022, the day the Supreme Court issued a decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in the United States.  

“It really snapped me back into reality from it,” B, now 19, tells Teen Vogue.

Continued: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-the-supreme-courts-abortion-decision-left-many-youth-behind


Teenage girls turn to rat poison as unsafe abortion ‘epidemic’ spirals

Abortion is illegal in Sierra Leone, forcing women to abort unwanted pregnancies via dangerous practices. The consequences can be fatal

By Tom Collins
13 December 2022

Fanella Bola lay against the perimeter walls of a hospital in Sierra Leone and cried at the thought of going through with her pregnancy. The 17-year-old had been turned away from almost every hospital in the capital city of Freetown, where abortion is illegal. 

As she dried her tears and prepared to trudge home, the schoolgirl was approached by a market woman who said there was another way.

Continued: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/teenage-girls-turn-rat-poison-unsafe-abortion-epidemic-spirals/


Abortion Bans Skirt a Medical Reality: For Many Teens, Childbirth Is a Dangerous Undertaking

Oct 9, 2022
Sarah Varney, Kaiser Health News

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Maryanna’s eyes widened as the waitress delivered dessert, a plate-sized chocolate chip cookie topped with hot fudge and ice cream.

Sitting in a booth at a Cheddar’s in Little Rock, Maryanna, 16, wasn’t sure of the last time she’d been to a sit-down restaurant. With two children — a daughter she birthed at 14 and a 4-month-old son — and sharing rent with her mother and sister for a cramped apartment with a dwindling number of working lights, Maryanna rarely got out, let alone to devour a Cheddar’s Legendary Monster Cookie.

Continued: https://www.physiciansweekly.com/abortion-bans-skirt-a-medical-reality-for-many-teens-childbirth-is-a-dangerous-undertaking/


Malawi – 669 unsafe abortions out of 4123 teenage pregnancies raise alarm in Phalombe

Apr 19, 2022 
Chikondi Magalasi

Phalombe North East Parliamentarian Dennis Namachekecha has bemoaned an increase in unsafe abortions among teenage girls in the district as health office’s report indicate that 669 unsafe abortions were conducted in 2021 alone.

The district’s Youth Friendly Health Services (YFHS) office report indicate that in 2021 there were 4123 teenage pregnancies that were registered out of this 669 unsafely aborted their pregnancies.

Continued: https://malawi24.com/2022/04/19/669-unsafe-abortions-out-of-4123-teenage-pregnancies-raise-alarm-in-phalombe/


Uganda – Gulu district struggling with unsafe abortions

The Independent
December 31, 2021

Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Gulu district health department is battling with unsafe abortions due to persistent increase in teenage pregnancies.

Statistics from the Gulu district and City health departments indicate that a total of 474 cases of unsafe abortions among teenage girls were registered between 2020 and 2021.

Continued: https://www.independent.co.ug/gulu-district-struggling-with-unsafe-abortions/


Asutifi South records 1,077 teenage pregnancies, 88 abortions in 3 years

Precious Semevoh 
14 December 2021

Girls Empowerment and Advocacy Platform (GEAP) has identified teenage pregnancy as a major problem facing the education of the girl child in the Asutifi South District of the Ahafo Region.

Other factors that lead to the occurrence of pregnancy in girls aged 10-19 years in the district include child labor, poverty, and peer influence.

Continued: https://www.myjoyonline.com/asutifi-south-records-1077-teenage-pregnancies-88-abortions-in-3-years/


Sexual violence and abortion restrictions in Paraguay are fueling an epidemic of childhood pregnancy: Amnesty

By Kara Fox, CNN
Wed December 1, 2021

(CNN) An epidemic of childhood pregnancy in Paraguay is being fueled by widespread sexual abuse and restrictive abortion laws, according to a new Amnesty International report.

At least 1,000 girls aged 14 or younger gave birth in the country between 2019 and 2020, the report says. It adds that more than 12,000 teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 19 gave birth in 2019.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/01/americas/paraguay-pregnancy-child-abuse-sexual-violence-intl/index.html


What they don’t say about emergency contraception in the Philippines

Written by Marga Buenaventura
Nov 29, 2021

It’s hard having a uterus in the Philippines. Nine years have passed since the country formally enacted the Reproductive Health Act, giving hope to those in need of accessible contraception and responsible sexual education. But how has this landmark legislation actually improved the reproductive rights of Filipinos?

Despite the progressive contents of the RH Act, teenage pregnancy in the Philippines is the second highest in Southeast Asia, according to the Save the Children's 2019 Global Childhood Report. That means births to mothers aged 10 to 19 years old reached 180,000 in 2019, or 495 births per day.

Continued: https://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/Health/2021/11/29/what-they-don-t-say-about-emergency-contraception-in-the-Philippines.html