Abortion rights: history offers a blueprint for how pro-choice campaigners might usefully respond

BMJ 2022; 378
doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.o1846
Published 26 July 2022
Agnes Arnold Forster, research fellow

In October 1971, the New York Times reported a decline in maternal death rate.1 Just 15 months earlier, the state had liberalised its abortion law. David Harris, New York’s deputy commissioner of health, speaking to the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, attributed the decline—by more than half—to the replacement of criminal abortions with safe, legal ones. Previously, abortion had been the single leading cause of maternity related deaths, accounting for around a third. A doctor in the audience who said he was from a state “where the abortion law is still archaic,” thanked New York for its “remarkable job” and expressed his gratitude that there was a place he could send his patients and know they would receive “safe, excellent care.” Harris urged other states to follow the example set by New York and liberalise their abortion laws.

Continued: https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o1846

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – The authorities address unsafe abortion

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – The authorities address unsafe abortion (text in English and French)
Les autorités s’attaquent à l’IVG non médicalisée

by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
Jan 28, 2020

En Centrafrique, le gouvernement s’attaque à la mortalité maternelle et infantile. Des assises se sont tenues cette semaine pour étudier la question. Les chiffres sont effrayants : 1/3 de la mortalité maternelle est causée par des interruptions volontaires de grossesses non médicalisées (882 décès de femmes pour 100 000 naissances).

In the Central African Republic, unsafe abortions are the leading cause of maternal mortality. Abortion is illegal and punishable by several years’ imprisonment. Only therapeutic abortion under certain conditions is legal. Assizes were held this week to study the question. The figures: one-third of maternal mortality is caused by unsafe abortions (MMR: 882 deaths per 100,000 live births). Each day, six women die as a result of their pregnancy or childbirth; this is why the government has launched an analysis to adapt its policy.

Health Minister Pierre Somse said: “It is only because of the criminal nature of the law on termination of pregnancy that most women hide and therefore hide to die.” He has called for a new law to reduce maternal deaths, better sex education and better access to family planning methods. He said:

Continued: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/central-african-republic-the-authorities-address-unsafe-abortion/

Costa Rica’s president says therapeutic abortions will be allowed

Costa Rica's president says therapeutic abortions will be allowed

December 12, 2019
Reuters

SAN JOSE — Costa Rica’s President Carlos Alvarado on Thursday issued a technical decree that will allow for therapeutic abortions in the Central American nation, despite opposition from religious and conservative political groups.

On paper, a 50-year-old law allows a pregnancy to be terminated only if the mother’s health is at risk, but a lack of regulatory clarity at hospitals has meant the law could not be applied.

Continued: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/costa-ricas-president-says-therapeutic-abortions-will-be-allowed

12.12.2019

ALGERIA – The conservatives have won this round

ALGERIA – The conservatives have won this round
by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
Apr 6, 2018

It was not considered a surprise that a bill tabled in the National Popular Assembly (AFN) last November, which aimed to broaden the grounds for legal abortion, failed to pass. This is attributed to a revival of conservatism in the country, confirming the apprehensions of many feminist activists. Three clauses on abortion were tabled as part of the draft law on health and were reviewed by the Commission on Health and Social Affairs of the AFN. All three clauses were related to therapeutic abortion.

The only clause that was not rejected was the one that permitted abortion to save the woman’s life. Even if there is an emergency, that clause does not permit one doctor to take the decision alone, and the abortion must take place only in a public hospital, carried out by a gynaecologist. But as Nadia Chouitem, a doctor and member of the Commission says: “A pregnant woman with a medical emergency can lose her life if she lives in a part of the country where there is no gynaecologist in the public hospital, which is common in Algeria. If the emergency occurs at night or at the weekend, or if there is no gynaecologist on duty, death is the risk a woman takes take if she becomes pregnant.”

Continued: http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/algeria-the-conservatives-have-won-this-round/

06.04.2018

anti-choice restrictions

Commission of Health and Social Affairs

Costa Rica – Therapeutic abortion, part II: paper vs. practice

Therapeutic abortion, part II: paper vs. practice

Paula Umaña
February 22, 2018

Because of a lack of knowledge and fear of legal consequences, health care professionals in Costa Rica often bolster obstacles to pregnancy interruption in Costa Rica, even though the practice is legal when it is carried out to protect the health of the mother.

In one case studied by Semanario Universidad, a pregnant woman was hospitalized because of complications as a result of heart disease. Her life was in danger and her pregnancy had to be terminated. The patient’s discharge papers describe her treatment; however, the abortion wasn’t registered as such in the medical record. According to those records, she was treated for heart disease.

Continued: http://www.ticotimes.net/2018/02/22/therapeutic-abortion-part-ii-paper-vs-practice

22.02.2018