Women Activists Escalate Demand for “Bodily Autonomy” as 19 Nations Dissent

Women Activists Escalate Demand for “Bodily Autonomy” as 19 Nations Dissent

By Thalif Deen
Jan 17, 2020

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - The United States and 18 other UN member states have come under fire for denying a woman’s legitimate right to “bodily autonomy”—the right to self-governance over one’s own body without coercion or external pressure.

The Executive Director of Women’s March Global, Uma Mishra-Newbery, told IPS the United Nations has worked towards progress in fighting for women’s rights.

Continued: http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/01/women-activists-escalate-demand-bodily-autonomy-19-nations-dissent/

Mike Pompeo taps staunch abortion foe for fresh look at U.S. stance on human rights

Mike Pompeo taps staunch abortion foe for fresh look at U.S. stance on human rights

AFP-JIJI
Jul 9, 2019

WASHINGTON - Charging that human rights advocates have deviated from their core principles, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday named a staunch abortion opponent to lead a new panel to set the future direction for the United States.

Pompeo, an evangelical Christian who often speaks of his faith, announced the creation of a State Department commission on “unalienable rights” that has already drawn suspicions among gay and women’s activists.

Continued: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/07/09/world/social-issues-world/mike-pompeo-taps-staunch-abortion-foe-fresh-look-u-s-stance-human-rights/#.XSTOaI97lPY

The 11-year-old Argentine girl is not alone. Latin America’s abortion laws are a form of torture.

The 11-year-old Argentine girl is not alone. Latin America’s abortion laws are a form of torture.

By Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International
March 5, 2019

When two gynecologists performed an emergency Caesarean section on an 11-year-old rape survivor at the Eva Perón public hospital in Tucumán, Argentina, last week, they saved the girl from a potentially fatal situation authorities should never have put her in — one that is all too common across Latin America.

The girl was reportedly raped by her grandmother’s partner and admitted to a hospital in January after discovering that she was 19 weeks pregnant. She and her mother promptly requested an abortion, which is legal in Argentina in cases of rape or when the woman or girl’s life or health is in danger. But the authorities repeatedly refused to practice an abortion, using a range of delay tactics for almost five weeks to effectively force her into carrying the pregnancy to term against her and her mother’s will.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/03/05/year-old-argentine-girl-is-not-alone-latin-americas-abortion-laws-are-form-torture/?utm_term=.79a6ec2f2eab

Uganda Rejects Calls to Amend Its Abortion Law During U.N. Human Rights Council Review

11.15.16 - (PRESS RELEASE) The government of Uganda rejected recommendations last week to revise its abortion legislation.

A Uganda delegation responded to a range of issues raised at the U.N. Human Rights Council—the U.N.’s main human rights body—as part of its review of the country’s human rights record. In its response, the Ugandan government signaled that although there is support for strengthening measures to address maternal deaths and ensuring access to reproductive health services, abortion law reform is not a priority.

Abortion in Uganda is legal in cases of life endangerment, yet according to 2013 research from the Guttmacher Institute over 300,00 induced abortions occur annually, with nearly 125,000 women seeking treatment for complications from unsafe abortions.

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Source: Center for Reproductive Rights

16.11.2016

U.N. Human Rights Council