India – Child Marriages, Unplanned Pregnancies And Unsafe Abortions Still High In Rajasthan, Warns Expert

Nearly 15 of every 1,000 adolescent girls in Rajasthan aged undergo induced abortions annually, 60% of these abortions are 'unsafe', reveals an NGO.

Longjam Dineshwori
November 3, 2021

Women with unwanted pregnancies often resort to unsafe abortion when they do not have access to safe abortion. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 50% of all abortions worldwide are unsafe, and almost all of these unsafe abortions take place in developing countries. Unsafe abortions are a critical reproductive-health issue in the Indian state of Rajasthan, said Divya Santhanam, Senior State Program Manager, Population Foundation of India.

Based on data from a recent study, the NGO noted that 35% of women aged 20-24 years in Rajasthan reported getting married before 18 years of age, which is quite high compared to the national average of 26%. Nearly 15 of every 1,000 girls in Rajasthan in the age group 15-19 years undergo induced abortions annually. Only 40 percent of these abortions occur with assistance from healthcare providers, indicating that the rest 60 percent of the abortions in the age group are 'unsafe' and without any trained assistance, the NGO highlighted in a press release.

Continued: https://www.thehealthsite.com/pregnancy/child-marriages-unplanned-pregnancies-and-unsafe-abortions-still-high-in-rajasthan-warns-expert-845765/

World Contraception Day 2021: History, theme and significance of global event to raise awareness about family planning

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, it has negatively impacted the well-being of women in multiple ways, including contraception, family planning and gender-based violence

FP Staff
September 26, 2021

The international community observes World Contraception Day on 26 September to recognise the right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children. The importance of it was asserted at the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994, and is reflected in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development under target 3.7. “By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes”.

Continued: https://www.firstpost.com/health/find-out-the-importance-of-contraception-day-in-a-world-plagued-by-covid-19-9999531.html

26.09.2021

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World Contraception Day

UK – The number of abortions in Staffordshire during the pandemic

Experts believe the increase is partly because of changes to the law

By Richard Ault, Chief Feature Writer
17 JUL 2021

During the year Covid-19 first arrived in the UK, bringing dramatic changes to daily life, there were 2,660 abortions carried out in Staffordshire.

That was up from 2,653 in 2019 and the highest ever recorded in the area, according to figures from the Department of Health and Social Care.

Continued: https://www.staffordshire-live.co.uk/news/local-news/number-abortions-staffordshire-during-pandemic-5648281

Family Planning: Nigeria records 2.5m unintended pregnancies annually – Official

If good measures are taken, the annual number of unplanned births would decrease from 885,000 to 200,000 and the number of abortions would drop from 1.3 million to 287,000,” the official said.

By Nike Adebowale
July 7, 2021

Due to what they described as unmet needs of contraceptives in Nigeria, health experts have said Nigeria annually records about 2.5 million cases of unintended pregnancy.

The duo of Christopher Aimakhu, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, Oyo State, and Abubakar Panti, a professor in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto, gave some startling statistics about family planning in Nigeria on Wednesday.

Continued: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/472212-family-planning-nigeria-records-2-5m-unintended-pregnancies-annually-official.html

Nigeria: Family Planning Saves Lives – We Need to Spread the Message to Men and Women

1 JULY 2021
By Tijani Salami

A year ago, I met a 26-year-old breastfeeding mother who was a graduate student. She was married with three children; the youngest was just eight months old. She started using oral contraceptives after the return of her menses following the birth, but she hid the pills from her husband. When he discovered them, he forced her to throw them away.

Not long after that, she conceived again. Three months later, she had a miscarriage caused by stress. She was admitted into hospital with infection and blood loss. Thankfully, she survived, and her husband has since changed his attitude towards contraceptive use.

Continued: https://allafrica.com/stories/202107010580.html

The State of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: A Conversation with Dr. Zara Ahmed

October 9, 2020
By Deekshita Ramanarayanan
15-minute podcast

“Unintended pregnancy and abortion are reproductive health experiences shared by tens of millions of people around the world, irrespective of personal status or circumstance. What differs though are the obstacles,” said Dr. Zara Ahmed, Associate Director of Federal Issues at the Guttmacher Institute in this week’s Friday Podcast. Research from the Guttmacher Institute on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) found that in 2018, there were 121 million unintended pregnancies globally, and of those, 61 percent ended in abortion. About half of these abortions were in unsafe conditions and led to approximately 23,000 preventable pregnancy related deaths, said Ahmed.

“A major finding of our research is about the legal status of abortion,” said Ahmed. “This is important. Abortion rates are the same where abortion is broadly legal and where it’s restricted – exactly the same.” Guttmacher research shows that in settings where abortion is restricted, the proportion of unintended pregnancies that end in abortion increased nearly 40 percent over the last 30 years.

Continued: https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2020/10/state-sexual-reproductive-health-rights-conversation-dr-zara-ahmed/

09.10.2020

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Dr. Zara Ahmed

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sexual and reproductive health services

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unmet need for contraception

That radical idea: a woman’s body belongs to her

Ground reality reveals deep rooted patriarchy that has taken hold of both formal state institutions and informal ones

Benazir Jatoi
September 11, 2020

One would think it is simple — one’s body
belongs to oneself. The reality is that a woman’s body does not belong entirely
to her. It belongs to the state, family, religious institutions and ideology.
Globally, controlling a woman’s body is one of the tools used to maintain the
deeply entrenched patriarchal status quo. For centuries, this is how it has
been regardless of the advancement societies make. That simple idea then that a
woman’s body belongs to her is in fact really, even in this day and age, a
radical one.

Continued: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2263585/that-radical-idea-a-womans-body-belongs-to-her

Meeting Women’s Modern Contraceptive Needs Could Yield Dramatic Benefit

September 9, 2020
By Deekshita Ramanarayanan

“Achieving true progress on sexual and reproductive health and rights requires a comprehensive approach and a commitment to tackling deeply entrenched inequities and injustices of which marginalized communities continue to bear the brunt,” said Dr. Herminia Palacio, President and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute. She spoke at a recent Wilson Center event where speakers analyzed findings from the Guttmacher Institute on the state of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) globally.

The current COVID-19 pandemic threatens to roll back progress made towards SRHR. “A growing body of evidence shows that the pandemic is already limiting access to sexual and reproductive health care worldwide, especially in low- and middle- income countries,” said Sarah Barnes, Project Director of the Maternal Health Initiative at the Wilson Center. These impacts go unrecognized because they are indirect results of health system disruption rather than the direct impact of a virus, said Zara Ahmed, Associate Director of Federal Issues at the Guttmacher Institute.

Continued: https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2020/09/meeting-womens-modern-contraceptive-yield-dramatic-benefit/

Estimates of the Potential Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Sexual and Reproductive Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Estimates of the Potential Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Sexual and Reproductive Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

By Taylor Riley, Elizabeth Sully, Zara Ahmed and Ann Biddlecom
April 16, 2020

Researchers at the Guttmacher Institute used data from 132 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)—covering 1.6 billion women of reproductive age (15–49)—to estimate how sexual and reproductive health outcomes could change following only a modest decline of 10% in access to care. This includes theorizing a decline in access to contraceptives and abortion among other scenarios.

The implications are staggering in terms of the number of people whose needs would be left unserved, unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions and maternal and newborn deaths.

Continued: https://mailchi.mp/guttmacher/covid-19-global-reproductive-health-938557?e=c5ebd08685

25 Years of Progress on Women’s Health Is in Danger

25 Years of Progress on Women’s Health Is in Danger
Because of course it is.

Words: Serra Sippel
Pictures: UN Women
Date: September 25th, 2019

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), and without missing a beat the Trump Administration has pounced on yet another opportunity to renege on US global commitments to sexual and reproductive health and rights.

In the lead-up to the United Nations General Assembly high-level meeting on universal health coverage, which took place on September 23, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary Alex Azar of the US Department of Health and Human Services sent a joint letter to governments asking that they join the US in rejecting longstanding global commitments to sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender equality.

Continued: https://inkstickmedia.com/25-years-of-progress-on-womens-health-is-in-danger/