Inside the secret world of Brazil's WhatsApp abortions
06 Jun 2018
In Brazil, where abortion is a crime, a WhatsApp group is offering a secret route for women who want to end a pregnancy. The BBC has investigated how the group works for months.
Reporter Nathalia Passarinho, producer Dina Demrdash, filmed by Ana Terra Athayde.
BBC 100 Women has been investigating the modern face of the "DIY abortion", with global online searches for abortion pills more than doubling over the last decade.
100 Women: The modern face of the 'DIY abortion'
6 June 2018
Global online searches for abortion pills have more than doubled over the last decade, BBC analysis of Google searches shows. The findings also suggest that in countries where abortion laws are more restrictive, there is greater search interest in abortion pills.
By buying pills online and sharing medical advice through WhatsApp groups, women are increasingly turning to technology to sidestep legal barriers to abortion.
Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44089526
Africans are searching for abortion pills online more than anyone else in the world
by Bridget Boakye
June 06, 2018
Women’s health is an especially big concern in Sub-Saharan Africa, and safe pregnancy and abortion top the list as one of many women’s most pressing health concern.
According to the UNICEF, global maternal mortality ratio declined by 44 per cent between 1990 to 2015 but it remains unacceptably high in sub-Saharan Africa. The region accounted for 62% (179 000) of global maternity-related deaths in 2013. One of the major complications that account for nearly 75% of all maternal deaths is unsafe abortions (WHO).
In Lesotho, women say they're finding their abortions on Facebook
Story by Rossalyn Warren, for CNN
Mar 7, 2018
Maseru, Lesotho — Mpho opened a new chat on WhatsApp, entered an unfamiliar number, and typed a question she never thought she would have to ask.
Mpho: When can I get the pills?
I'm 7 weeks pregnant.
Doctor: Tomorrow
1000LSL including womb cleaning.
Okay.
Does it hurt?
No. 9am tomorrow, come by then.
Mpho, who asked that CNN not use her real name, didn't know who she was talking to. She found the phone number on a Facebook post while searching for "abortion pills, Lesotho" online. The person reading her messages claimed to be a doctor.
In Lesotho, a remote country home to just 2.2 million people and surrounded by South Africa, abortion is strictly illegal, apart from in life-threatening cases.
Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/07/health/lesotho-abortions-asequals-intl/index.html
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