WHO Comprehensive Abortion Care Tool

Nov 27, 2023

Healthcare workers have the right to access the most up-to-date evidence-based information, to help them provide comprehensive abortion care. In recognition of this, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Special Programme of Research in Human Reproduction (HRP) launched a new “digital decision support tool” or app, available on Apple and Google Play, to support caregivers in the process of decision-making, and using the WHO Abortion care guideline, to provide comprehensive abortion care.

This app takes the individual characteristics of patients and generates patient-specific assessments or recommendations, which can then be given to healthcare providers to consider. The tool guides the healthcare worker through assessing abortion-seekers for possible risks, and also gives them checklists and further context to help them in managing cases. It helps to minimize possible mistakes in abortion provision, and even schedules individualized post-abortion follow-ups and referrals.

Continued: https://unric.org/en/who-comprehensive-abortion-care-tool-mobile-app/

27.11.2023

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Breaking the Silence: Abortion Rights in Kenya – BBC Africa Eye documentary

BBC News Africa
Nov 26, 2023
Film: 45 minutes

Across the world, debates are raging about access to safe abortion. Complications from unsafe, backstreet procedures are a leading cause of maternal death in developing countries. In Kenya, where almost two-thirds of pregnancies are unintended, unregulated terminations are estimated to claim the lives of over 2,000 women every year.

BBC Africa Eye reporter Linda Ngari investigates a hidden crisis that has led to an estimated seven Kenyan women dying from unsafe abortions every day, with many more facing life-altering complications.

Continued: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI3AKMFgVKQ

UN experts say U.S. abortion bans violate human rights

New recommendations call on the U.S. to fully decriminalize abortion

November 17, 2023

The United States is violating human rights by denying legal access to abortion—and should take immediate action to end the criminalization of abortion at the federal, state and local levels. This is the newly released conclusion of the United Nations Human Rights Committee in response to testimony from Ipas and partners in October.

“This is a reckoning for U.S. policymakers at every level of government,” said Bethany Van Kampen Saravia, Ipas senior legal and policy advisor, who attended the October hearing in Geneva. “The UN Human Rights Committee has appropriately called on the U.S. government to acknowledge the human rights crisis that is taking place within America, as states continue to ban abortion and limit access to sexual and reproductive health care.”

Continued: https://www.ipas.org/news/un-experts-say-u-s-abortion-bans-violate-human-rights/

As Mexico expands abortion access, activists support reproductive rights at the U.S. border

BY MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ
October 13, 2023

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — It’s Sunday night and Crystal P. Lira is not answering her messages. Inside the headquarters of Colectiva Bloodys y Projects, an organization that has supported reproductive rights near the U.S.-Mexico border since 2016, her only concern is for the woman she has provided with a safe space to get an abortion.

Lira, who lives in Tijuana, in northern Mexico, is one among dozens of Mexican “acompañantes” — volunteers who support women wanting to terminate a pregnancy. Located all over the country, most acompañantes offer virtual guidance through an abortion protocol in which no clinics or prescriptions are needed.

Continued: https://apnews.com/article/mexico-legal-abortion-access-activists-470863cf5a9101b7ffb12bd323e3466b

How can innovation help increase access to self-managed medical abortion in Sub-Saharan Africa?

1 August 2023
Jameen Kaur, FIGO Advocating for Safe Abortion Project, and Julia Hanne, Options Consultancy Services Ltd

Increasing access to safe abortion reduces maternal mortality and disability. However, currently, 45% of all abortions globally are unsafe and are a catastrophic public health problem, accounting for up to 13% of preventable maternal deaths worldwide and causing hundreds of thousands of survivors to live with preventable long-term complications.

The World Health Organisation states that in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, a medical abortion can safely be self-managed by the pregnant person outside of a health care facility (e.g., at home), in whole or in part, and with access to quality medicines, accurate information and the support from a trained health worker (if needed).

Continued: https://www.figo.org/news/how-can-innovation-help-increase-access-self-managed-medical-abortion-sub-saharan-africa

Women Deliver calls for abortion within universal health coverage

By Sara Jerving
20 July 2023

Including abortion in universal health coverage was one of the main messages emerging from the Women Deliver conference this week in Kigali, Rwanda.

The conference, which ends Thursday, showcased stories of countries that have expanded access, and speakers called for abortion to be treated as a simple medical procedure.

Continued: https://www.devex.com/news/women-deliver-calls-for-abortion-within-universal-health-coverage-105934

Sweden invests $42 million to improve sexual and reproductive health in East and Southern Africa

Sources: Govt. Sweden, UNFPA, UNICEF
22 Jun 2023

PRETORIA, South Africa -- Sweden today announced a further investment of $42 million for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), in an effort to transform the lives of millions of people in East and Southern Africa. The funding is being made available through Sweden's Strategy for SRHR in Africa 2022-2026.

The investment will bolster existing efforts by four United Nations agencies -- UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO -- to support countries and regional entities in East and Southern Africa to reduce maternal mortality including from unsafe abortion, HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unmet need for contraceptives, and gender-based violence (GBV). The investment brings to $99 million the total amount committed by Sweden since 2018.

Continued: https://reliefweb.int/report/world/sweden-invests-42-million-improve-sexual-and-reproductive-health-east-and-southern-africa

Mexican Activists Help US Women Get Abortion

April 11, 2023
by VOA

Marcela Castro’s office in Chihuahua is more than 150 kilometers from the United States-Mexico border. But the distance does not prevent her from assisting women in the U.S. to go around the recent bans on abortion, a medical procedure to end a pregnancy.

Castro and her coworkers work for Marea Verde Chihuahua. The organization of mostly volunteers has supported reproductive rights in northern Mexico since 2018. They provide virtual guidance and abortion pills for women who want to end a pregnancy on their own.

Continued: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/mexican-activists-help-us-women-get-abortion/7034400.html

A woman dies every two minutes due to pregnancy or childbirth: UN agencies

New data show major setbacks for maternal health in many parts of the world, highlighting stark disparities in healthcare access

23 February 2023
World Health Organization

Every two minutes, a woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth, according to the latest estimates released in a report by United Nations agencies today. This report, Trends in maternal mortality, reveals alarming setbacks for women’s health over recent years, as maternal deaths either increased or stagnated in nearly all regions of the world.

“While pregnancy should be a time of immense hope and a positive experience for all women, it is tragically still a shockingly dangerous experience for millions around the world who lack access to high quality, respectful health care,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). “These new statistics reveal the urgent need to ensure every woman and girl has access to critical health services before, during and after childbirth, and that they can fully exercise their reproductive rights.”

Continued: https://www.who.int/news/item/23-02-2023-a-woman-dies-every-two-minutes-due-to-pregnancy-or-childbirth--un-agencies

September 28: Statements from International Leaders and Members’ Activities

Statements from International Leaders and Members' Activities

Sept 28, 2017

MARGE BERER, INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR WOMEN'S RIGHT TO SAFE ABORTION

International Safe Abortion Day, 28 September, follows closely on International Contraception Day, 26 September. These are two of the days in the calendar each year when we celebrate women's right to decide whether and when to have children. Today, we call on international and national leaders to acknowledge the importance of laws, policies, information and services for girls and women which support these rights – the right to use contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancy, and the right to safe abortion when it is too late for contraception. We remind them that provision of safe, legal abortion is essential to fulfilling the global commitment to the Sustainable Development Goal of universal access to sexual and reproductive health (Target 3.7)." We urge them to work with advocates for women's health and rights, parliamentarians, health care providers and others to make these rights a reality for all those who need them.

Continued at source: International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion: http://mailchi.mp/safeabortionwomensright/statements-from-international-leaders-and-members-activities-28-september-2017?e=3fa4c971b0

28.09.2017