The Terrifying Global Reach of the American Anti-Abortion Movement

Conservatives have not limited their attack on reproductive rights to the United States. They’ve been busy imposing their will on other countries, too—with disastrous consequences for millions of poor women.

Jodi Enda
March 18, 2024

Because Editar Ochieng knew the three young men, she didn’t think twice when they beckoned her into a house in an isolated area near the Nairobi River. One was like a brother; the other two were her neighbors in the sprawling Kenyan slum of Kibera.

Ochieng did not know the woman who performed her abortion. She and a friend scoured Nairobi until they found her, an untrained practitioner who worked in the secrecy of her home and charged a fraction of what a medical professional would. Mostly, what Ochieng remembers is the agony when this stranger inserted something into her vagina and “pierced” her womb. “It was really very painful. Really, really, really painful,” she told me. Afterward, Ochieng said, she cut up her mattress to use in place of sanitary pads, which she could not afford. She was 16 years old.

Continued: https://newrepublic.com/article/179485/american-anti-abortion-movement-terrifying-global-reach


‘The stigma has returned’: abortion access in turmoil in Javier Milei’s Argentina

Health workers fear the return of unsafe abortions as recent statements lead to a spike in doctors refusing to provide care

Harriet Barber in Buenos Aires, The Guardian
Mon 18 Mar 2024

Javier Milei’s anti-abortion rhetoric has prompted growing numbers of doctors in Argentina to refuse to carry out terminations, according to medical professionals across the country.

Since taking office in December, the self-described libertarian has used speeches to both global leaders and schoolchildren to condemn abortion as a “tragedy” and “aggravated murder”.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/mar/18/argentina-abortion-javier-milei


Nigeria: Unsafe abortion: Taming a leading, silent killer

Yinka Adeniran, Ibadan
March 18, 2024

There have been complaints about the rate at which women and girls die as a result of unsafe abortions. To tame this silent killer, experts and stakeholders in the Sexual Reproductive Health sector converged on Ibadan, the Oyo State capital to ruminate on how to do more for women and girls. YINKA ADENIRAN looks at the issue and efforts to tame the menace of unsafe abortion among women and girls.

For months, Sola Oduwole (pseudonym) could not forgive herself. She felt guilty as she felt she had a role to play in what had befallen her family. She just lost a sister (Olawunmi) who underwent surgery to cut off one of her breasts after she was diagnosed of breast cancer. Painfully, she died weeks after the surgery.

Continued: https://thenationonlineng.net/unsafe-abortion-taming-a-leading-silent-killer/


Breaking the Silence: Abortion Rights in Kenya

WATCH: Our documentary investigates Kenya’s hidden crisis, claiming the lives of more than 2,000 people a year

18 March 2024
Open Democracy
Film:  45 minutes

Legal ambiguity over abortions in Kenya pushes thousands of women into unsafe reproductive health care services each year. It’s a hidden crisis that has claimed the lives of over 2,000 people annually, while many more end up facing life-altering complications.

In this openDemocracy/BBC joint investigation, Linda Ngari explores how abortion is shrouded in stigma and misinformation, with desperate women turning to dangerous methods.

Who is responsible for this public health crisis and what can be done to save these lives? Interviewing Kenyan women, doctors, campaigners and religious groups, Ngari breaks the taboo around abortion – and shows how controversial ‘crisis pregnancy centres’ have been allowed to flourish.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/breaking-the-silence-abortion-rights-kenya/


How the grisly discovery of a ‘foetus mortuary’ re-shaped Thailand’s abortion laws

Years after the country’s abortion legislation shifted, entrenched attitudes still obstruct access in the Buddhist country

Sarah Newey, and Pear Maneechote
15 March 2024

The stench revealed the grisly secret. Wafting through the temple in southern Bangkok, the terrible smell led to the mortuary – and the grim discovery of more than 2,000 foetuses, wrapped in plastic bags and at various stages of decomposition.

The hidden remains were awaiting cremation, the final stage in an underground abortion network in Thailand’s capital. But a broken furnace disrupted the process for months, possibly longer, until the smell grew so potent it was impossible to hide.

Continued: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/abortion-laws-buddhist-monks-foetus-mortuary-thailand-asia/


From Sunset to a New Dawn: Sustaining Civil Society’s Voice on Safe Motherhood

March 13, 2024
By Jay Gribble & Rebecca Levine

Maternal mortality continues to be one of the scourges in global health. The fact that women die as part of bringing life is an indictment against the overall status of women around the world, and underscores the failure to prioritize women, mothers, and children. Efforts to draw attention to the causes of maternal death and the solutions to maternal mortality abound, but they fail to get enough attention from the decisionmakers who establish health priorities and allocate resources that could actually make a difference.

Global advocacy efforts—such as those led by the White Ribbon Alliance (WRA)—have made progress in drawing attention to maternal mortality, as well as the need to improve maternal health services and outcomes. While improvements in these areas continue to take place, there is still much to achieve through advocacy to improve services and outcomes. 

Continued: https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2024/03/from-sunset-to-a-new-dawn-sustaining-civil-societys-voice-on-safe-motherhood/


Malawi: Young Girls Bear the Brunt of Unsafe Abortions in Blantyre

11 MARCH 2024
Centre for Solutions Journalism (Blantyre)
By Penelope Paliani Kamanga

Blantyre — Data from Blantyre District Health Office shows that the majority of people seeking post-abortion care are young girls. Of the 2003 reported cases that were treated for post-abortion care from unsafe abortions in the last quarter of 2023, a staggering 1003 were under the age of 20, while 1000 were slightly over 20 years old.

Blantyre-based youth activist Rebecca Majamanda said the figures highlight the vulnerability of adolescent girls and young women to the risks associated with unsafe abortion practices, including severe health complications and death.

Continued: https://allafrica.com/stories/202403110028.html


South Africa – Abortion: The good, the bad and the unsafe

Zandile Khumalo
11 March 2024

"ABORTION will happen whether society believes it or not, but we need to make sure that women stay alive." This is what activist and founder of Abortion Support South Africa, Gaopalelwe Phalaetsile, said amid the continued existence of illegal abortions.

As the world celebrated International Women’s Day on 8 March, Daily Sun rings the alarm on backstreet abortions, challenges in accessing legal pregnancy terminations and the stigmas that still exist.

Continued: https://www.snl24.com/dailysun/news/illegal-abortions-persist-despite-risks-and-activist-gaopalelwe-phalaetsile-raises-awareness-20240311


Uganda – Family Medical Point rescues Kigungu women from death caused by unsafe abortions

NELSON MANDELA | PML Daily Reporter
March 10, 2024

ENTEBBE – Namakula Josephine is a sex worker in Kigungu landing site, Entebbe. She says in 2023, a client deliberately broke a condom thereby impregnating her.

As a poor lady, she was advised by a friend to use herbal medicine to remove the unwanted baby because she couldn’t raise money for a safe abortion. Little did she know this could cost her life.

“I got a lot of complications, bled a lot, and even some foetus parts remained inside which started rotting,” she narrated.

Continued:  https://www.pmldaily.com/news/2024/03/celebrating-a-woman-family-medical-point-rescues-kigungu-women-from-death-caused-by-unsafe-abortions.html


Malawi Activists Lobby for Abortion Law Reforms

March 10, 2024
By Chimwemwe Padatha
Video: 2:48 minutes

In Malawi, 35,000 backstreet abortions were carried out in 2022 and 2023, according to its Ministry of Health. These unsafe procedures are just one reason support for abortion rights has increased in recent years. Chimwemwe Padatha has more from Lilongwe.

Continued: https://www.voanews.com/a/malawi-activists-lobby-for-abortion-law-reforms/7521799.html