Polish Minority Party Wants to Ban Abortions in Lithuania

Polish Minority Party Wants to Ban Abortions in Lithuania
February 28, 2017
by Human Rights Monitoring Institute

The party representing the Polish minority in Lithuania plans to submit a draft law that would make abortion illegal in the country.

Rita Tamašunienė and Valdemaras Tomaševkis, representatives of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania - Christian Families Alliance political group, announced on February 20 that they plan to submit a proposal to ban abortions this spring.

Continued at source: Liberties.eu: http://www.liberties.eu/en/news/lithuania-abortion-ban-initiative

28.02.2017

Featured

News

abortion ban

abortion criminalization

Abortion decriminalisation bills withdrawn from Queensland Parliament agenda

Abortion decriminalisation bills withdrawn from Queensland Parliament agenda
Feb 28, 2017
ABC News

A debate to decriminalise abortion in Queensland has been cancelled and the issue postponed until at least the next term of parliament, after LNP MPs indicated they would not support the proposal.

Independent MP Rob Pyne has withdrawn his two bills, which were scheduled for debate tomorrow night.

Instead, the existing laws will be referred to the Queensland Law Reform Commission (QLRC) to provide advice that the Labor Government has pledged to enact if it is re-elected.

Continued at source: ABC News: https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/national/abortion-decriminalisation-bills-withdrawn-from-queensland-parliament-agenda/ar-AAnAagP

28.02.2017

Queensland abortion law

Queensland criminal code

Queensland Law Reform Commission

Contraception Atlas for Europe

Contraception Atlas

Download the full report: map_cci-v5.pdf (pdf 3,2 mb)
What is the Atlas?

The Contraception Atlas is a map that scores 45 countries throughout geographical Europe on access to modern contraception.

The rankings -- which are based on access to contraceptive supplies, family planning counseling and online information -- reveal a very uneven picture across Europe.

The European Parliamentary Forum on Population & Development (EPF) has produced the Atlas in partnership with Third-i, while experts in sexual and reproductive health and rights designed the methodology.

“Access to contraception should be a key concern of governments in empowering citizens to plan their families and lives. Yet every country we analysed should be doing more to improve access. Our findings show that for many European countries, ensuring that people have choice over their reproductive lives is not a priority.” commented Neil Datta, EPF Secretary.

Continued at source: European Parliamentary Forum on Population & Development: http://www.contraceptioninfo.eu/node/7

India: SC denies abortion nod to woman with Down Syndrome foetus

SC denies abortion nod to woman with Down Syndrome foetus
New Delhi February 28, 2017 12:48 IST

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to allow a woman, who is in her 26th week of pregnancy, to abort her foetus on the ground that it suffered from Down syndrome, saying “we have a life in our hands.”

The apex court said that as per a report of the medical board constituted to examine the 37-year-old woman, there was no physical risk to the mother in continuation of pregnancy.

Continued at source: The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/SC-denies-abortion-nod-to-woman-with-Down-Syndrome-foetus/article17381665.ece

28.02.2017

women denied abortion

Croatia: Government Denies Intention to Change Abortion Law

Government Denies Intention to Change Abortion Law
by Vedran Pavlic
Feb 27, 2017

Summary: Croatia's deputy prime minister Ivo Steir is trying to calm fears that the government plans to ban abortion, after the Foreign Affairs of the European Union reported that Croatia, Hungary, and Poland took a conservative stance in a human rights debate within the EU Council, that abortion is not considered an unquestionable right of women.

Continued at source: Total Croatia News: https://www.total-croatia-news.com/politics/17001-government-denies-intention-to-change-abortion-law

27.02.2017

Featured

News

Council of the European Union

Ivo Steir

UN Human Rights Council

Guatemala authorities expel Dutch ‘abortion ship’

Guatemala authorities expel Dutch ‘abortion ship’

AFP-JIJI
Feb 27, 2017

GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemala has expelled a Dutch “abortion ship” carrying activists who had vowed to help women circumvent the country’s long-standing prohibition against terminating pregnancies, the army said Sunday.

Activists from the group Women on Waves had been guarded aboard their moored sailboat by a navy vessel, Saul Tobar, commander of Puerto Quetzal on Guatemala’s Pacific coast, told reporters.

“Notified of its expulsion from the country’s territorial waters for having failed to comply with immigration regulations” late Saturday, the crew requested permission to set sail, he said. The activists saw no patients.

Continued at source: Japan Times: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/02/27/world/guatemala-authorities-expel-dutch-abortion-ship/#.WLRPELqXDMg

27.02.2017

Australia: Qld opposition blocks abortion bills

Qld opposition blocks abortion bills
February 27, 2017
Stuart Layt
Australian Associated Press

Queensland's Liberal National Party opposition will not support the second of a pair of bills reforming abortion law in the state.

The two bills, introduced by independent MP Rob Pyne, look to reform the criminal code to remove abortion as on offence, however concerns have been raised that if only one is passed it could leave women and their doctors in legal limbo.

Opposition leader Tim Nicholls said in a statement every one of his MPs decided not to support the second bill during a party room meeting on Monday.

Continued at source: News.com.au: http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/qld-opposition-blocks-abortion-bills/news-story/e309d5be61652f0b11bee72d83dcea05

27.02.2017

Featured

News

abortion clinic buffer zone

abortion criminalization

abortion law reform

Queensland abortion law

Mental health experts ‘shocked’ by lack of abortion in Ireland

Mental health experts ‘shocked’ by lack of abortion in Ireland
‘Every woman who travels from Ireland for an abortion – their mental health is affected’

Mon, Feb 27, 2017
by Anthea McTeirnan

“You cannot separate out the issue of having no reproductive rights from a woman’s mental health,” Veronica O’Keane, Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin, has told the latest episode of The Women’s Podcast.

“Every single woman and girl who travels out of Ireland for an abortion – their mental health will be affected by having to take that trip. And the more vulnerable a person is in terms of their mental health, the worse trauma that is going to be for them.”

Continued at source: Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/mental-health-experts-shocked-by-lack-of-abortion-in-ireland-1.2991006#.WLU6-0svMnB.facebook

Australia: Queensland MPs must seize the moment on abortion

Queensland MPs must seize the moment on abortion
February 26 2017
by Emily Howie and Kate Marsh

Queensland MPs stand at a crossroads when it comes to the state's abortion laws, but one thing is abundantly clear: the status quo is unacceptable. New polling released this week shows overwhelming public support for women's right to choose abortion in Queensland and that voters are turned off by MPs who support criminalising abortion.

Queensland's MPs currently have a unique opportunity to modernise the state's abortion laws. This law reform is vital because the crime of abortion remains in Queensland's Criminal Code, right in between "incest" and "indecent acts". Under the Code, women and doctors risk 7 to 14 years imprisonment for procuring an abortion.

Continued at source: Sydney Morning Herald: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/queensland-mps-must-seize-the-moment-on-abortion-20170226-guls2w.html

Guatemalan immigration office expels Women on Waves abortion ship

Guatemalan immigration office expels Women on Waves abortion ship
The Dutch boat offers free abortion services in countries where terminating pregnancies is banned.

By Ananya Roy
February 25, 2017

Guatemalan authorities on Friday (24 February) expelled a Dutch boat run by Women on Waves, a non-profit organisation (NGO) that provides free abortion services to women living in countries where the procedure is banned.

The boat was detained on Thursday, a day after it landed at a private pier in the Port of San Jose at Marina Pez Vela, about 120km south of the capital Guatemala City.
Continued at source: IB Times: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/guatemalan-immigration-office-expels-women-waves-abortion-ship-1608485