India – Aborting stigma

Aborting stigma
City-based artist Indu Harikumar talks about illustrating for a social media project that aims to normalise conversations surrounding abortion.

THE ASIAN AGE
CHERYLANN MOLLAN
Published : Aug 31, 2019

A girl sits crouched in a turbulent ocean. A huge wave, reminiscent of Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, looms behind her, threatening to crush and drown her. But the girl cannot scream for help, because her lips have been zipped shut. A closer look at the picture reveals the cause for this enforced silence – an ultrasound image peeking out from under the current. The illustration is accompanied by a woman’s haunting words that reveal her abortion ordeal and is part of a crowd-sourced project titled #MyAbortionStory. The project, started by My Body, My Choice India — a social media campaign working towards ending the stigma surrounding abortion —invites people to share their abortion experiences and kick-start a conversation around the medical procedure.

Continued: https://www.asianage.com/life/more-features/310819/aborting-stigma.html

31.08.2019

My Body My Choice India

women's abortion stories

India – Just 1.2% chemists stock abortion pills in Maharashtra: study

Just 1.2% chemists stock abortion pills in Maharashtra: study

Jyoti Shelar MUMBAI
AUGUST 31, 2019

Pharmacists cite legal hassles as reason; experts say lack of access to safe abortions a worry
A mere 1.2% chemists in Maharashtra — three of the 252 reviewed in five cities — stock medical abortion (MA) pills, a study has found.

The study covered 1,008 chemists in Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

Continued: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/just-12-chemists-stock-abortion-pills-in-state-study/article29304187.ece

USA – Planned Parenthood boldly resists anti-abortion attack

Planned Parenthood boldly resists anti-abortion attack

By Sue Davis
posted on August 30, 2019

Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider of comprehensive reproductive health care for poor women, took a bold stand of resistance Aug. 19 against the Trump-Pence administration’s latest volley in the war on women.

It refused to go along with the Department of Health and Human Services’ new “domestic gag rule,” effective Aug. 19, which now requires that all health care participants in the $286 million Title X program not refer patients to abortion providers. And if facilities do offer abortion care, that must be physically and financially separated from other services.

Continued: https://www.workers.org/2019/08/30/planned-parenthood-boldly-resists-anti-abortion-attack/

Why social issues are a hot topic in Canada’s autumn election

Why social issues are a hot topic in Canada's autumn election
Social issues like gay marriage and abortion have taken centre stage in the lead up to Canada's autumn election, as the Liberal Party tries to convince voters that the Conservatives want to backtrack on LGBTQ and abortion rights.

30 August 2019

Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party has fired an early salvo against Conservative party leader Andrew Scheer, and his past record on gay marriage and abortion.

But whether it will wound his primary opponent remains to be seen.

Continued : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49528267

USA – This state could become a ‘contraceptive desert’: Trump’s new ‘gag rule’ goes far beyond Planned Parenthood

This state could become a ‘contraceptive desert’: Trump’s new ‘gag rule’ goes far beyond Planned Parenthood
Why 15 of the 20 abortion clinics here are at high risk of shutting down

Caroline Kitchener
August 30, 2019

Abortion providers in northern Maine spend a lot of time in the car.

Every other weekday, nurse practitioner Christina Theriault and clinic administrator Cassidy Jarvis drive an hour and 15 minutes from Fort Kent to Presque Isle, toggling between the two farthest-flung abortion clinics in Maine, the most rural state in the country. They travel on Route 161, a two-lane highway, closed in on both sides by dense forest. To pass the time, they count the number of moose they see on the side of the road.

Their current record is 14.

Continued: https://www.thelily.com/this-state-could-become-a-contraceptive-desert-trumps-new-gag-rule-goes-far-beyond-planned-parenthood/

The impact of U.S.’s abortion policies on international diplomacy

The impact of U.S.’s abortion policies on international diplomacy

On August 29, 2019
WIIS Blog, Women Peace & Security
By Hannah Proctor, Research Fellow, WIIS Global

Throughout 2019, conservative states in the U.S. have been adopting increasingly restrictive abortion laws in an effort to undermine, and eventually abolish, the Roe v. Wade decision, which guaranteed the right to abortion based on the right to privacy. These laws and the mindsets that accompany them have far-reaching consequences that go beyond U.S. borders.

Historically, conservative U.S. administrations have relied on two main pieces of legislation to enforce their anti-abortion positions globally:

Continued: https://www.wiisglobal.org/the-impact-of-u-s-s-abortion-policies-on-international-diplomacy/

10 Shocking Facts You Need to Know About America’s Maternal Mortality Crisis

10 Shocking Facts You Need to Know About America's Maternal Mortality Crisis

ZawnVillines
Thursday August 29, 2019

Over the past two decades, every wealthy nation saw significant drops in maternal mortality—except for the United States. As maternal mortality dropped in European nations, it nearly doubled in the United States. In 2015, 25 women per 100,000 died giving birth in the U.S. In Finland, Greece, and several other countries, the rate is 3 per 100,000.

Despite these stunning numbers, maternal mortality has received very little attention until recently. For two decades, American women have died of mostly preventable causes as public health agencies, the media, and health institutions sat passively by.

Continued: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/8/29/1882203/-10-Shocking-Facts-You-Need-to-Know-About-America-s-Maternal-Mortality-Crisis?utm_campaign=recent

29.08.2019

preventable maternal death

Canada – Feds denied summer job grants to 26 groups over abortion rights issue

Feds denied summer job grants to 26 groups over abortion rights issue

JOANNA SMITH, OTTAWA
THE CANADIAN PRESS
AUGUST 29, 2019

The Liberal government denied youth summer job grants to about two dozen organizations this year because officials felt they were trying to weaken or limit access to abortion or sexual and reproductive health services.

Employment and Social Development Canada said it received 39,933 for the Canada Summer Jobs program this year, with only 403 of them being deemed ineligible for the funding under new rules that say the money cannot be used to undermine human rights.

Continued: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-feds-denied-summer-job-grants-to-26-groups-over-abortion-rights-issue/

The Worrying Disappearance of Medical Abortion Drugs in India

The Worrying Disappearance of Medical Abortion Drugs in India

SAAKHI CHADHA
Aug 29, 2019

India legalized abortions in 1971 with the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act — becoming one of the first few countries to give women the option to abort even in situations that are not life-threatening.

Undoubtedly, the law is among the more progressive abortion laws that exist in the world. Advances in medicine and technology have opened doors to safer and more convenient options, such as medical abortion drugs (mifepristone and misoprostol) that can be used within ten weeks of pregnancy.

Continued: https://fit.thequint.com/her-health/medical-abortion-pills-drugs-disappearing-from-indian-retail-chemists

Activist group vows to tear down ‘unsafe abortion’ posters in Johannesburg

Activist group vows to tear down 'unsafe abortion' posters in Johannesburg

29 August 2019
BY NOMAHLUBI JORDAAN

A group calling itself Sexual Reproductive Health For Your Information (#SRHFYI) vowed to take to the streets of Johannesburg on Thursday in an attempt to make abortions safer.

The group's goal is to remove posters promoting “unsafe” abortions. In a statement issued on Wednesday, it said it would march to Park Station and Hillbrow.

Continued: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-08-29-activist-group-vows-to-tear-down-unsafe-abortion-posters-in-johannesburg/

29.08.2019