Pregnant with no OB-GYNs around: In Idaho, maternity care became a casualty of its abortion ban

After an Idaho hospital closed its obstetrics department, pregnant women in the county have been left without nearby care. Their OB-GYNs fled the state.

Sept. 30, 2023
By Julianne McShane

If you’re pregnant in Bonner County, Idaho, you’ll likely spend a lot of time on Route 95. Bonner General Health, a 25-bed hospital, discontinued obstetrics, labor and delivery services this year. So for residents, Route 95 is the way to the closest in-state hospital with obstetrics care, which is at least an hour’s drive south — or longer in the snowy winter.

The hospital, which staffed the county’s only OB-GYNs, cited the state’s “legal and political climate” as one of the reasons it shuttered the department. Abortion has been banned in Idaho, with few exceptions, since August 2022.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/pregnant-women-struggle-find-care-idaho-abortion-ban-rcna117872

Understanding The Work Of Abortion Doulas In A Post-Roe V. Wade America

BY MICHAEL-MICHELLE PRATT
SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

The matter of abortion has been a hot button issue since it became a politicized one. With the landmark case of Roe V. Wade on January 23, 1973, abortion became legal, only to be overturned on June 24, 2022. In the forty-nine years between those two dates, the reproductive rights of birthing people were thought to be safe and secure. However, Black women, femmes, and trans people have known this to be a falsehood for some time. This group is aware that they are the most vulnerable when drastic legislative changes occur, but the most influential work happens beyond and outside of legislation. Most of the real work has been happening in mutual aid and abolitionist spaces with the help of Black abortion doulas.

Continued: https://www.essence.com/lifestyle/abortion-doula/

30.09.2023

Commentary

abortion doulas

Ash Williams

Black abortion doulas

Bry Reed

reproductive oppression

Malta – ‘Pro-mother, pro-choice’ crowds gather in Valletta in support of abortion

Two Labour MPs lend their support as protesters gather in front of courts

September 30, 2023
Daniel Ellul

Pro-choice activists gathered in Valletta on Saturday, calling for the decriminalisation of abortion and the provision of abortion services in the healthcare system.

Holding banners reading 'pro-mother, pro-choice', the protesters chanted slogans such "not the church, not the state... women will decide their fate".

The manifestation comes two months after Malta changed its abortion laws for the first time, allowing doctors to terminate a pregnancy if a woman's life is at immediate risk or her health is in "grave jeopardy which may lead to her death".

Continued: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/promother-prochoice-crowds-gather-valletta-support-abortion.1058475

30.09.2023

News

Andrea Dibben

Cyrus Engerer

International Safe Abortion Day

Isabel Stabile

Marie Claire Gatt

pro-choice protest

prosecuting women for abortion

Randolph De Battista

Voice for Choice Coalition

Uganda – Abortion-associated stigma affecting access to Post-Abortion Care – MOH

The Independent
September 30, 2023

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | While the government has put in place medical care services to support mothers who need post-abortion care in all healthcare centers, the Ministry of Health reveals that many of them still die due to complications without seeking help.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Dr. Charles Olaro, the Director of Curative Services in the Health Ministry revealed that despite awareness efforts about the availability of such services that help women battling complications post-abortion, many still end up in the medical ward even when they turn up to hospitals because they provide wrong information to health workers.

Continued: https://www.independent.co.ug/abortion-associated-stigma-affecting-access-to-post-abortion-care-moh/

30.09.2023

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abortion stigma

Dr. Charles Olaro

Penal Code Act of Uganda Cap 120

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Rose Wakikona

Uganda Health Ministry

Women’s Link Worldwide

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‘This is not the endgame’: abortion clinic buffer zones come into effect in Northern Ireland

‘I’ve been spat on, I’ve been abused,’ says former Green Party leader Clare Bailey, who used to volunteer at a private Belfast clinic

Seanín Graham
Sat Sep 30 2023

On one of Belfast’s busiest streets, Clare Bailey is blinking away tears. Looking up at signage attached to a lamp-post around the corner from an NHS clinic providing abortions, she breaks into a smile. Her daughter, Jude, insists on taking her photograph.

It is seven years since Bailey, a former Northern Ireland Green Party leader and Assembly member, tabled a Private Members’ Bill at Stormont calling for the introduction of so-called buffer zones to prevent anti-abortion protests and harassment outside healthcare facilities offering terminations.

Contiuned: https://www.irishtimes.com/health/2023/09/30/this-is-not-the-endgame-abortion-clinic-buffer-zones-comes-into-effect-in-northern-ireland/

Nigeria – ‘Should women continue to die?’ – CSO asks n’assembly to review restrictive abortion laws

Sept 28, 2023
by Claire Mom

Ipas Nigeria Health Foundation has asked lawmakers to review restrictive abortion laws in the country that continue to endanger the lives of young girls and women.

In a statement released on Thursday to mark the “International Safe Abortion Day”, Ipas noted that unsafe abortions contribute between 13% and 30% to maternal mortality in Nigeria.

Continued: https://www.thecable.ng/should-women-continue-to-die-cso-asks-nassembly-to-review-restrictive-abortion-laws

30.09.2023

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CEDAW

International Safe Abortion Day

Ipas Nigeria Health Foundation

Lucky Palmer

Maputo Protocol

Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa

South Africa – Unsafe abortions continue to proliferate due to a lack of knowledge, stigma and nurses’ attitudes

Noxolo Majavu
28 Sep 2023

Despite safe medical abortion services being offered for free in public health facilities, the number of backdoor abortions being performed, especially on teenagers, is increasingly escalating as bogus doctors profit from the desperation of young women.

The scarcity of nurses and skill shortages, along with the lack of knowledge and the stigma around abortion, are among the reasons young people still opt for terminating pregnancies through illegal abortions at backdoor clinics.

Continued: https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/unsafe-abortions-continue-to-proliferate-due-to-a-lack-of-knowledge-stigma-and-nurses-attitudes-20230928

Global abortion rights: two steps forward, one step back

According to the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) NGO, only 35 percent of women of reproductive age live in countries where abortion is available on demand. It says backstreet abortions lead to 39,000 deaths per year

BY AFP RELAXNEWS
Sep 30, 2023

Countries around the world take differing stances on abortion, with traditional Catholic bastions like Ireland and Mexico among those lifting bans in recent years, even as the United States abolished nationwide access.

In the wake of International Safe Abortion Day, Here's a look at where it is getting easier to terminate a pregnancy—and where it is getting harder:

Continued: https://www.forbesindia.com/article/lifes/global-abortion-rights-two-steps-forward-one-step-back/88647/1

30.09.2023

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abortion bans

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Venezuelan Women Fight for Sexual and Reproductive Rights Amid a Humanitarian Crisis

The country has one of the most restrictive laws in the region while girls and women are particularly affected by scarcity, inflation and violence

Victoria Capriles
September 29, 2023

In recent years, the Green Wave movement has swept over Latin America, demanding the legalization and decriminalization of abortion. While it started in Argentina in 2018 –when feminists used the white scarfs traditionally worn by the anti-dictatorship Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo as an inspiration, but changing them to green due to the color being nonpartisan– the movement has been pivotal in achieving the decriminalization of abortion to different degrees in countries like Argentina, Mexico and Colombia. In Venezuela, the Green Wave arrived in 2021. Renamed as Ruta Verde (Green Route), it was supported by grassroots-feminist organizations, more than 25 local NGOs and more than a dozen of independent activists.

Continued https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2023/09/29/venezuelan-women-fight-for-sexual-and-reproductive-rights-amid-a-humanitarian-crisis/

Abortion restrictions repel graduating OB-GYNs from conservative states, report shows

Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY
Sept 29, 2023

A survey found new doctors are changing their plans to practice in states with abortion restrictions after the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that preserved abortion as a constitutional right for nearly 50 years.

Researchers from the University of Utah School of Medicine received responses from nearly 350 graduating obstetricians and gynecologists from training sites in 37 states. Findings showed more than 17% of residents said the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision changed their practice and fellowship plans.

Continued: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/09/29/abortion-new-doctors-avoid-conservative-states-survey-shows/70980770007/

29.09.2023