A legacy of leadership and advocacy: Dr Dorothy Shaw’s vision for achieving respectful care for women globally

FIGO
Sept 6, 2024 (published Aug 31)

Dr Dorothy Shaw was the first female President of FIGO (2006-2009). She is a Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and has dedicated her career to social and reproductive justice.

Specialising in high-risk pregnancy, prenatal diagnosis and medical genetics, Dr Shaw has held numerous leadership roles, significantly advancing women's health globally. In this interview, she discusses her journey with FIGO, the challenges in women's healthcare and her hopes for the future.

What led you to volunteer for FIGO initially?
I was invited to participate in a panel of women in our specialty at one of the FIGO congresses…

Continued: https://www.figo.org/news/legacy-leadership-and-advocacy-dr-dorothy-shaws-vision-achieving-respectful-care-women

Polish government publishes guidelines to help women obtain legal abortions

Aug 31, 2024
Notes from Poland

Poland’s government has published guidelines for when and how abortions can be carried out, with the aim of ensuring that doctors and prosecutors “take the women’s side” when making decisions on the issue.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk – who last week admitted that it is unlikely he can achieve his aim of liberalising the country’s strict abortion law – declared today that “if we won’t change the law, we will change the reality”.

“We are looking for ways of acting that, in accordance with the law, will enable in practice access to legal abortion for women who, for various reasons, should have the right to this abortion,” he added.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2024/08/31/polish-government-publishes-guidelines-to-help-women-obtain-legal-abortions/

31.08.2024

Poland eases abortion access with new guidelines for doctors under a restrictive law

By The Associated Press
August 30, 2024

WARSAW, Poland -- Seeking to ease access to abortion for women needing to end a pregnancy for health reasons, Poland's government is issuing guidelines to doctors Friday that reaffirm the legality of such procedures, based on medical recommendations.

Under the current law, abortions for health reasons are permitted but the previous conservative government limited some other qualifying circumstances, leading to mass street protests and heightening the reluctance of doctors to expose themselves to a possible prosecution.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/poland-eases-abortion-access-new-guidelines-doctors-restrictive-113268362

30.08.2024

USA – Anti-abortion groups warn Trump’s row back on position risks losing votes

Republican candidate’s comments seen by Democrats as hypocritical ‘sadden’ anti-abortion activists

Carter Sherman
Fri 30 Aug 2024

Over the last two weeks, Donald Trump has publicly backed away from multiple anti-abortion positions – a move that Democrats see as hypocritical and that, anti-abortion activists warn, risks alienating voters who have long stood by him.

On Thursday, Trump said that, if elected, he would make the government or insurance companies cover in vitro fertilization – a type of fertility assistance that some in the anti-abortion movement want to see curtailed. Trump also seemed to indicate that he planned to vote in favor of a ballot measure to restore abortion access in Florida, which currently bans abortion past six weeks of pregnancy. “I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks,” Trump told NBC News in an interview.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/30/trump-ivf-anti-abortion-groups

Nigeria – Expert Recommends Data for Promotion of Sexual, Reproductive Health, Rights

By Olubunmi Osoteku, Lagos
On Aug 30, 2024

A medical expert, Professor Adesegun Fatusi, has recommended the need for data-driven actions for bringing about tangible results in the promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). The expert disclosed that the fight against unsafe abortion and other sexual reproductive health issues remains a challenge due to conflicting voices on the matter.

… Highlighting that many individuals speaking out on abortion are driven by emotions, lack of data, misinformation, and imagination, Fatusi stressed that a shift towards evidence-based decision-making is crucial to addressing the challenge effectively. He said: “By allowing data to drive actions, interventions can be implemented with clear outcomes that everyone can understand.”

Continued: https://von.gov.ng/expert-recommends-data-for-promotion-of-sexual-reproductive-health-rights/

30.08.2024

Academic for Health Development

Adesegun Fatusi

Guttmacher Institute

John-Paul Akinduro

sexual and reproductive health and rights

Global – ‘Concerning’ rise in unprotected sex among teenagers

A majority of teenagers in Europe, Central Asia, and Canada do not use condoms. Experts warn of rising risks of STIs and unwanted pregnancies.

Fred Schwaller
Aug 30, 2024

Condom use among sexually active teenagers has declined significantly over the past decade.

A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that 30% of teenage boys and girls in Europe, Central Asia and Canada didn't use any form of contraception, including condoms, the last time they had sex.

Hans Henri Kluge, the WHO Regional Director for Europe, said the report's findings were "dismaying, [but] not surprising."

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/concerning-rise-in-unprotected-sex-among-teenagers/a-70079734

30.08.2024

News

comprehensive sexuality education

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Controll

Hans Henri Kluge

unprotected sex

World Health Organization

USA – Meet the Organizers Trying to Fix a Shortage of Abortion Nurses

Abortion nurse staffing has gotten worse after the fall of Roe v. Wade. Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health wants to improve that.

Aug 28, 2024
Sarah DiGregorio, Rewire News

In 2021, Kiernan Cobb was the only registered nurse working at a reproductive and sexual health clinic in Oklahoma City. It meant that when they had to be away (often at the clinic’s other branch in Kansas), they had to bring on a temporary nurse. That was never ideal because it not only involved orienting someone new every time but was also occasionally catastrophic—like the day the temp nurse walked off the job, abandoning patients and grinding the clinic to a halt.

Despite the fact that nurses are the largest group of health-care providers and abortion is one of the most common health-care procedures, nurses’ crucial role in abortion care has often been overlooked and underleveraged. When you need an abortion, a physician or other advanced practice provider (like a midwife) can empty your uterus with a procedure or prescribe abortion pills. But experts say that is often only a fraction—albeit a crucial one—of the care you may need.

Continued: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2024/08/28/meet-the-organizers-trying-to-fix-a-shortage-of-abortion-nurses/

The Underground Network Fighting for Teen Abortion Access in Texas

How a group of nonprofits in Texas is working together to usher minors across state lines for crucial reproductive care

By Olivia Rockeman
Aug 28, 2024

Throughout their early teens, DakotaRei Frausto struggled with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a severe form of premenstrual syndrome, as well as anemia and chronic nausea. In 2021, at age 16, Frausto went to a handful of clinics in their home state of Texas to seek out a birth control prescription, hoping it would help address their symptoms. But each of the clinics brushed off their pain or referred them to brochures rather than getting them in front of doctors, and Frausto, feeling defeated, gave up on trying to access birth control.

Soon after, when Frausto was 17, they started to experience more severe PMDD symptoms than usual. A pregnancy test confirmed they were eight weeks pregnant. “When I did test positive, I knew for a fact abortion in Texas wouldn’t be an option for me,” Frausto said, noting that the state’s six-week abortion ban went into effect in September 2021. “My immediate next thought was: How am I going to scrape together the resources to travel?”

Continued: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a61973788/the-underground-network-fighting-for-teen-abortion-access-in-texas/

UK – Silent prayer outside of abortion clinics is a form of reproductive coercion

August 28, 2024
Pam Lowe, Sarah-Jane Page

Christian prayer is usually an unchallenged activity in Britain, often constructed as benign or even positive. But in some contexts, prayer can be experienced as intimidating, particularly when it is deemed “out of place” or when the motives for prayer are questioned.

It is perhaps no surprise, then, that praying outside of abortion clinics is considered wrong by most of the British public.

In the wake of legislation – that has been passed but not yet enacted – to stop activism in the immediate vicinity of all abortion clinics in Britain, anti-abortion campaigners have reacted strongly, arguing that legislating against silent prayer would breach their human rights.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/silent-prayer-outside-of-abortion-clinics-is-a-form-of-reproductive-coercion-237408

28.08.2024

anti-choice harassment

anti-choice hatred

anti-choice intimidation

anti-choice misogyny

anti-choice prayer

anti-choice protesters

buffer zones

Pam Lowe

public shaming of abortion patients

reproductive coercion

safe access zones

silent prayer at clinics

Australian conservatives claim babies are sometimes ‘born alive’ after an abortion. What’s the truth?

Religious groups and conservative MPs want a law to supposedly protect those born alive, but experts say their claims are misleading and could threaten access to healthcare

Tory Shepherd
Tue 27 Aug 2024

Some religious groups and conservative politicians in Australia have claimed babies are being “born alive” after abortions and left to die alone.

But experts warn “born alive” campaigns are riddled with misinformation, use misleading statistics and could threaten women’s access to abortions.

So what’s really going on?

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/28/australian-conservatives-claim-babies-are-sometimes-born-alive-after-an-abortion-whats-the-truth