The Prime Minister claims Peter Dutton is avoiding a crucial issue months after the Opposition Leader ruled out the topic for national debate.

Ria Pandey
March 31, 2025

Anthony Albanese says Peter Dutton is purposefully leaving a key women’s issue out of the national conversation as the public counts down to one of Australia’s most consequential federal elections.

The Prime Minister appeared in a wide-ranging interview with news influencer Hannah Ferguson on an episode of her podcast, Big Small Talk, on Monday. After being questioned by Ferguson on whether the Opposition Leader was actively avoiding abortion given his “voting history on women’s issues”, Mr Albanese said: “He has said himself that he’s trying to do that.

Continued: https://www.news.com.au/national/federal-election/womens-issues-including-abortion-rights-face-double-standard-anthony-albanese-says/news-story/e869e5af5a451dc101f3faf40785aa30

Abortion remains illegal and punishable by prison but in 2023 parliament approved changes that introduced a limited exception that allows termination if a woman's life is in danger

30 March 2025
by Laura Calleja

Five abortions have been carried out since the law was amended to allow the termination of pregnancy when a woman’s life is at risk, the Health Ministry confirmed.

Abortion remains illegal and punishable by prison but in 2023 parliament approved changes that introduced the limited exception.

Continued:  https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/134293/five_pregnancies_terminated_under_maltas_amended_abortion_laws_

Experts warn of a rise in unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. New procurement will take 3 months.

Arjun Poudel
March 30, 2025

Health facilities across Nepal are out of stock of Depo-Provera, a birth control shot for women, as the government failed to purchase them on time. The shortage of popular contraceptive injection could persist for months, as the procurement process has just started, officials say.

“We have restarted the process of procuring the medication,” said Dr Pawan Jung Rayamajhi, director of the Management Division of the Department of Health Services. “Efforts to purchase the shots on time were unsuccessful due to price issues.”

Continued: https://kathmandupost.com/health/2025/03/30/nepal-health-facilities-run-out-of-birth-control-shot-depo-provera

Saturday 29 March 2025
By The Brussels Times with Belga

Women find the mandatory waiting period for an abortion “unnecessary, frustrating, and counterproductive,” concludes doctoral student Anna Wallays from the University of Antwerp.

Belgian law requires a six-day waiting period between the initial consultation at an abortion centre and the procedure itself.

“The vast majority (90%) of women are certain about their decision at the time of the first consultation,” says Wallays. “The waiting period offers no added value and practical issues often extend the wait beyond six days.”

Continued: https://www.brusselstimes.com/1510482/women-find-waiting-period-in-abortion-process-frustrating

March 28, 2025
Munaza Rafiq, Disability producer

"I was sobbing as I was put to sleep, and I was sobbing when I woke up."

This is the painful memory Dani Czernuszka-Watt replays in her mind as she remembers going for the abortion she never wanted to have.

Dani was told she would have to abort due to a medical complication from her previous pregnancy, but says the experience of going through the abortion as a wheelchair user left her traumatised.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czrn4g33vpzo

March 28, 2025
By GTHQ founder Asha Dahya

“Is this enough blood for you?!”

These were the words uttered by a frustrated Mindy Swank, who at 27 weeks pregnant was hemorrhaging blood, clearly experiencing something very wrong, but who was not able to get a lifesaving abortion due to the restrictions in the Catholic hospital system she was trying to get care from. The hospital staff could see she was bleeding, and that her water had broken, but refused to help her because there was “not enough blood”.

Upon returning home, as she continued to bleed over the next few days, she came up with the idea to collect all the blood-soaked pads she had been wearing, and take them to the hospital to prove she needed care now. She placed the bag of blood soaked pads on the desk, demanding to know “is this enough blood for you?!”.

Continued: https://www.girltalkhq.com/being-pro-choice-is-not-enough-to-end-abortion-stigma/

Saturday, 29 March 2025

To mark the Global Day of Action to Destigmatise Abortion (28th March), SHE & Rights (Sexual Health with Equity & Rights) initiative calls for stronger effort to challenge harmful narratives, dismantle barriers, and demand stigma-free access to safe abortion everywhere in a rights-based manner. SHE & Rights is hosted by Global Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion (CeHDI), Asia Pacific Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media), Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW), International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), and CNS.

Even though right to abortion is part of promises made by our governments by endorsing Beijing Declaration 1995 and critical to deliver on UN Sustainable Development Goal-5 for gender equality and human rights, progress is not satisfactory.

Continued: https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO2503/S00354/global-day-of-action-to-destigmatise-abortion-28th-march.htm

By Amy Judd  Global News
March 28, 2025
Video: 1:58 minutes

A B.C. abortion, sexual and reproductive health clinic is closing after 35 years.

The Elizabeth Bagshaw Clinic announced the decision on Friday morning saying changes to the provincial health-care system, including  Vancouver Coastal Health’s (VCH) decision to shift to a new model for sexual and reproductive health, “have created an uncertain future for independent clinics” like theirs.

The board also stated in a release that operational barriers, including new accreditation standards and lease constraints, made it impossible for the clinic to continue operating.

Continued: https://globalnews.ca/news/11103038/bc-abortion-sexual-health-clinic-closing/

Abortion is often a last measure, not a first choice. Why, then, does the general opinion among providers seem to paint all women as ignorant beneficiaries?

March 28, 2025
Radhikaa Sharma

As people on the inside, we have heard, too often to ignore, doctors bemoan abortions — having to perform them, counselling women who approach them, the very concept of it. Not all, but enough of us would say, “They’re basically making us commit murder,” in a dozen different ways, each more or less as unempathetic.

The image seared into memory from medical school is of a woman in tears, undergoing a surgical procedure with minimal sedation to undergo an abortion at 14 weeks, as the service provider, a consultant, kept muttering under her breath, ‘making me a culprit in her crime, and now she has tears? ‘ These statements, it seems, grow stronger, and more vitriolic, the later the abortion is scheduled. It seems that the more advanced the gestation is, the stronger are these ethical pangs that healthcare providers feel.

Continued: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/access-to-abortion-foetal-viability-and-the-laws-thereof-women-are-caught-in-the-crossfire/article69373089.ece