Global anti-feminist backlash gains ground after decades of equality gains

Spain and France justify enshrining the right to abortion in their Constitutions as a safeguard against a ‘reactionary’ wave that could roll back achievements

Marc Bassets, Berlin
OCT 31, 2025

History never advances in a straight line. Although, as Martin Luther King said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Progress always moves in fits and starts: two steps forward, one step back. This is also the case with women’s rights and equality.

For a decade or more — in Western countries and in the Global South — there have been numerous cases of rights being stripped away after a long period of progress. This regression — according to progressive and liberal political leaders — is linked to the global rise of new forms of authoritarianism and nationalism.

Continued: https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-11-01/global-anti-feminist-backlash-gains-ground-after-decades-of-equality-gains.html

‘European Citizens’ Initiative on abortion rights real example of democracy in action’

Friday 31 October 2025
By Mose Apelblat

The European Commission has started to process the European Citizens’ Initiative 'My Voice, My Choice' on ensuring safe and accessible abortion in all EU, a Commission spokesperson confirmed on Friday.

As previously reported, the team campaigning for the Initiative met the Belgian Commissioner Hadja Lahbib, responsible for Emergency Crisis Management and Equality, a month ago. The team brought letters from EU citizens urging the Commission to propose legislation on financial support to Member States in providing safe abortion care for anyone in Europe who still lacks access to it.

Continued: https://www.brusselstimes.com/eu-affairs/1820935/european-citizens-initiative-on-abortion-rights-real-example-of-democracy-in-action

31.10.2025

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Emergency Crisis Management and Equality

European Citizens’ Initiative

European Commission

Hadja Lahbib

My Voice My Choice campaign

USA – The Abortion Pill Is Safe. Scientists Fear an FDA Investigation Will Ignore Science

Some scientists are concerned that the Trump administration will use “junk science” when reviewing mifepristone’s safety record

October 30, 2025
By Liz Szabo

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., recently announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will launch a review of the safety of the abortion pill, mifepristone. Health researchers say they’re concerned that the review will be politicized and based on flawed reports. More than 100 studies published over the past few decades have shown that the drug, which was approved by the FDA in 2000, is safe and effective at ending a pregnancy.

Given Kennedy’s history of misrepresenting scientific evidence about vaccines, autism and Tylenol, some scientists say they worry that the health secretary will base the FDA report on unreliable sources.

Continued: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fda-is-investigating-the-abortion-pill-mifepristone-despite-decades-of/

Russia Expands Bans on ‘Coercing’ Women Into Abortions to 27th Region

Oct 30, 2025
Moscow Times

Two Siberian regions have become the 26th and 27th Russian regions to adopt legislation this week banning the “coercion” of pregnant women into terminating a pregnancy amid efforts by conservative figures to expand state pressure to boost birth rates.

The neighboring Kemerovo region and Altai republic adopted laws Monday and Tuesday banning “persuasion, requests, offers, deception, bribery or other actions” aimed at encouraging a woman to have an abortion.

Exceptions apply to doctors providing medical or social reasons for abortion.

Continued: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/10/30/russia-expands-bans-on-coercing-women-into-abortions-to-27th-region-a90991

30.10.2025

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Russian Orthodox Church

Australia – Barnaby Joyce and Andrew Hastie rebuked for ‘playing politics’ on abortion in debate on stillbirth leave

Experts warn the fearmongering about late-term terminations is straight out of the anti-abortion handbook

Tory Shepherd, Krishani Dhanji and Josh Butler
Thu 30 Oct 2025

A group of Coalition parliamentarians, including Barnaby Joyce and Andrew Hastie, have seized on a proposed new law to give paid parental leave to parents of a child who is stillborn or dies, arguing it should not be available to anyone needing a late-term abortion.

A senior doctor has labelled the comments as “terrible, cynical, awful” things to say about an often heartbreaking decision, as experts point out that the vast majority of later terminations are forced by major health issues and warn fearmongering about the issue is straight out of the anti-abortion handbook.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/30/abortion-stillbirth-leave-barnaby-joyce-andrew-hastie-playing-politics

Mobile Clinics Close in Madagascar as Aid Cuts Reduce Reproductive Health Services

Cuts to mobile clinic funding are leading to more unwanted pregnancies and unsafe births.

By Sarah El Gharib
October 30, 2025

When her mobile clinic shut down, Herisoa Bodo’s phone wouldn’t stop ringing. A client due for implant removal reached out again and again. The appointment never happened — and she became pregnant.

Bodo, a midwife with Marie Stopes International (MSI) Madagascar since 2012, kept fielding calls long after outreach teams had been forced to suspend services. “Women kept calling because they couldn’t find care,” she said. Her routes cover Analamanga, the region surrounding the capital Antananarivo, where MSI deploys buses converted into clinics and 4x4 teams into rural communities. For many women, those visits are the only reliable chance to see a midwife.

Continued: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/madagascar-mobile-clinics-close-due-to-aid-cuts/

How the Contraception Crisis Threatens Progress for Women in Leadership

By Anusha Couttigane, Vogue
October 30, 2025

On 23 October, 50 women in leadership across fashion, luxury, beauty and more convened for a private dinner at the Corinthia London. Attended by business leaders and celebrity personalities alike, the specially curated evening brought together women of influence for a rare moment of cross-industry female solidarity. Unlike typical events hosted by Vogue Business, this one focused on an underexplored issue: the global contraception crisis. Throughout decades of hard-won progress, access to modern contraception has played a critical role in enabling women to learn, earn and lead by preventing unwanted or unsafe pregnancies and giving women the chance to pursue education and careers. That progress is currently in jeopardy, with global policy and legal changes restricting access, compounded by up to 80% of donor funding for family planning being cut or threatened globally.

Continued: https://www.vogue.com/article/how-the-contraception-crisis-threatens-progress-for-women-in-leadership

30.10.2025

Made Possible campaign

Contraceptives are essential and life-saving – and they are under threat globally

30 October 2025
Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Ms. Diene Keita

Contraceptives save lives. For almost 50 years, global health authorities have recognized contraception as essential medicine. People want them, use them, and rely on them every day.

The evidence is abundantly clear: When women and adolescent girls have access to contraceptives, their pregnancies are more likely to be planned and safe, they are more likely to complete school, be employed and fulfil their potential, their children are healthier, and their societies are more prosperous. The truth is that contraceptives reduce abortion rates and lower the incidence of death and disability related to complications of pregnancy and childbirth.

Continued; https://www.unfpa.org/press/contraceptives-are-essential-and-life-saving-%E2%80%93-and-they-are-under-threat-globally

30.10.2025

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contraception is essential medicine

Abortion Debate at University of Malta highlights deep divisions on law and ethics

Yasmin Mifsud
Wednesday, 29 October 2025

A debate on abortion held at the University of Malta brought together opposing perspectives on one of the country’s most sensitive social issues.

Organised by the Kunsill Studenti Universitarji (KSU) and moderated by broadcaster and academic Andrew Azzopardi, the event featured Marianna Debono from the Life Network Foundation representing the pro-life position, and lawyer Elise Micallef Peplow, who spoke in favour of the pro-choice stance.

Continued: https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2025-10-29/local-news/Abortion-Debate-at-University-of-Malta-highlights-deep-divisions-on-law-and-ethics-6736284369

29.10.2025

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Andrew Azzopardi

debate on abortion

Elise Micallef Peplow

Kunsill Studenti Universitarji

Malawi: Landmark High Court Ruling Affirms Rights of Sexual Violence Survivors

October 29, 2025
Amnesty International

Reacting to a ruling by the High Court in Malawi that denying a 14-year-old rape survivor access to a safe termination of pregnancy violated her sexual and reproductive health rights under Sections 19 and 20 of the Gender Equality Act (GEA), Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa regional office, Tigere Chagutah, said:

“In a country where abortion remains largely criminalized, this landmark ruling sets an important precedent. It affirms that forcing a woman or girl to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term is a violation of their rights. It safeguards the constitutional and human rights of survivors of sexual violence to access quality abortion care, while protecting them from the life-threatening risks associated with unsafe abortions.

Continued: https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/malawi-landmark-high-court-ruling-affirms-rights-of-sexual-violence-survivors/

29.10.2025