East Africa – During the Ebola outbreak, here’s how Ipas is keeping reproductive health care within reach

A Q&A with Dr. Mike Mpoyi, lead for Ipas’s Quality of Care team

Ipas
Aug 31, 2026

Dr. Mike Mpoyi, who brings both global health expertise and deep firsthand knowledge of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the east Africa region, explains why reproductive health care must remain part of the Ebola response.

“Women and girls are disproportionately affected during this Ebola outbreak because sexual and reproductive health needs are often deprioritized during crisis responses.”

For months, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been grappling with the deadly Ebola virus. The latest outbreak is deepening an already fragile humanitarian situation and placing additional strain on overstretched health systems.

Continued: https://www.ipas.org/news/ebola-ipasdrc-1reproductive-health/

31.08.2026

Democratic Republic of Congo

Health

Human Rights

Unsafe Abortion

Private clinics in 11 Russian regions performed no abortions in 2025

31 Аug 2026

Private clinics in Kabardino-Balkaria, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Kalmykia, North Ossetia, Tuva, Chukotka, Dagestan, Karelia, and Magadan, Tver, and Kurgan oblasts performed no abortions in 2025, according to the To Be Precise project, citing Rosstat data.

At the same time, the share of abortions performed in private clinics doubled over seven years, from 19% of all abortions in 2018 to 38.6% in 2025. In 23 regions, private clinics account for more than half of all abortions.

Continued: https://semnasem.org/amp/news/2026/08/31/private-clinics-in-11-russian-regions-performed-no-abortions-in-2025

31.08.2026

Georgy Filimonov

private clinics in Russia

Russia

Russian Orthodox Church

To Be Precise project

Sweden ends aid to Liberia in a hammer blow to women’s rights and healthcare

Sexual and reproductive services face an uncertain future as the country’s second-largest donor halts support worth hundreds of millions of pounds

Isabel Choat, in Monrovia
Mon 31 Aug 2026

The Swedish flag is still flying above the pale blue building overlooking the Atlantic in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, but the doors of the embassy are now closed to visitors. On 31 August, the Swedish embassy in Liberia ends a presence in the country that dates back to 1961.

The billions of kronor of aid that Sweden pipes into the west African country will end on the same day, as sweeping cuts to Swedish development funding come into effect.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/aug/31/sweden-ends-aid-liberia-hammer-blow-womens-healthcare

Olivia Rodrigo’s festival uniting women behind nonprofits promoting their well-being

Rodrigo has made a name channeling the rage and dissatisfaction of modern romance into chart-topping songs that are equal parts Taylor Swift and Alanis Morissette.

By James Pollard | The Associated Press
August 30, 2026

Evoking the same do-it-yourself pop-rock feminism of her '90s musical influences, Olivia Rodrigo raised $20 million for women's well-being with a benefit show that activated her young audience.

Daisy Chain Fields united a women-led lineup boasting queer pop star Chappell Roan, breakout rapper Doechii and riot grrrl pioneers Bikini Kill behind issues of women's health, workplace protections and legal rights. Ahead of Saturday's festival in Irvine, California, Rodrigo announced the show had already raised enough to make a $10 million donation to 10 nonprofit partners including Planned Parenthood, National Women's Law Center and Black Mamas Matter Alliance.

Continued: https://www.nbcboston.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/olivia-rodrigo-festival-unites-women-girls-behind-nonprofits-promoting-well-being/4006120/

USA – ‘There’s no place to go’: providers see more abortions later in pregnancy as bans spread in US

Patients are showing up ‘later and sicker’ for abortion care as more US states adopt bans and significant restrictions

Melody Schreiber
Sun 30 Aug 2026

Providers are seeing more patients in need of abortions later in pregnancy as abortion bans and restrictions proliferate in US states, all while access to insurance falls.

Those bans and restrictions have also meant that later abortion care access has grown over the past decade in a handful of haven states and cities.

Patients are showing up “later and sicker” in need of reproductive healthcare, said Diane Horvath, cofounder of Partners in Abortion Care in Maryland, the only all-trimester clinic in the US that is owned and operated by women.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/30/abortion-bans-later-procedures

India – Kishtwar minor’s death: Crime Branch to probe allegations of sexual assault, cover-up

The move comes days after allegations of prolonged sexual abuse of the minor and a subsequent abortion attempt that preceded her death sparked protests across the district.

Written by: Arun Sharma
Aug 30, 2026

The Jammu & Kashmir government has ordered the Crime Branch to investigate the alleged sexual assault and death of a tribal teenager in Kishtwar, amid allegations of a cover-up in the case.

The move comes days after allegations of prolonged sexual abuse of the minor and a subsequent abortion attempt that preceded her death sparked protests across the district.

Officials told The Indian Express that the Crime Branch has initiated the process to take over the investigation from the Special Investigation Team currently probing the case. The move comes after at least six people, including a nurse and a sweeper at the Kishtwar district hospital, were arrested for alleged complicity after the girl was brought there for an alleged abortion attempt that proved fatal. She died soon after.

Continued; https://indianexpress.com/article/india/kishtwar-tribal-minor-death-crime-branch-probe-illegal-abortion-10855012/

30.08.2026

News

Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh High Court

AP Medical Council orders probe into botched abortion death in Prakasam

The Council responded after reports surfaced indicating that staff carried out the abortion procedure while a doctor was allegedly providing instructions over the phone.

28 Aug 2026

VIJAYAWADA: Taking a serious view of a botched abortion that led to the death of a woman in Yerragondapalem of Prakasam district, the Andhra Pradesh Medical Council on Friday announced a comprehensive probe into the incident and warned of stern action against illegal medical practices and quackery.

The Council responded after reports surfaced indicating that staff carried out the abortion procedure while a doctor was allegedly providing instructions over the phone.

AP Medical Council Chairman Dr Garlapati Nanda Kishore stated in an official release that the council’s Anti-Quackery Committee, headed by Dr Subba Naidu, will verify the facts of the tragic incident and initiate appropriate legal and disciplinary action within the council’s mandate.

Continued: https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/andhra-pradesh/2026/Aug/29/ap-medical-council-orders-probe-into-botched-abortion-death-in-prakasam

28.08.2026

News

Andhra Pradesh Medical Council

Anti-Quackery Committee

Dr Garlapati Nanda Kishore

Pre-Abortion Counseling in Belarus May Amount to Psychological Abuse of Women — White Coats

28.08.2026

The White Coats initiative studied the teaching and methodological manual “Family Pre-Abortion Counseling” and concluded that it constitutes guidance on psychological abuse of a person in a vulnerable position.

Belarusian law provides women with the right to abortion, but also contains vague wording on pre-abortion psychological counseling.

Continued: https://reform.news/en/pre-abortion-counseling-in-belarus-may-amount-to-psychological-abuse-of-women-white-coats/

28.08.2026

Commentary

Dzyyana Berahautsova

Family Pre-Abortion Conuseling

mandatory counseling

pre-abortion counseling

SOUTH AFRICA – Three women nabbed for the alleged illegal sale of abortion pills

Friday 28 August 2026

JOHANNESBURG - Three women will spend the weekend behind bars after they were arrested for the alleged theft and illegal sale of termination-of-pregnancy medication.

It is alleged that the stolen medication was sold to women waiting in the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy (CTOP) queue at Stretford Community Health Centre in Orange Farm, Johannesburg.

Continued: https://www.enca.com/news/three-women-nabbed-alleged-illegal-sale-abortion-pills

28.08.2026

News

Gauteng Department of Health

medication abortion

Stretford Community Health Centre

The Reality of Abortion in Spain and the Messages Circling It

Erina Bazán López, Human Rights Research Center
August 28, 2026

HRRC holds that abortion is a fundamental human right and condemns the Community of Madrid's administrative obstruction of access. We advocate for robust public gynaecological services. We urge the Community of Madrid to support the right to abortion in its commitment to dignity and equitable care for all women who reside in the region.

On March 9, 2026, the High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) issued a decisive ruling ordering the regional government of Madrid to immediately initiate the administrative procedures to establish a registry of healthcare conscientious objectors to abortion. This decision came after a prolonged administrative standoff between the national Ministry of Health and the regional executive. The national reform of the abortion law, in force since 2023, requires every autonomous community in Spain to maintain a confidential register of healthcare professionals who decline to participate in voluntary pregnancy terminations. The objective of this tool is strictly organizational: to map the availability of willing staff in each public hospital and prevent instances where a 100% objection rate in a single facility leaves women entirely unable to access care in the public sector.

Continued: https://www.humanrightsresearch.org/post/the-reality-of-abortion-in-spain-and-the-messages-circling-it