Canada – Unregulated pregnancy centres cause lasting harms—we need transparency

UPCs cause harm through deception, disinformation, and other traumatizing strategies meant to turn people away from abortion

Ashna Hudani and Joyce Arthur
October 5, 2026

Should organizations serving pregnant people be allowed to use disinformation and pressure to prevent them from accessing abortion care? About 160 unregulated pregnancy centres (UPCs) operate across Canada, mostly in smaller communities with no abortion services. UPCs are anti-abortion organizations that often operate under the guise of clinics or counselling centres. Stories collected from individuals who visited UPCs reveal how they cause lasting harm through deception, disinformation, and other traumatizing strategies meant to turn people away from abortion. This begs the question: why are these centres allowed to operate with no oversight?

Pregnant people, like all people, should have access to accurate health care information so that they can make informed decisions. In fact, timely access to quality patient-centred health care is vital to reduce physical and mental health risks during pregnancy. UPCs, however, often self-advertise as providing health services to pregnant people without revealing their anti-abortion mandate.

Continued: https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/unregulated-pregnancy-centres-cause-lasting-harmswe-need-transparency

05.10.2026

Commentary

Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada

anti-choice abuse

anti-choice lies

anti-choice manipulation

anti-choice misinformation

Ashna Hudani

Joyce Arthur

unregulated pregnancy centres

France – The pill: from symbol of women’s liberation to subject of growing mistrust

Initially a symbol of liberation, the pill went on to become an almost inevitable part of a woman’s contraceptive journey. But today its use in France is in decline, the drop in popularity fuelled by health warnings, mistrust and a changing attitude towards contraception.

4 October 2026

"What seemed to us to be a tremendous liberation – and which was a tremendous liberation – is clearly no longer seen in the same light."

At 79, gynaecologist Danielle Hassoun remembers a generation that started having sex at a time when abortion was still illegal. “So we didn’t weigh up the same factors,” she says.

Fully legalised in France in 1967, for decades the pill symbolised a major advance in women's health: the ability to separate sexuality from motherhood, and to choose when or whether to have a child.

Continued: https://www.rfi.fr/en/science-and-technology/20261004-the-pill-from-symbol-of-women-s-liberation-to-spread-of-mistrust

04.10.2026

French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety

Jennifer Saint-Martin Denys

Korea Debates Mifegyne Abortion Pill as President Lee Jae-myung Backs Access

Seven years after abortion crime was ruled unconstitutional, doctors push for safe medical abortion and broader reproductive health rights

SoYeon Kim
Oct 3, 2026

On July 14, President Lee Jae-myung said, “Even if it is difficult for the government, we must make sure that Mifegyne can be prescribed appropriately,” accelerating discussions on introducing Mifegyne in Korea. On September 4, he made remarks that effectively formalized the decision to allow the drug.

Mifegyne is an oral medical abortion pill taken in early pregnancy to terminate pregnancy. What happened for Mifegyne to become such a major issue that the president himself mentioned it? A science journalist takes a close, friendly look at it through the lens of science.

Continued: https://www.dongascience.com/en/news/80119

03.10.2026

Commentary

Constitutional Court of Korea

Ministry of Food and Drug Safety

safety of abortion pills

Global – Advancing sexual and reproductive health through curriculum reform: reflections and learnings

FIGO
October 1, 2026

For the past two years, the Collaborate for Women: Abortion and Contraception Care Together (C4W ACCT) initiative has worked to strengthen capacity and national uptake of competency-based education in family planning (FP) and comprehensive abortion care (CAC) across five countries in Africa and Asia. Interprofessional collaboration among OBGYNs and midwives has also been central to these efforts, helping to advance sustainable improvements in women’s health.

As phase 2 of the project draws to a close, the five participating national OBGYN societies – in Bangladesh (OGSB), DRC (SCOGO), Mozambique (AMOG), Nepal (NESOG) and Sierra Leone (SLAGO) – reflect on the progress achieved, the lessons learned and the crucial role professional societies play in advancing curriculum reform and improving Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services.

Continued: https://www.figo.org/news/advancing-sexual-and-reproductive-health-through-curriculum-reform-reflections-and-learnings

01.10.2026

Commentary

C4W ACCT

Collaborate for women: Abortion and Contraception Care Together

FIGO

International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics

USA – Red States Just Asked the Supreme Court to Kill Abortion Shield Laws

The long-expected constitutional showdown over states’ rights and abortion rights is here.

Nina Martin, Mother Jones
Oct 1, 2026

In what promises to be the most consequential showdown over reproductive rights since the end of Roe v. Wade, three states with near-total abortion bans asked the US Supreme Court on Wednesday to strike down blue-state laws that have enabled tens of thousands of abortions every year across state lines since 2022.

The action by Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas was a dramatic escalation in the long-running battle over so-called shield laws, which provide legal immunity to doctors, organizations, and advocates in liberal states who deliver abortion care, mostly in the form of pills, to people in states with draconian abortion laws.

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/10/red-states-just-asked-the-supreme-court-to-kill-abortion-shield-laws/

Women deserve better – The Power of EU citizens to shape Women’s Rights Debate

Wednesday, September 30, 2026
National Women’s Council

NWC today (30th September) highlighted the power of EU citizens and civil society to shape EU policies on reproductive rights. Exploring the historic success of the European Citizens’ Initiative, My Voice, My Choice, NWC called on the Irish Government to use the EU Presidency as an opportunity to champion women’s health at EU level and address ongoing barriers to abortion care in Ireland.

The enormously successful European Citizens’ Initiative, My Voice, My Choice, which received over 1.2 million verified signatures, was one of the case studies discussed at the event Europe in Action: Citizen Participation & Women's Health in Trinity College Dublin to mark International Safe Abortion Day (28th September). My Voice, My choice served as a powerful campaigning tool to put issues around women’s health and access to abortion firmly on the agenda, not only at EU level but in the different member states.

Continued: https://www.nwci.ie/learn/press_release/women_deserve_better_the_power_of_eu_citizens_to_shape_womens_rights_debate

30.09.2026

Commentary

8th March Institute

Adriana Lamackova

Center for Reproductive Rights

International Safe Abortion Day

Maria Walsh

My Voice My Choice campaign

National Women’s Council

Nika Kovač

Paula Pinzón Hernández

Latin America – Catalina Martinez Coral Reflects on International Safe Abortion Day

This International Safe Abortion Day 2026, Center for Reproductive Rights Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, Catalina Martinez Coral, emphasized the power of a global abortion rights movement.

September 29, 2026
Center for Reproductive Rights

In a piece published by the renowned El País magazine, Martinez Coral said,
“As we mark the Global Day of Action for Safe and Legal Abortion this September, we look beyond borders. Despite the narrative of regression that certain sectors are trying to push, data from the Center for Reproductive Rights’ World Abortion Laws Map tells a different and more hopeful story.

While five countries have rolled back abortion protections over the past three decades (the United States, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Poland), the rest of the world has moved forward in recognizing and providing this essential healthcare service, protecting the well-being of their populations, women’s lives, and their right to shape their own futures.

Continued; https://reproductiverights.org/news/martinez-coral-international-safe-abortion-day-2026/

29.09.2026

Commentary

Catalina Martinez Coral

Center for Reproductive Rights

global day of action for safe and legal abortion

International Safe Abortion Day

Statement by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Occasion of International Safe Abortion Day

Sep 28, 2026

Banjul, The Gambia– On the occasion of International Safe Abortion Day, observed globally on 28 September, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) underscores the critical and urgent message of the 2026 theme: “Solidarity in Action: Advance Reproductive Justice and Urgently Strengthen Health Systems for Comprehensive Abortion Care (CAC)!”

Across our continent, unsafe abortion remains a devastating public health crisis and a grave violation of fundamental human rights, deeply compounded by ongoing socio-economic, humanitarian, and environmental emergencies. True reproductive justice, as envisioned by the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (The Maputo Protocol), requires more than just legal frameworks; it demands robust, resilient health systems.

Continued: https://achpr.au.int/en/news/press-releases/2026-09-28/statement-african-commission-human-and-peoples-rights-occasion

28.09.2026

Commentary

African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Comprehensive Abortion Care

decriminalisation of abortion

International Safe Abortion Day

Joint civil society organisations statement on International Safe Abortion Day 2026: Safe abortion is essential healthcare: A call to action

Sep 28, 2026

We join women, girls, and human rights defenders across Africa and the globe on this 28th day of September to commemorate the 2026 International Safe Abortion Day, reaffirming a simple truth: safe abortion is essential healthcare.

We are reminded of the transformative power of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol), which is lauded as one of the most progressive and comprehensive legal instruments for the promotion and protection of women’s rights globally, particularly in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Adopted in 2003 by the African Union, the Protocol goes beyond existing international human rights standards by explicitly articulating a wide array of SRHR protections that are often left ambiguous or unstated in other international and regional human rights instruments.

Continued: https://equalitynow.org/news/news-and-insights/joint-civil-society-organisations-statement-on-international-safe-abortion-day-2026-safe-abortion-is-essential-healthcare-a-call-to-action/

28.09.2026

Commentary

International Safe Abortion Day

Maputo Protocol

maternal deaths

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

sexual and reproductive health and rights

USA – 5 Things You Should Know About the Harmful Hyde Amendment on Its 50th Anniversary

Sep 28, 2026
National Women’s Law Center

The Hyde Amendment is one of the most harmful abortion restrictions, as it prohibits coverage of abortion care for individuals enrolled in the federal Medicaid program, except in the extremely limited cases of rape, incest, and life endangerment. The Hyde Amendment was first passed by Congress on September 30, 1976 and has been reimplemented annually, preventing pregnant people qualified for Medicaid from getting the care they need.

Over the past five decades, Congress has extended the harmful reach of the Hyde Amendment to many other federal programs that provide health care, deepening racial and economic disparities in access to health care. The Hyde Amendment has been so successful at blocking access to abortion care, that anti-abortion extremists have praised it as “one of the greatest achievements of the pro-life movement to date,” aiding in their ultimate goal: to ban abortion nationwide.

Continued: https://nwlc.org/resource/5-things-you-should-know-about-the-harmful-hyde-amendment-on-its-50th-anniversary/

28.09.2026