By Euronews & AP
Updated: 23/10/2021
Poles took to the streets on Friday night to mark the one year anniversary of a constitutional court ruling that restricted abortion rights in Poland in October 2020.
Protests were held in Warsaw and other cities but numbers were far smaller than the demonstrations that followed last year's ruling, the biggest in three decades since the end of Communism.
by Robert Barnes
Oct 22, 2021
The Supreme Court on Friday said it will consider legal arguments over the Texas abortion law that is the nation’s most restrictive on Nov. 1, and that the law will remain in effect.
The court granted an expedited review of what is called S. B. 8, which the Biden administration in a filing Friday said “has virtually eliminated abortion in Texas after six weeks of pregnancy.”
By Andrew Chung
Oct 21 (Reuters)
Texas on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to keep in place a law that imposes a near-total ban on abortion and urged the justices that if they quickly take up a legal challenge brought by President Joe Biden's administration they should overturn the landmark ruling that legalized the procedure nationwide.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a legal filing
responded to the U.S. Justice Department's request that the Supreme Court
quickly block the Republican-backed state law while litigation over its
legality goes forward.
Continued: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-urges-us-supreme-court-maintain-states-abortion-ban-2021-10-21/
By Allegresse Sasse
COTONOU, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Benin's parliament has voted to legalise abortion in most circumstances, the health ministry said on Thursday, becoming one of only a handful of African countries to do so.
Abortion was previously legal only in cases of rape or incest, if the mother's life was at risk, or if the unborn child had a particularly serious medical condition.
Continued: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/benin-parliament-votes-legalise-abortion-2021-10-21/
Published on October 21, 2021
A year ago – on 22 October 2020 – a Polish Constitutional Court decided
that the provision of abortion in case of foetal malformation was
unconstitutional. While the decision didn’t come into force until 27 January
2021, the change happened immediately. The next day, despite the still-valid
provision of abortion under Poland’s abortion act, the first four people
refused abortion in Polish hospitals called Abortion Without Borders for help.
Over the past 12 months Abortion Without Borders groups have helped 34,000
people from Poland to access abortion. 1080 people were able to terminate their
pregnancy in a foreign clinic in the second trimester. Financial support given
was more than 700,000 zloty/ £129,000/ €153,000.
OCTOBER 21, 2021
AFP
San Salvador — El Salvador's Congress voted on Wednesday to uphold the country's complete abortion ban, ruling against terminations even in exceptional circumstances. Salvadoran law prohibits the procedure in all cases — punishable by up to eight years in prison.
Prosecutors and judges classify some cases of abortion, even involuntary ones, as "aggravated homicide," punishable by up to 50 years in prison.
Continued : https://www.cbsnews.com/news/el-salvador-abortion-ban-upheld-by-congress/
“Poor treatment like this forces some of the women to go for illegal abortions”
21 October 2021
By Mkhuseli Sizani and Hoseya Jubase
Pregnant women are sleeping outside the Mthatha Gateway Clinic in the hope of getting an appointment for an abortion.
On Monday morning at about 5:30am we caught up with some of the women who had slept outside the clinic on pieces of planks and cardboard, in icy weather. Some of the women woke up and relieved themselves next to the wall in full view of everyone. Others tried to warm themselves in the sun.
By The Associated Press
Wed., Oct. 20, 2021
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador’s congress voted yet again Wednesday to uphold the country’s total ban on abortions.
Women’s rights groups had petitioned congress to approve at least exceptions in the case of rape, risk to a woman’s health or life-threatening deformities. But the body voted 73 to 11 to maintain the current law.
By Lovejoy Mutongwiza
Oct 20, 2021
The
COVID-19 pandemic which brought about lockdown restrictions has further
restricted women and girls’ access to safe abortion services in traditionally
marginalized communities in Zimbabwe.
With COVID-19
restrictions, obtaining the necessary appointments and documents to access
health facilities has become a nightmare, especially for women in poor areas
and this has aided the need for most women and girls who fell pregnant,
unintentionally or otherwise, to Nicodemusly seek the termination of
pregnancies.
Continued: https://www.263chat.com/backyard-abortions-zimbabwes-silent-pandemic/
Esther Makula
October 20, 2021
Covid-19 lockdowns have led to a spike in unplanned pregnancies, increasing the risk of unsafe abortions especially among teenage girls, health experts have said.
Data for the first half of 2021 by the District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) showed that 22% of all abortion cases reported during that period were among adolescents aged 10-19.
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