Nepal – Decrminalise abortion: Rights activists

By Ram Kumar Kamat
Mar 18, 2023

Kathmandu – Article 38(2) of the constitution ensures the right of every woman to safe motherhood and reproductive health thereby acknowledging the right to safe abortion as part of reproductive health right, but in practice, women have not been able to enjoy this right, due to criminalisation of abortion and a number of restrictive measures.

Executive Director of Forum for Women, Law and Development Sabin Shrestha said Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights Act, which was brought to enable women to enjoy their reproductive health rights, conversely prohibited abortion after 28 weeks of pregnancy.

Continued: https://thehimalayantimes.com/sports/decrminalise-abortion-rights-activists

18.03.2023

News

Centre for Reproductive Rights

decriminalisation of abortion

Prabhakar Shrestha

Sabin Shrestha

Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights Act

USA – The sole US supplier of a major abortion pill said it would not distribute the drug in 31 states

A list circulated in January by the distributor to Walgreens and CVS underscores the uncertainty surrounding abortion pills in the post-Roe era.

By Rachel M. Cohen
Updated Mar 17, 2023

Earlier this month, Politico broke news that Walgreens, the nation’s second-largest pharmacy chain, assured 21 Republican attorneys general that it would not dispense abortion pills in their states should the company be approved to dispense them. The decision was met with sharp protest by Walgreens customers, abortion rights activists, and Democrats, who accused the pharmacy of caving needlessly to pressure.

But fear of state prosecution is not the only factor shaping Walgreens’ decision-making. Another previously unreported constraint on the company is that its sole supplier of Mifeprex — the brand-name drug for the abortion pill mifepristone first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000 — circulated a list to its corporate clients in January naming 31 states that it would not supply the abortion medication to. Vox spoke with two sources who had reviewed that list recently.

Continued: https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/3/15/23639267/walgreens-abortion-pill-mifepristone-mifeprex-misoprostol

South Africa – TMH now offers reproductive health care, including safe and legal abortion services

The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy guidelines estimated at least 50% of all abortions were still done by informal, illegal and unsafe providers.

March 17, 2023
Fanie Mthupha

Finally, the Tambo Memorial Hospital boasts a Women’s Health Clinic after not having had the service for decades.

The newly opened clinic, to be officially launched today, is located within the institution, and offers, among other things, family planning, choice on termination of pregnancy (CTOP) services and post-termination of pregnancy care services, which include counselling by a psychologist or social worker to ensure clients cope with post-termination issues.

Continued: https://boksburgadvertiser.co.za/464580/tmh-now-offers-reproductive-health-care-including-safe-and-legal-abortion-services/

17.03.2023

News

Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act

Choice on Termination of Pregnancy guidelines

National Health Act

Saving Mothers Report

Tambo Memorial Hospital

Could free birth control be on the horizon in Ontario?

British Columbia will soon fully cover hormone-based contraception — and Ontario advocates are hoping this province will follow suit

Written by Diane Peters
Mar 15, 2023

Several times a month, a client at the SHORE Centre in Kitchener admits they can’t afford to pay for their birth control.

And SHORE’s executive director, TK Pritchard, suspects many more clients have a hard time paying for their birth control. “We know people who are choosing between buying food that week and getting their birth control,” Pritchard says. “Sometimes they tell us; sometimes they don’t.”

Continued: https://www.tvo.org/article/could-free-birth-control-be-on-the-horizon-in-ontario https://www.tvo.org/article/could-free-birth-control-be-on-the-horizon-in-ontario

Polish activist found guilty in abortion case to appeal sentence

Justyna Wydrzynska was convicted on Tuesday, three years after providing a woman with abortion pills.

By Gouri Sharma
Published On 15 Mar 2023

A Polish activist found guilty of facilitating an abortion has told Al Jazeera that she plans to appeal her sentence in a case that is testing the nation’s strict abortion laws.

On Tuesday, a court in the capital, Warsaw, convicted Justyna Wydrzynska three years after she sent the pills to a woman who was reportedly in an abusive relationship. Alongside eight months of community service, she was handed a fine, and will now have a criminal record.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/15/polish-activist-found-guilty-in-abortion-case-to-appeal-sentence

15.03.2023

News

Abortion Dream Team

International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network

Unsafe abortions, major contributor to maternal morbidity and mortality in Ghana – Lecturer

On Mar 14, 2023

Unsafe induced abortions are a significant contributor to maternal morbidity and mortality in Ghana which raises serious public health concerns, Dr Susan Ama Amuasi, a Lecturer at the Central University, has observed.

She said with the growing number of young populations globally and an ever-changing sociocultural environment and circumstances, there was a tendency for unwanted pregnancies and abortions.

Continued: https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2023/03/14/unsafe-abortions-major-contributor-to-maternal-morbidity-and-mortality-in-ghana-lecturer/

14.03.2023

News

Dr Susan Ama Amuasi

Ghana Maternal Health Survey

Polish court convicts activist for helping woman get abortion pills

Justyna Wydrzynska sentenced to community service after telling court she sent pills to victim of domestic violence

Weronika Strzyżyńska and agencies in Warsaw
Tue 14 Mar 2023

A court in Poland has convicted an activist for helping a pregnant woman access abortion pills, sentencing her to eight months of community service in a landmark case over abortion rights in the predominantly Catholic country.

“I do not feel that I am facing the court alone,” said Justyna Wydrzynska at the hearing on Tuesday. “Behind me are my friends and hundreds of women I have not had the luck to meet yet.”

Continued : https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/mar/14/polish-court-convicts-activist-for-helping-woman-get-abortion-pills

Trump-appointed judge limits information on medication abortion lawsuit

The suit could determine whether US women can access abortion drugs, but judge is trying to limit disruptions and protests

Edward Helmore in New York
Mon 13 Mar 2023

A judge in Texas overseeing a lawsuit in which a conservative group is challenging the legality of the abortion drug mifepristone scheduled the first hearing in the case for Wednesday, but directed that court officials not make the timing public until the evening before.

According to sources cited by the Washington Post, Matthew Kacsmaryk, a US district court judge in Amarillo appointed by Donald Trump in 2019, ordered the hearing kept out of the court docket as a way to try to limit disruptions and protests, and also asked that lawyers arguing the case do not disclose information.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/13/federal-judge-limits-information-medication-abortion-lawsuit

13.03.2023

News

Alliance Defending Freedom

Carl Tobias

Danco Laboratories

Food and Drug Administration

Scotland – SNP leadership candidates urged to commit to abortion clinic buffer zones

Concerns that Scotland lagging behind rest of UK as anti-abortion protests continue outside clinics

Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent
Mon 13 Mar 2023

Pro-choice campaigners are urging all Scottish National party leadership candidates to commit to accelerating the imposition of protest-free buffer zones around abortion clinics, as healthcare professionals describe the “remorseless” impact of anti-choice activity on their working lives.

Amid growing concern that Scotland is trailing behind the rest of the UK, after safe access zones passed their final parliamentary hurdle in the Commons last week, there was a protest and counter-protest outside the Sandyford clinic in Glasgow at the weekend. The clinic offers a range of services including abortion, support for sexual assault victims and transgender healthcare.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/13/snp-leadership-candidates-urged-to-commit-to-abortion-clinic-buffer-zones

Three Texas women are sued for wrongful death after allegedly helping friend obtain abortion medication

In the first lawsuit of its kind since Roe v. Wade was overturned, a husband seeks damages from women who allegedly helped his ex-wife obtain the medications to terminate her pregnancy.

BY ELEANOR KLIBANOFF
MARCH 10, 2023

A Texas man is suing three women under the wrongful death statute, alleging that they assisted his ex-wife in terminating her pregnancy, the first such case brought since the state’s near-total ban on abortion last summer.

Marcus Silva is represented by Jonathan Mitchell, the former Texas solicitor general and architect of the state’s prohibition on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, and state Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park. The lawsuit is filed in state court in Galveston County, where Silva lives.

Continued: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/10/texas-abortion-lawsuit/

10.03.2023