Edinburgh students launch campaign to ban protesters outside abortion clinics

Edinburgh University students have launched a new campaign to ban protesters gathering outside city abortion clinics.

By Jolene Campbell
Monday, 16th November 2020

The campaign ‘Back Off Chalmers’ is calling for buffer zones to be set up to stop pro-life groups targeting women who going for treatment at the Chalmers Sexual Health Centre.

After services start up again after lockdown, campaigners say visitors to the Centre have been targeted by groups who pray outside the clinics, give out leaflets and approach women entering the clinic. Students who have set up the new anti-harassment campaign say the protests intimidates women.

Continued: https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/health/edinburgh-students-launch-campaign-ban-protesters-outside-abortion-clinics-3036422

16.11.2020

40 days for life

anti-choice harassment

anti-choice protesters

Back Off Chalmers

buffer zones

Chalmers Sexual Health Centre

Polish police carry away abortion rights protesters

Police in Poland have carried off protesters blocking a street in Warsaw on the 19th straight day of nationwide anti-government protests that were triggered by the tightening of the predominantly Roman Catholic nation's abortion law

By The Associated Press
9 November 2020

WARSAW, Poland -- Police carried off protesters blocking a street in Poland's capital Monday, the 19th straight day of nationwide anti-government protests that were triggered by the tightening of the predominantly Roman Catholic nation’s abortion law.

The protesters were sitting down in the street in Warsaw in front of the Education Ministry to demand the firing of the new minister who has made some statements on education and human rights that have angered many people. A few hundred protesters then marched in downtown Warsaw to drumming, blocking streets, and chanted that the right-wing government's policies have made them very angry.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/polish-police-carry-abortion-rights-protesters-74115416

09.11.2020

abortion protests during lockdown

anti-government protests

arrest of pro-choice activists

Vietnam promotes reproductive health care for adolescents, youths

Providing young people with knowledge about sexual and reproductive health combined with life skills education is a necessary and urgent issue, a top health official has said.

VNA Wednesday, November 04, 2020

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Providing young people with knowledge about sexual and reproductive health combined with life skills education is a necessary and urgent issue, a top health official has said.

Many Vietnamese youths have limited knowledge of sexual intercourse or pregnancy, Nguyen Duc Vinh, director of the Department of Maternal and Child Health, Ministry of Health, said at a recent workshop on sexual and reproductive health for adolescents and youth in Hanoi. The recent national survey on sexual and reproductive health by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Vietnam and the Ministry of Health showed 15 percent adolescents and young people have premarital sex before marriage.

Continued: https://en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnam-promotes-reproductive-health-care-for-adolescents-youths/189813.vnp

04.11.2020

sexual and reproductive health

UNFPA

United Nations Population Fund

Kenyan charities urge gov’t to quit U.S.-led anti-abortion pact

Nita Bhalla, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Nov 03, 2020

NAIROBI, Nov 3 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) –
An alliance of Kenyan charities urged the government on Tuesday to withdraw
from a U.S.-led international accord that critics say aims to limit abortion
access for millions of women and girls around the world.

Thirty-three nations, including Kenya, signed the Geneva Consensus Declaration
(GCD) – which was co-sponsored by the United States, Brazil, Uganda, Egypt,
Hungary and Indonesia – on Oct. 22.

Continued: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/kenyan-charities-urge-govt-to-quit-u-s-led-anti-abortion-pact

Poland Court Ruling Effectively Bans Legal Abortions

The decision, which cannot be appealed, halts pregnancy terminations for fetal abnormalities, virtually the only type currently performed in the country.

By Monika Pronczuk
Oct. 22, 2020

A constitutional tribunal in Poland ruled on Thursday that abortions for fetal abnormalities violate the country’s Constitution, effectively imposing a near-total ban in a nation that already had some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe.

The debate over a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy, a divisive issue in a staunchly Roman Catholic country, mirrors the bitter polarization of a society caught between traditional religious values and more liberal ones.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/world/europe/poland-tribunal-abortions.html

Finland – 50K signatures for citizens’ initiative on abortion law reform

Current laws are from 1970 and require two doctors' testimonials before a woman can terminate a pregnancy.

18.10.2020

A citizens’ initiative to bring Finland’s abortion laws into the 21st century has gathered more than 50,000 signatures from supporters, compelling lawmakers to consider the changes it proposes.

The legislative proposal seeks to do away with the requirement for a woman to get clearance from two doctors before she can have an abortion. According to the Feminist Association Unioni, the main sponsor of the initiative, medicalising abortion places an unwarranted burden on the healthcare system. It also unnecessarily prolongs the process, since the majority of terminations no longer require hospital procedures.

Continued: https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/50k_signatures_for_citizens_initiative_on_abortion_law_reform/11600889

18.10.2020

abortion law reform

Amnesty International Finland

citizens' initiative

Family Federation of Finland

Feminist Association Unioni

Finnish League for Human Rights

Where Does Kamala Harris Stand on Abortion and Reproductive Rights?

Breaking down the VP nominee's policy.

BY ERICA GONZALES
OCT 7 2020

As Election Day inches nearer, eyes aren't just on the presidential nominees, they're on the vice president picks too. And as a history-making vice presidential candidate on the ballot, Kamala Harris is especially in the spotlight—and so are her policies. Here, we look into the Democratic senator's stance on abortion access and reproductive rights, major issues that may be on voters' minds in light of President Donald Trump's latest Supreme Court nominee.

In 2019, as a Democratic nominee for president, Senator Harris shared her plan to protect abortion access, which was modeled after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, according to Politico. In it, she proposed that states that tend to restrict abortion would have to obtain preclearance by the Department of Justice before enforcing laws affecting access to the procedure.

Continued: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a34284404/kamala-harris-stance-on-abortion/

07.10.2020

Brett Kavanaugh

Donald Trump

EACH Woman Act

Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act

Hyde Amendment

Kamala Harris

Mike Pence

Naral Pro-Choice America

Planned Parenthood

Roe v. Wade

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Women’s Health Protection Act

‘May You Be The Mother Of Many Sons…’

Monday, 5 October 2020
Shobha Shukla

...so goes an old common blessing given to an Indian bride, talks of gender equality notwithstanding. While the small family norm slogan of 'hum do, hamare do' (we two, ours two) has rubbed in well the penchant for begetting at least one son has not waned.

Many modern Indian women find their womanhood incomplete without begetting a son. I know of several highly educated and professionally qualified young Indian women who heaved a sigh of relief and smug satisfaction on having a boy as their first or second born. A complete Indian family is envisaged as one with two kids- at least one of who ought be a son.

Continued: https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO2010/S00031/may-you-be-the-mother-of-many-sons.htm

Insights into how the US abortion gag rule affects health services in Kenya

September 30, 2020
Boniface Ushie, Sara E Casey, Terry McGovern

The Mexico City Policy – often referred to as the “Global Gag Rule” – is a US government policy that requires non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are not based in the US and that receive US global health assistance to certify that they will not provide, refer for, counsel on, or advocate for abortion as a method of family planning. The rule also applies to any non-US funding that the organisation may receive.

The policy was rescinded by President Obama in 2009 but then reinstated and expanded by President Trump in 2017. While prior iterations applied only to family planning assistance (US$575 million in 2016), Trump’s new version extends the restrictions to nearly all US global health assistance – an estimated US$9.5 billion – which includes funding for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and maternal and child health. For example, it now means that an organisation that provides HIV care and treatment with US funding may not also provide safe abortion.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/insights-into-how-the-us-abortion-gag-rule-affects-health-services-in-kenya-145777

Indonesia – Safe abortion crucial for women’s reproductive health

STEVIE EMILIA, THE JAKARTA POST
Jakarta / Tue, September 29, 2020

Abortion – safe or unsafe, legal or illegal – has existed throughout history. Yet, it continues to be the most sensitive and controversial issue in reproductive health.

The WHO has disclosed that an average of 73.3 million – safe and unsafe – abortions took place worldwide per year between 2015 and 2019, with the rate of abortions being higher in developing regions than in developed ones.

Continued: https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2020/09/29/safe-abortion-crucial-for-womens-reproductive-health.html