Kenya – Pharmacist Charged In Mombasa For Alleged Induced Abortion Of 15-Year-Old Girl

By BRUHAN MAKONG
Jun 7, 2023

NAIROBI, Kenya - A pharmacist has been charged before a Mombasa court for allegedly conducting an induced abortion on a 15-year-old girl who had conceived through defilement.

Mombasa Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku heard that Amos Nzioki committed the offence on 3 June 2023 at his private chemist in Tudor.

Continued: https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2023/06/pharmacist-charged-in-mombasa-for-alleged-induced-abortion-of-15-year-old-girl/


Malawi – 3000 girls, women in unsafe abortion in Blantyre, 4 die

May 31, 2023
Naomi Mkwanda

Officials from Blantyre District Health office say over 3000 girls and women carried out unsafe abortions in Blantyre in the year 2022, leading to four deaths, renewing calls for legalisation of abortion in the country.

The Blantyre Health Office says the figures are representing the number of women who have gone for post abortion care in the city.

Continued: https://www.nyasatimes.com/3000-girls-women-in-unsafe-abortions-in-blantyre-4-die/


Namibia: Will the 1975 abortion legislation be amended?

By Africanews and AFP
May 29, 2023

When Alejandra Angula discovered she was pregnant, she panicked. She had not unplanned the pregnancy. Dismayed at the lack of options in her home country, Angula flew to neighbouring South Africa and booked into an abortion clinic in Cape Town.

"I was more scared of having a baby and being forced into parenthood than of the procedure," said the 29-year-old IT worker, who asked for her name to be changed for the purposes of this article.

Continued: https://www.africanews.com/2023/05/29/namibia-will-the-1975-abortion-legislation-be-amended/


Kenya – Doctors take stand on abortion rights for the survivors of rape

By Gardy Chacha
May 23, 2023

It is important that victims of rape and defilement – who consequently fall pregnant – are accorded medical abortion care by medical practitioners, when and if they make such a request.

This is the position of the Kenya Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society (Kogs) – an organisation of about 500 Kenyan doctors specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology.

Continued: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/reproductive-health/article/2001473463/doctors-take-stand-on-abortion-rights-for-the-survivors-of-rape


Ghana – 6,000 Adolescents In Volta Region Pregnant – Stakeholders Urged To Address Trend

20-May-2023

According to Ghana Statistical Service data from the 2021 Population and Housing Census, about 79,733 girls in Ghana aged 12 to 17 have been in a union, either married or living together with a man. Out of this number, 25,999 are girls of junior high school-going age (12 to 14 years).

In the Volta Region, it states that one out of four girls are married or are in a union before 18 years. According to the GHS District Health Information Management System (DHIMS), over 6,000 girls got pregnant between 2020 and 2021 alone.

Continued: https://www.peacefmonline.com/pages/local/news/202305/487762.php


Ghana – Students opt for unsafe abortions despite legal services

Francis Kokutse 
17 May 2023

Despite the liberal nature of Ghana’s abortion laws, the prevalence of unsafe abortion is still high among female undergraduates, a group of researchers at the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Hohoe has said.

The researchers said most undergraduate students resort to unsafe termination of pregnancy whenever they get pregnant, even more than once. The researchers pointed out that “the high prevalence of unsafe abortion among university undergraduates is particularly troubling, as it may also imply that more of the students engage in unprotected and unsafe sex”.

Continued: https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20230514174120500


New study further highlights need to prioritize reproductive health care in fragile and conflict-afflicted settings

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2023
Ipas

Research on abortion complications in crisis settings has been limited to date, but a multi-year study by Ipas and partners is filling that gap—with initial findings pointing to the need to prioritize programs improving postabortion, safe abortion and contraceptive care for people living in fragile and conflict-affected settings.

Known as the AMoCO (abortion-related morbidity and mortality in fragile and conflict-affected settings) study, the research is being carried out by Ipas, Médecins Sans Frontières, the Guttmacher Institute and Epicentre, in partnership with the Ministries of Health in Jigawa State, Nigeria, and the Central African Republic.

Continued: https://www.ipas.org/news/new-study-further-highlights-need-to-prioritize-reproductive-health-care-in-fragile-and-conflict-afflicted-settings/


Uganda – Three medics arrested over abortion in Bukedea

Friday, May 12, 2023
By YAHUDU KITUNZI

Police in Bukedea District have arrested a doctor and two nurses for allegedly assisting a 16-year-old pupil to abort her three-month pregnancy.

The suspects attached to Ebenezer Health Center in Bukedea District reportedly carried out the abortion on April 30, 2023, when the victim whose names have been withheld because she is minor went to their clinic. 

Continued: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/three-medics-arrested-over-abortion-in-bukedea-4232392


Liberia: “Decriminalize Abortion to Reduce Death among Women,” Activists Say

“Many girls and women have died on a daily basis because they cannot access safe and legal abortion,” says  Naomi Tulay-Solanke, the chairperson of the group, Amplifying Rights Network.

05/10/2023
TINA S. MEHNPAINE

Abortion rights activists are calling on the government to decriminalize abortion to ensure that Liberian women have control over their own bodies and reproductive health.

The call by Amplifying Rights Network, a coalition of ten civil society organizations in the field of sexual reproductive health and rights, comes as they claim growing public support for abortion legalization in Liberia.

Continued: https://www.liberianobserver.com/liberia-decriminalize-abortion-reduce-death-among-women-activists-say


Doctors In Cameroon Want Law on Abortion Changed

Unsafe abortions are responsible for 30 percent of maternal deaths in Cameroon. Medics in the country believe the law is a health problem and are leading advocacy for better legal responses to eligible abortion cases.

Brenda Kiven
May 9, 2023

Enah almost died at 15 when she attempted an abortion at home. She was five months gone when she was advised by a friend to use cassava roots to terminate her pregnancy.

After her mom passed away in Muyuka, Southwest Cameroon, Enah’s elder sister moved to the nation’s capital, Yaoundé, with her husband.

Continued: https://humanglemedia.com/doctors-in-cameroon-want-law-on-abortion-changed/