India – Illegal Abortion Kits Seized in Bhubaneswar: Major Crackdown Underway

by Itishree Sethy
June 9, 2025

The Odisha Drugs Control Department has launched a crackdown on the illegal sale of abortion kits in the Nayapalli area of Bhubaneswar.

Acting on reports of unauthorised sales, officials raided a medicine store allegedly selling abortion kits without mandatory prescriptions.

A three-member team conducted the raid and recovered multiple abortion kits, including misoprostol, a drug known for its severe side effects if used without medical supervision. Officials warned that misuse of the medication could lead to excessive bleeding, infertility, and other health complications.

Continued: https://pragativadi.com/illegal-abortion-kits-seized-in-bhubaneswar-major-crackdown-underway/

09.06.2025

News

misoprostol

Odisha Drugs Control Department

Taiwan’s Enduring Controversies Over Abortion Laws

June 4, 2025
Hope Ngo

We have quantum theory to thank for “Schröedinger’s Cat,” a thought experiment involving a box that is said to contain a radioactive atom, a container of poison, and a cat. In the experiment, the animal is said to be both alive and dead until the box is opened and the cat’s condition is confirmed one way or the other. Unfortunately, the same can be said of the status of abortion rights in Taiwan—that it is both legal and illegal because the procedure is governed by two very different, contradicting laws. So, while Taiwan has staked out a progressive position regarding LGBTQ+ rights, it cannot say the same about its more complex social attitudes and laws regarding women’s reproductive rights.

In Taiwan, abortion is allowed under specific conditions specified by the Genetic Health Act (優生保健法), but it is penalized under Articles 288, 290, and 292 of the Criminal Code (中華民國刑法). Under the Genetic Health Act, legal abortions can be performed under six conditions. These conditions include:

Continued: https://globaltaiwan.org/2025/06/taiwans-enduring-controversies-over-abortion-laws/

India – Hospitals to not insist on ID proof of rape survivors seeking abortion, says Delhi HC

Delhi HC added that medical protocols must align not only with statutory obligations, but also with compassion, practicality, and understanding.

Jun 02, 2025

The Delhi High Court has asked hospitals in the national capital to refrain from demanding ID proofs of rape survivors seeking termination of their pregnancy on orders of courts.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma also underlined the pressing need for "clear, practical and sensitive" medical protocols for such survivors, particularly minors.

Continued: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/hospitals-shouldn-t-insist-on-id-proof-of-rape-survivors-seeking-abortion-delhi-hc-101748870645674.html

03.06.2025

Experts Gather for Screening and Discussion of New Documentary on Abortion Reform in Nepal

Event in Kathmandu organized by the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Nepal-based Forum for Women, Law and Development.

May 30, 2025

The Center for Reproductive Rights and the Nepal-based Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD) marked the release of a new documentary on Nepal abortion reform by hosting a screening and panel discussion in Kathmandu.

The documentary, Collective Voyage: A Tireless Journey for Ensuring the Right to Safe Abortion in Nepal, showcases Nepal’s remarkable 25-year journey from abortion as a crime to what is now a fundamental, constitutional right.

Continued; https://reproductiverights.org/documentary-launch-abortion-reform-nepal/

30.05.2025

Film, Art, Books

Anubha Rastogi

Center for Reproductive Rights

Clara Rita Padilla

Collective Voyage: A tireless journey for ensuring the right to safe abortion in Nepal

Dr. Gauri Pradhan

Forum for Women Law and Development

The Right to Abortion in Nepal: A Decades-Long Journey

New documentary showcases the progress of abortion from criminalization to a fundamental, constitutional right.

05.29.2025
Center for Reproductive Rights

Two decades ago in Nepal, a woman seeking an abortion would be denied care—and if she managed to obtain care outside the legal medical system, she’d likely be imprisoned. But today, the right to abortion is guaranteed in Nepal’s Constitution and legislation.

How was that progress accomplished?

Find out about the decades-long struggle for legal abortion protections in the new documentary Collective Voyage: A tireless journey for ensuring the right to safe abortion in Nepal. The film showcases how advocates, legal experts, health workers, policymakers, and others worked diligently over a 25-year period to ensure abortion became a fundamental human right for women in Nepal.

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/nepal-documentary-abortion-rights/

29.05.2025

Film, Art, Books

abortion law reform

Center for Reproductive Rights

Collective Voyage: A tireless journey for ensuring the right to safe abortion in Nepal

Forum for Women Law and Development

Nepal – Legal error in women’s rights: criminalization of abortion!

May 27, 2025
Prakash Dhaulakoti

While safe abortion is being established as a reproductive right of women all over the world, in Nepal, the social stigma imposed on women due to abortion has not decreased.

The current law reflecting the patriarchal social thinking and its influence also hinders the rights of women over their own wombs

An 18-year-old girl from Dailekh and a 17-year-old boy from Dolpa, who were studying at Birendranagar in Surkhet, were in a relationship for about one and a half years. Taking precautions, the girl suddenly became pregnant last May.

Continued: https://ekantipur.com/en/News-Folder/2025/05/27/legal-error-in-womens-rights-criminalization-of-abortion-50-16.html

27.05.2025

Commentary

Gauri Pradhan Shrestha

Meera Dhungana

patriarchal abortion law

Prakash Dhaulakoti

Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights Act

Malaysia Punishing Women For Abortion Is Not The Answer

The Galen Centre calls for law reform, after a Melaka court sentenced a 21-year-old woman to jail for self-managed abortion. Abortion has been lawful in Malaysia since 1989 when Section 312 of the Penal Code was amended to allow termination of pregnancy.

By Azrul Mohd Khalib
23 May 2025

The recent nine-month custodial sentence imposed by the Ayer Keroh Magistrate’s Court on a young woman who ended a five-month pregnancy with medication obtained online, highlights the urgent need to modernise laws that continue to criminalise women while failing to address the root causes of unplanned pregnancies.

No woman or girl should face prison for exercising autonomy over her body. Malaysia’s Penal Code still contains provisions dating back from and written in the 19th century. They do not reflect current medical practice, World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, human-rights standards, or the realities faced by women, especially young women, the poor and the unmarried.

Continued: https://codeblue.galencentre.org/2025/05/punishing-women-for-abortion-is-not-the-answer-azrul-mohd-khalib/

India – Gujarat court allows abortion of 33-week pregnancy in 13-year-old rape victim

The Gujarat High Court has allowed the abortion of a 33-week-old foetus of a 13-year-old rape survivor from Rajkot, citing medical risks and the girl's young age.

Brijesh Doshi
May 13, 2025

The Gujarat High Court on Monday allowed the abortion of a 33-week pregnancy of a 13-year-old rape survivor from Rajkot. The decision came nearly a week after a special POCSO court rejected her plea for the same.

The minor became pregnant after being raped multiple times by her neighbour while her mother and stepfather were away at work. A First Information Report was registered at the Rajkot B-Division Police Station on May 3, 2025, under charges of rape and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Continued: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/law-news/story/gujarat-high-court-allows-abortion-eight-months-pregnancy-teenage-girl-rape-victim-2723845-2025-05-13

13.05.2025

News

Gujarat high court

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

Nirzar Desai

POCSO ct

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act

India – Abortion plea by woman held for ‘kidnapping’ 13-yr-old boy: Surat court to hear police’s response today

The teacher was arrested and the boy rescued from Shamlaji, a border area between Gujarat and Rajasthan, on April 29

By: Express News Service
May 12, 2025

The Special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012) court in Surat will on Monday hear the police’s response to the plea filed by a 23-year-woman, who is in jail following her arrest in a kidnapping and POCSO case involving her 13-year-old student, seeking permission to undergo an abortion.

The woman was arrested on April 29 after the boy’s parents filed a kidnapping case against her on April 26.

Continued: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/abortion-plea-by-woman-held-for-kidnapping-13-yr-old-boy-surat-court-to-hear-polices-response-today-9997067/

12.05.2025