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.
SEP 28, 2020
CLAIRE PADILLA
The restrictive, colonial, and archaic 1930 Revised Penal Code abortion law has never reduced the number of women inducing abortion. It has only endangered the lives of hundreds of thousands of Filipino women who have made personal decisions to induce abortion for various reasons (economic - 75%; too young, under 25 years old - 46%; health reasons - one-third; rape - 13%) but are unable to access safe abortion services.
No restrictive law nor religious dogma has stopped these Filipino women, especially poor women with at least 3 children, to end their unintended or unwanted pregnancies.
Continued: https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/opinion-why-we-need-decriminalize-abortion
September 28, 2020
Vinoj and Anisha in Voices
The whole world except for the woman
continues to debate the politics of abortion, the legality and morality of
abortion. Let us pause and think about the woman who deserves a respectful
termination if she chooses not to continue her pregnancy.
Even after 15 years of working in this field, we often find it difficult to
explain the need for what we do. We work to reduce deaths and disabilities due
to unsafe abortions; in other words, we work to increase access to safe
abortions. But the word abortion and its associations are so loaded that it is
assumed that indeed all those who die or suffer morbidities due to an unsafe
abortion deserve them. Isn’t it a sin to have sex outside of marriage or to not
want a child in marriage? It is these opinions and many more that push millions
of women in India every year to resort to unsafe methods of abortions.
Continued: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/why-is-the-woman-missing-from-the-abortion-debate/
News Desk, The Jakarta Post
Thu, September 24, 2020
The Jakarta Police is set to block websites that offer illegal abortion services and products over public health and safety concerns.
Jakarta Police’s special crimes unit head Sr. Comr. Roma Hutajulu told tempo.co on Thursday that his office had discovered a number of websites containing contact details of several illegal abortion clinics across the capital. In addition to abortion services, such clinics also offer drugs to induce miscarriage, according to him.
Tue, Sep 22 2020
New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS): High Courts across the nation are currently witnessing a substantial increase in abortion cases, revealed a legal report on Tuesday.
In 'Assessing the Judiciary's Role in Access to Safe Abortion- II' report by Pratigya campaign, cases seeking permission of termination of pregnancy from the High Courts in India from May 2019 to August were analysed.
There were total 243 cases filed across 14
high courts and one appeal before the Supreme Court. In 84 per cent of the
cases, permissions were given to terminate the pregnancy.
Continued: http://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay.aspx?newsID=753667
V S Chandrashekar
Sep 19 2020
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Amendment Bill 2020 is due to be discussed in an upcoming Rajya Sabha session. This is the second time, in its 49 years of existence, that the MTP Act will be amended. While introducing the Bill in the Lok Sabha, the Health Minister highlighted the government’s intent to improve access to safe, affordable and legal abortion services for women without compromising on safety, quality of care and more importantly to ensure dignity, autonomy, confidentiality and justice for women who need to terminate their pregnancies.
The Amendment Bill proposes some welcome changes-- it replaces the phrase “married woman and her husband” with “woman and her partner”; increases the upper gestation limit to 20-24 weeks for “certain categories of women”; reduces opinion required for termination of pregnancy between the 12th and 20th week of gestation from two providers to one and removes upper gestation limit for foetal abnormalities ‘necessitated by the diagnosis of a Medical Board.”
Continued: https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/in-perspective/for-a-more-progressive-abortion-law-889672.html
Published: September 16, 2020
DR TULA KRISHNA GUPTA
In February this year, a 20-year-old unmarried woman was brought to our emergency ward with abdominal pain and rash on her legs and lower abdomen. Her blood pressure was almost unrecordable. It was clear from her appearance that she suffered from disseminated intravascular coagulation, a complication of severe infection. The rashes on her body were, in fact, bleeding underneath her skin.
While examining her it was found that her genital area had many old infected lacerated wounds. The smell of pus was evident despite our N95 masks. An ultrasound test revealed the retained product of conception inside her uterus. These are the tell-tale signs of septic abortion.
Continued: https://thehimalayantimes.com/opinion/for-safe-abortion-practices/
Ground reality reveals deep rooted patriarchy that has taken hold of both formal state institutions and informal ones
Benazir Jatoi
September 11, 2020
One would think it is simple — one’s body
belongs to oneself. The reality is that a woman’s body does not belong entirely
to her. It belongs to the state, family, religious institutions and ideology.
Globally, controlling a woman’s body is one of the tools used to maintain the
deeply entrenched patriarchal status quo. For centuries, this is how it has
been regardless of the advancement societies make. That simple idea then that a
woman’s body belongs to her is in fact really, even in this day and age, a
radical one.
Continued: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2263585/that-radical-idea-a-womans-body-belongs-to-her
Federation of Reproductive Health Associations Malaysia
Published 9 Sep 2020
LETTER | We, leaders and representatives of civil society organisations, professional societies, scientific associations, faith-based organisations, government agencies and departments, private for-profit entities, non-governmental, non-profit organisations, and citizens of Malaysia, are united to reduce unintended adolescent pregnancies in Malaysia.
We desire a society where every person below 18 years of age enjoys health and well-being, is treated with love and respect, and is capable of realising their fullest potential. However, we are concerned with the reported rising rate of unprotected adolescent sexual activity, of which the health and social impacts include unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortion or miscarriages, disrupted education, child marriage, social stigma, and further victimisation.
Continued: https://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/542003
After decades of advocacy, it took the Lok Sabha only 15 days—without adequate consultation with those involved—to clear amendments to India’s abortion laws. Instead of making abortion easier for women who need it, such as rape survivors, the changes only make it more difficult.
Sept 6, 2020
SWETA DASH
New Delhi: In 2019, a 13-year-old rape survivor in Madhya Pradesh found out she was pregnant and in her 24th week. With the help of Nikita Sonawane, a lawyer associated with the Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project (CPAProject), an advocacy, she approached the High Court in June 2019. The court allowed her to go ahead with the termination of pregnancy—but only six weeks later, by which time she already reached her 30th week.
“The doctors had to induce delivery. She was in labour for 24 hours,” said Sonawane. Her lawyers pleaded for mental-health support but the biggest government hospital in Madhya Pradesh did not have a child psychologist. "Finally, a psychiatrist was arranged, said Sonavane. "It was an immensely harrowing experience for her.”
Continued: https://www.article-14.com/post/why-changes-to-india-s-50-year-old-abortion-law-fail-its-women
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