PUBLISHED JANUARY 18, 2024
Global Fund for Women
Deciding how to spend one million dollars may just be a dream for many people, but for a group of West and Central African feminist leaders, it was a reality.
They gathered in person for the first time in the seaside town of Kribi, Cameroon to celebrate a historic moment: together they made collective decisions to direct $1.2 million in grants to fund abortion rights movement work in their communities.
Kparon Baaru
March 28, 2023
Unsafe abortions are one of the causes of female mortality and morbidity worldwide. According to the WHO, estimates of the number of abortions in Africa stand at 6 million. Of this figure, only 3% are done in medicalized and safe conditions for women. Among the victims who eventually succumb or suffer over time from serious infections, cancer of the cervix or sterility, there are a large number of adolescent girls and young women. To remedy this, a few rare African countries are taking the resolution to legalize voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion). Among these, is now added Benin. Is the legalization of abortion the solution to reduce clandestine abortions and a step forward in access to sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) in Benin?
The WHO defines abortion as a simple health intervention that can be managed effectively by a wide range of health workers using drugs or by surgery. Abortion is a subject that we avoid talking about especially in the presence of adolescents and young people in Africa. This neglected point in the debates is an integral part of SRHR. Adolescents and young people do not have access to reliable information related to sexuality and reproduction as they should.
Social and spiritual factors mean that desperate women are still risking their lives by resorting to unsafe terminations
Sarah Johnson
Tue 28 Feb 2023
There is a patient Dr Véronique Tognifode, a gynaecologist, will always remember. About eight years ago, Abosede*, a student, visited her clinic in tears. Pregnant with an unwanted baby, she asked for an abortion, but the law in Benin at that time permitted termination only in cases of rape or incest, or where the mother’s life was at risk or the unborn child had a serious medical condition.
Tognifode counselled her, telling her a baby was a blessing and that she would help her through the pregnancy. Tognifode felt Abosede took all this on board, and “she left in a calmer state, saying she would come back for prenatal appointments”.
The West African nation of Benin adopted one of the continent’s most liberal laws on abortion last year after hearing testimony from gynecologists about women dying from illegal abortions.
By Elian Peltier
Nov. 13, 2022
COTONOU, Benin — When lawmakers in the West African nation of Benin met last year to consider whether to legalize abortion, they heard shocking testimony from Dr. Véronique Tognifode, the country’s minister of social affairs, about what she had seen during her years working as a gynecologist.
She recounted how she and her peers had struggled to save women who had tried to end their pregnancies by ingesting dubious pills or bleach, inserting sharp objects into their bodies or getting illegal abortions from the dangerous hacks known locally as “mechanics.”
Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/13/world/africa/benin-abortions.html
September 27, 2022
Ramatou Ouedraogo, Grace Kimemia, Jonna Both
Safe abortion and post abortion care are essential health services. But until the publication of the 2022 World Health Organization (WHO) abortion care guidelines there was a narrow definition of abortion safety. In previous WHO guidelines, medical safety was the guiding principle of safe abortion. Safety, according the WHO, referred to abortion carried out using the recommended methods, by a person with the necessary skills or in an environment that conformed to minimal medical standards, or both.
However, research shows that many girls and young women do not search for medical safety when seeking abortion care. They prioritise “social safety”. This is the case regardless of whether they live in settings with restrictive or more liberal laws. Women’s priority is avoiding prosecution and social stigma.
28 April 2022
FIGO Advocating for Safe Abortion Project
From 9–11 March 2022, in Cotonou, Benin, FIGO’s Advocating for Safe Abortion Project worked with the National College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Benin (CNGOB) to organise a capacity building workshop for their counterparts visiting from Mali alongside the Youth Health Workers for Safe Abortion (YHW4SA) – a Beninese network of young pro-choice health professionals set-up in 2021 by CNGOB.
The group attending the workshop was made up of 15 members of the YHW4SA network and five members of the Malian Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (SOMAGO).
The aim was to share knowledge and tools on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and on best practice to discuss abortion, in order to enable participants to address abortion stigma and strengthen access to safe abortion in their workplaces and wider communities.
Continued: https://www.figo.org/news/youth-health-workers-benin-share-lessons-srhr-workshop
Poland has virtually banned abortion, and the United States is also looking at tightening restrictions. But other countries, like Thailand and Benin, have started to loosen their restrictive measures. An overview.
29.12.2021
Ines Eisele
Access to abortion has become easier over the decades, according to Leah Hoctor, the senior regional director for Europe at the Center for Reproductive Rights. She said that, with some exceptions, the global trend clearly points at liberalization. Several countries saw developments on the controversial issue over the last year.
Mexico: Penalizing abortion ruled unconstitutional
In September, the Supreme Court in Mexico, Latin America's second most populous country, declared an absolute ban on abortion unconstitutional. The right of women to reproductive self-determination is to be valued more highly than the protection of the fetus, the court said. With the ruling, the judges overturned an abortion ban in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila.
Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/2021-changes-in-abortion-laws-worldwide/a-60280568
10 December 2021
FIGO Advocating for Safe Abortion Project
For International Safe Abortion Day (ISAD), marked on 28 September, the 10 national member societies FIGO supports through its Advocating for Safe Abortion Project developed educational activities and awareness-raising campaigns in their countries and communities.
“International Safe Abortion Day is about making what is often ignored – the preventable pandemic of unsafe abortions - visible. As a committed health care community we come together to demonstrate what solutions must be implemented. Together with our partners, we raise our voices to dismantle abortion-related stigma which is the enemy of women/girls’ right to claim access to safe abortion – time-sensitive essential health care. This year from Latin America to Africa we are proud to share the efforts of our OBGYN member societies, and all that they are doing to stand up for women/girls’ health care and human rights.”
– Jessica Morris, Senior Project Manager, Advocating for Safe Abortion Project, FIGO
Continued: https://www.figo.org/news/looking-back-successes-international-safe-abortion-day-2021
10 NOVEMBER 2021
By Katrin Gänsler, Deutsche Welle (Bonn)
Benin's parliament has voted to legalize abortion in most cases, becoming one of only a handful of African countries to do so.
Claudia can still remember when her mother forbade her from ever considering an abortion. She was a 16-year-old school student in Cotonou, Benin's economic hub.
"She said: 'If you get pregnant, you have to have the child'. She would never have allowed me to get an abortion," Claudia, who is now 28, told DW.
November 7, 2021
Ramatou Ouedraogo
Benin’s parliament has voted to legalise abortion in most circumstances. This is a groundbreaking move by the west African country given that 92% of women of reproductive age on the continent live in countries which have restrictions – some moderate, some severe – on abortions. Moina Spooner, from The Conversation Africa, asked reproductive health expert, Ramatou Ouedraogo, to unpack the significance of this ruling.
What does Benin’s new abortion law say?
Benin’s new abortion law, which amends a previous one, now states that:
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