The Cost of Legalizing Abortion in Haiti

Legalization may occur in June 2024, but advocates say the new penal code would undermine any actual progress if enacted unconstitutionally.

ALMA BEAUVAIS
Aug 8, 2023

Katiana Pierre was about four months pregnant when she discovered that she was expecting. The 24-year-old mother of three said that when her belly started to show, the lady providing her and her children with shelter in exchange for labor kicked them out. The pregnancy meant too many mouths to feed.

A few months earlier, on July 8, 2022, gang members fatally shot Katiana’s husband as the family tried to escape a territory war that erupted in Cite Soleil, a highly impoverished commune in Haiti controlled by armed criminals. The same men then tortured and sexually assaulted Katiana in front of her kids. Two months later, Katiana was yet again sexually assaulted as she roamed the streets begging for money to feed her children.

Continued: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/abortion-in-haiti-challenges/

Reclaiming Safe Abortion Access in Haiti

Haitian feminists are battling centuries of patriarchal norms in their fight for abortion rights using creative means including underground networks, political activism, and art.

BY JADE PRÉVOST-MANUEL
MAR 30, 2023

Don’t move. Those were the only words from the doctor who performed Samora Chalmers’ first abortion 15 years ago in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, during her 30-minute appointment.

Chalmers can’t tell you the details of the procedure she underwent. The doctor never told her. All she remembers is being alone with a stranger and feeling terrible pain, which anesthesia did little to numb. Three days later, she had lost so much blood that she had to see another doctor—but couldn’t tell him why because of Haiti’s strict anti-abortion laws.

Continued: https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2023/03/30/abortion-rights-haiti

End of US ‘global gag rule’ raises hopes for women’s healthcare at crucial time

‘The gag rule has had a trickle down impact by affecting access to other lifesaving services.’

28 January 2021
Claire Porter Robbins

When the Trump administration reinstated the “global gag rule” in 2017, the
International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) lost some $100 million in funding in the following years, impacting a spectrum of healthcare projects in 32 countries and going well beyond the intended goal of preventing abortions.

A health clinic in Haiti’s southern coastal town of Jacmel was one of the first casualties.

Continued: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2021/1/28/global-gag-rule-abortion-access-biden-mexico-city-policy-haiti-namibia

Canada’s leadership on family planning

Canada’s leadership on family planning

From: Global Affairs Canada
November 14, 2018
Backgrounder

Canada’s announcement of up to $104.4 million at the International Conference on Family Planning in Kigali, Rwanda, will support family planning, advocacy and the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), while improving access to safe and legal abortion. All projects will also ensure the integration of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) into countries’ health systems.

This investment is part of Canada’s $650-million comprehensive approach to address gaps in funding for SRHR.

Continued: https://www.miragenews.com/canada-s-leadership-on-family-planning/

Latin America’s fight to legalise abortion: the key battlegrounds

Latin America's fight to legalise abortion: the key battlegrounds
After Argentina rejected a bill to allow abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, hopes of reform now rest elsewhere

Annie Kelly
Thu 9 Aug 2018

An estimated 6.5 million abortions take place across Latin America each year. Three-quarters of these procedures are unlawful, often performed in unsafe illegal clinics or at home.

Of 33 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, only Cuba, Uruguay and Guyana permit elective abortions. Women also have the right to choose in Mexico City. Elsewhere, however, the right to an abortion is severely restricted, with terminations often permitted in cases of rape, or if the pregnancy will endanger the life of the mother. Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Suriname all have a complete ban on abortion.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/aug/09/latin-america-fight-to-legalise-abortion-argentina-brazil-chile-venezuela-uruguay-colombia-el-salvador-peru

Latin America lagging behind on women’s rights

Latin America lagging behind on women’s rights

By Hugo Sánchez and Julia R. Arévalo
euroefe.es | translated by Freya Kirk
Feb 19, 2018

Imprisoned for having an abortion, forced to keep a child born out of rape, pushed to commit suicide: women still pay a heavy price in Latin America, where several countries’ legislation greatly restricts abortion. EURACTIV’s partner Euroefe reports.

Women’s rights in South America were the main issue during a conference before the 10th Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EUROLAT), held last September in El Salvador. El Salvador is now ranked as the most violent country in the world, mainly due to gang activities.

Continued: https://www.euractiv.com/section/development-policy/news/latin-america-lagging-behind-on-womens-rights/

Major Victory for Women in Dominican Republic as Law Criminalizing Abortion Gets Stalled

Major Victory for Women in Dominican Republic as Law Criminalizing Abortion Gets Stalled

Published 11 July 2017

Opening avenues for discussion over decriminalizing abortion, the Dominican Republic Chamber of Deputies ruled against a new Penal Code on Tuesday that would have prohibited abortion under any circumstances.

"This historic event marks a milestone for those who defend the right to autonomy," Colectiva Mujer y Salud, a non-profit organization, said in a statement at the end of the Lower House vote.

Hours before the meeting, members of the human rights organizations and women health collectives held a demonstration outside the Congress.

Continued at source: Telesurtv: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Major-Victory-for-Women-in-Dominican-Republic-as-Law-Criminalizing-Abortion-Gets-Stalled-20170711-0032.html

11.07.2017

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Trump Thinks This Is Pro-Life?

Trump Thinks This Is Pro-Life?

Some Haitians had never been examined by a doctor or nurse before this one-day clinic. It was supported by a United Nations agency that is now losing all U.S. funds.

Nicholas Kristof / The New York Times
April 22, 2017

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — When President Trump and his (male) aides sit at a conference table deciding to cut off money to women’s health programs abroad, they call it a “pro-life” move.

Yet here in Haiti, I’ll tell you the result: Impoverished women suffer ghastly injuries and excruciating deaths. Washington’s new women’s health policies should be called “pro-death.”

Continued at source: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/22/opinion/sunday/trump-thinks-this-is-pro-life.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad&referer