AWAC Uganda marks Safe Motherhood Day with call for community-led access to safe abortion

NELSON MANDELA | PML Daily
October 8, 2025

KAMPALA — The Alliance of Women Advocating for Change (AWAC Uganda), a sex work-led organization, has commemorated Safe Motherhood International Day with a passionate call for bodily autonomy, dignity, and community-led access to safe abortion for marginalized women across Uganda.

The commemoration, which is normally held on September 28, was this year marked on October 7 to accommodate AWAC’s grassroots network spread across various districts. The celebrations began in Kasese, continued to Chotera, and concluded at AWAC’s secretariat in Kampala.

Continued: https://pmldaily.com/features/health/2025/10/awac-uganda-marks-safe-motherhood-day-with-call-for-community-led-access-to-safe-abortion.html

Uganda – Why more married women are getting abortions

Thursday, September 25, 2025
By Olivier Mukaaya

When *Agatha got married, she had her life carefully planned. She hoped to have three children by the age of 35, with each pregnancy spaced out to protect her health, career, and family’s wellbeing. A devout Christian, she chose to practice natural family planning. “Families who space their children can meet their needs better. It promotes education and empowers women,” she says, adding, “Spacing pregnancies also keeps mothers safe and reduces health risks.”

Seven months after her last childbirth in 2021, Agatha , a social worker in Bududa District, who is married to a teacher, started using birth control pills. She avoided other family planning methods because of their side effects.

Continued: https://archive.is/https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/why-more-married-women-are-getting-abortions-5205672

25.09.2025

Commentary

Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Uganda

natural family planning

Women petition court to decriminalize abortion in cases of rape, incest, mental illness

The petition cites Uganda’s obligations under the Maputo Protocol and CEDAW, which call on states to respect women’s reproductive rights and ensure access to safe abortion in cases of sexual violence.

Thursday, August 21, 2025
By Juliet Kigongo

Two Muslim women leaders and a faith-based women’s rights organization have petitioned the Constitutional Court seeking a declaration that Uganda’s restrictive abortion laws are unconstitutional for filing to provide exceptions permitted under Islamic jurisprudence and international human rights standards.

Continued: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/muslim-women-petition-court-to-decriminalize-abortion--5162344

21.08.2025

News

CEDAW

Hajira Gimbo

Islamic Women's Initiative for Justice Law and Peace

Maputo Protocol

Masjid Salama

Uganda Constitutional Court

UK, UNFPA launch Shs3b family planning programme in Uganda

Wednesday, July 23, 2025
By KARIM MUYOBO

Residents of Mukono and Wakiso districts are set to benefit from a Shs3 billion (£785,220) family planning initiative funded by the United Kingdom government in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The nine-month program aims to strengthen Uganda’s healthcare system by delivering effective, efficient, equitable, and sustainable family planning services particularly targeting high-burden and hard-to-reach populations.

Continued: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/uk-unfpa-launch-shs3b-family-planning-programme-uganda-5128272

23.07.2025

United Nations Population Fund

Time to rethink Uganda’s abortion laws! Ugandans must end silence around abortion

July 21, 2025
Polyne Nabwire

KAMPALA – Discussions about illegal abortions have been dominant on social media, within various social groups, in offices, and among civil society organisations (CSOs) focused on sexual and reproductive health. The conversations were sparked by a story entitled “Merchants of abortion” published by Daily Monitor on July 7, 2025, that gained significant traction online.

For advocates of reproductive health, this situation was a sobering reminder that these issues cannot be ignored. Many CSOs have since held press conferences to address these concerns and discuss how to prevent illegal abortions and the associated unwanted deaths.

However, we should reflect on why, in this day and age of empowerment, we still face such challenges and consider how we can improve the situation moving forward.

Continued: https://pmldaily.com/oped/2025/07/polyne-nabwire-time-to-rethink-ugandas-abortion-laws-ugandans-must-end-silence-around-abortion.html

21.07.2025

Polyne Nabwire

United Nations Population Fund

Uganda – Health ministry, activists at odds as abortion debate reignites after Monitor story

Monday, July 14, 2025

By SYLVIA NAMAGEMBE

Dr Richard Mugahi, the commissioner for Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health at the Ministry, said health workers who discriminate against women in need of post-abortion care go against the professional code of conduct and will be held accountable.

Continued; https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/health-ministry-activists-at-odds-as-abortion-debate-reignites--5117348

14.07.2025

Uganda – Stop fearing “abortion merchants” and start empowering women

Unsafe abortion is not merely a legal issue; it's tied to gender-based violence, lack of access to healthcare, and gendered power imbalances. A holistic feminist model requires addressing these systemic factors.

Saturday, July 12, 2025
By Penelope Sanyu, Chief Steward FemmeForte

This is an analysis of the “Crack the whip on abortion merchants” editorial from the Daily Monitor of July 8, through the lens of FemmeForte Uganda’s feminist vision. The editorial strongly criticizes so-called “abortion merchants,” calling for enforcement of Uganda’s abortion laws. It frames abortion as criminal and morally reprehensible, pressing police to “crack the whip” on providers. It makes little allowance for nuance, even in cases vulnerable to unsafe abortion such as rape, extreme poverty, or health risks.

Continued: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/oped/letters/stop-fearing-abortion-merchants-and-start-empowering-women-5114836

12.07.2025

Activists decry devastating consequences of unsafe abortions in Uganda

NELSON MANDELA , PML Daily Reporter
July 9, 2025

KAMPALA – The Coalition to Stop Maternal Mortality due to Unsafe Abortion (CSMMUA) have convened a press conference to express deep concern over the alarming rate of maternal deaths and morbidity resulting from unsafe abortions in Uganda. According to a Professor of Law, “The implication of lack of safe abortion procedures is death and morbidity.”

CSMMUA’s concerns were sparked by a recent investigative article published by the Daily Monitor, which highlighted the desperation and danger faced by girls and women in Uganda who resort to unregulated and unsafe means to terminate pregnancies. The article painted a grim reality of the situation, where many women, especially younger ones, are forced to seek unsafe abortion services due to restrictive laws on abortion.

Continued: https://pmldaily.com/news/2025/07/activists-decry-devastating-consequences-of-unsafe-abortions-in-uganda.html

09.07.2025

News

Coalition to Stop Maternal Mortality due to Unsafe Abortion

Uganda – Shadowy brokers fuel unsafe abortion clinics

Monday, July 07, 2025
SYLVIA NAMAGEMBE

Beneath the surface of Uganda’s healthcare system, a growing underground network of abortion brokers is thriving in Kampala, exploiting the country’s restrictive laws and putting the lives of vulnerable women and girls at risk.

These brokers, who operate in the shadows, act as middlemen in connecting clients to unlicensed doctors in small, hidden, and unregulated clinics where unsafe abortions are performed. Article 22 of the 1995 Constitution protects the right to life, and Article 22(2) explicitly declares that the termination of an unborn child is prohibited unless it is legally sanctioned.

Continued: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/shadowy-brokers-fuel-unsafe-abortion-clinics-5108924

07.07.2025

‘A direct attack’: US, European anti-rights groups descend on ‘family values’ events in Africa

Ultra-conservative groups from the US and Europe are attending a “family values” conference in Kenya this week – one of several planned in Africa this year – in what activists are describing as a “direct attack” on LGBT and women’s rights.

17/05/2025
By: Joanna YORK

The Pan-African conference on Family Values began in Nairobi on Monday with a call to wage a “biblical” fight for the family unit from Anne Mbugua, chairperson of event organiser the Africa Christian Professionals Forum.

The conference is one of several planned across Africa this year, backed by wealthy US ultra-Christian groups, including Family Watch International, Christian Council International, the Center for Family and Human Rights, and the Family Policy Institute.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20250517-a-direct-attack-us-european-anti-rights-groups-descend-on-family-values-events-in-africa