Scotland – Revealed: How ‘sinister’ lack of access to surgical abortions puts lives at risk

'They think sending women to England is perfectly reasonable,' say campaigners as lack of abortion care in Scotland drives women south of the border

Greg Barradale
3 Mar 2025

When one 16-year-old girl in Scotland found out she was pregnant at 23 weeks, the “fear and shame” of her situation led her to contemplate suicide. Her family were anti-abortion, so her boyfriend’s mum had to take her to London for treatment at a BPAS clinic.

Another teenager, who discovered she was having a cryptic pregnancy after her contraceptive injection failed, vomited on herself out of shock when told she would have to travel to England to get an abortion. The journey cost her thousands of pounds.

Continued: https://www.bigissue.com/life/health/surgical-abortions-care-scotland-england-women-health/

03.03.2025

British Pregnancy Advisory Service

Abortion in Kazakhstan: Legal but Still Taboo

Feb 22, 2025

Abortion is legal in Kazakhstan, but social stigma makes the decision difficult for many women. They often face pressure from doctors, a lack of understanding from their families, and feelings of guilt reinforced by societal attitudes. What is the reality of reproductive rights in the country, and why does the topic remain so sensitive?

Conversations at the Doctor’s Office
Under Kazakhstani law, women have the right to terminate a pregnancy at their discretion until the twelfth week. After that, abortion is only allowed on medical or social grounds. In practice, however, women frequently encounter judgment – even from medical professionals.

Continued: https://timesca.com/abortion-in-kazakhstan-legal-but-still-taboo/

22.02.2025

Post-abortion peer support provides a safe space for Tasmanians

By Meg Whitfield
Feb 9, 2025

When Abi thinks back to her abortion, she remembers feeling deeply isolated.

"I kind of went through it in secret, and alone," she said. "And when difficult things came up, I had no-one to debrief [with]."

Accessing timely and affordable counselling services was difficult, and did not feel right for her circumstances.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-10/abortion-peer-workers-providing-safe-space-in-tasmania/104719560

09.02.2025

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abortion stigma

abortion support networks

Jo Flanagan

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Women's Health Tasmania

Why Indian Women Struggle To Get Even A Legal Abortion

While Indian policies talk about comprehensive abortion services even at primary health centres, many villages and small towns do not have these facilities, resulting in people resorting to unsafe abortion services

By Menaka Rao
24 Jan, 2025

As a girl growing up in small-town Uttar Pradesh, Pooja wanted to “get ahead in life”. She wanted to be a working woman, earn a comfortable living, and get out of the confines of her village. But her marriage soon after graduation--when she was just 21--paused her plans.

Pooja, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, lives in Azamgarh’s Atraulia block and has two sons, aged seven and 12 years. “I was stuck taking care of two children,” she said. But she managed to study further and finished her Bachelors in Education while her second son was a baby. Now, after working all day, she studies at night for government competitive exams for teacher jobs.

When she found that she was pregnant in December 2023, she was shocked. She always tracks her periods, and uses condoms. This put a break on her career plans.

Continued: https://www.indiaspend.com/gendercheck/why-indian-women-struggle-to-get-even-a-legal-abortion-939548

‘I was crying, there was no anaesthesia’: the fight for legal and safe abortion in Nigeria

In a country where thousands die every year from unsafe procedures, and rape is shockingly high, campaigners must overcome strict laws and religious beliefs, as well as misinformation and stigma

By Kasia Strek in Ota and Lagos
Mon 13 Jan 2025

In a modest house on a red dirt road in Ota in Ogun state, Adijat Adejumo, a 39-year-old auxiliary nurse, runs a small chemist shop. She treats common illnesses such as malaria and colds and sells painkillers, antidiarrhoeal medications and vitamins. For the past few years, she has also been selling packs of mifepristone and misoprostol, medicines included in the WHO essential medicines list to induce abortion safely.

Both medicines are legal in Nigeria, a country with one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates, but only if used to save women’s lives during obstetric complications. Adejumo does not stock them in her shop; instead when a woman comes asking for help to end an unwanted pregnancy, she has them delivered. On average, she gets three such requests a month.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jan/13/abortion-rights-nigeria-sexual-violence-women

German campaigners demand abortion be fully legalized

Femke COLBORNE
Dec 7, 2024

German campaigners are pushing for reform to remove legal hurdles for women seeking an abortion, with emotions running high on the issue as the country heads for early elections.

Under German law, abortion is illegal but tolerated in practice for women who are up to 12 weeks pregnant. However, a woman seeking to terminate a pregnancy must first receive compulsory counselling, followed by a three-day waiting period and many doctors say the process can be complicated as well as traumatic.

Continued: https://www.citizentribune.com/news/national/german-campaigners-demand-abortion-be-fully-legalised/article_6d07dcde-c96d-51b3-bd5a-16aec48b1e65.html

Beatriz v El Salvador: the abortion case that could set a precedent across Latin America

Activists targeted as US-linked hard-right campaigns sow disinformation ahead of inter-American court of human rights ruling on case of woman who was denied abortion in 2013

Sarah Johnson, The Guardian
Mon 2 Dec 2024

Earlier this year, Morena Herrera woke up to find that a video about her had been posted on social media. It claimed that the 64-year-old campaigner for abortion rights in El Salvador had “chased down” a young woman in hospital and “terrorised” her into seeking an abortion.

The young woman was Beatriz, who had been denied an abortion in 2013, even though she was seriously ill and the foetus would not have survived outside the uterus.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/dec/02/el-salvador-antiabortion-international-campaign-disinformation-hate-activists-laws-ban-human-rights

Jordan’s Abortion Conundrum

The country’s strict laws leave women with impossible choices and facing financial struggles, stigma and dangerous procedures

Meghan Davidson Ladly
November 29, 2024

Amal watches her children play on the living room floor of her house on a quiet street in a suburb of Jordan’s capital. As dusk settles over the sloping hills of Amman, she sinks into a sofa and lights a cigarette, adjusting her hijab.

“It is illegal, but you can’t know how I feel,” she says. “I couldn’t think of anything except getting rid of this pregnancy. Even my kids — I couldn’t think of them. And I knew I had to make a decision.”

Continued: https://newlinesmag.com/spotlight/jordan-abortion-conundrum/

Kenya Allows Safe Abortion. So Why Are Women Dying?

Wealth inequalities and a growing conservative backlash are combining to put lives at risk.

Jacqueline Kubania in Kenya
Thursday, 21 November, 2024

When Beryl Mueni first sought an abortion, the supposed doctor she visited gave her two pills for which she paid Kes 500 (3.75 US dollars). It was only after she got home and checked the leaflet that she realised she’d been conned. The pills were Clomid, which ironically is used to stimulate ovulation so women can conceive more easily.

Mueni, only 17 years old at the time, was determined to terminate the five-month pregnancy so she could continue her education. “I went back to him and demanded proper abortion medication,” she recalled. “It was then that he gave me a single dose of misoprostol to place under my tongue. A few hours later, I felt my stomach begin to cramp but that was it. Nothing came out. I resigned myself to my failed abortion and made peace with the fact that I would become a mother.”

Continued: https://iwpr.net/global-voices/kenya-allows-safe-abortion-so-why-are-women-dying

Self-Managed Abortion Saves Lives

Outdated laws and regulations continue to restrict access to abortion drugs like mifepristone and misoprostol around the world, forcing people to turn to unsafe alternatives that result in preventable deaths. To reduce maternal mortality, governments must trust individuals to make their own reproductive choices.

Nov 4, 2024
Andrés Constantin and Katherine Mayall

GENEVA – The World Health Organization estimates that 29 million unsafe abortions take place globally each year, leading to roughly 40,000 preventable deaths. Many of these deaths are the result of dangerous procedures performed in regions where restrictive laws limit or prohibit access to safe, legal abortion care.

Of course, there is a simpler, proven alternative: self-termination of unwanted pregnancies using drugs like mifepristone and misoprostol, which the WHO recognizes as both safe and effective. But legal and policy barriers continue to limit women’s access to these vital options, too. To reduce maternal mortality, governments worldwide must remove these barriers and make self-managed abortion accessible to all.

Continued: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/expanding-access-to-self-managed-abortions-by-andres-constantin-and-katherine-mayall-2024-11