India – ‘I am not Neena Gupta, ma’am’: How access to abortion may not ensure acceptance

Sreemoyee Piu Kundu
October 30, 2022

I run a community for urban, single women, the only one of its kind in a country where despite 74.1 million single women who constitute 39% of its female population, our highest ever population of singles – there is widespread social, financial, legal and cultural discrimination against those who do not conform to the conservatively conditioned, gender script that bestows marriage and motherhood with a glorified halo and social security that protects and preserves and promotes patriarchy.

Just two weeks ago and on the heels of the progressive Supreme Court ruling which stated that all women, including, those not married and persons, except cis-gender women, possessed equal rights to abortion – a community member from a tier-one-metro reached out to me with a problem that I do not find unusual anymore.

Continued: https://www.firstpost.com/opinion-news-expert-views-news-analysis-firstpost-viewpoint/i-am-not-neena-gupta-mam-access-to-abortion-does-not-ensure-acceptance-11538101.html

30.10.2022

Commentary

Featured

abortion stigma

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

Indian women gain abortion rights but cost and stigma limit access

Experts say stigma and myths stemming from laws against sex-selective abortion of girls deter many women from having abortions

Thomson Reuters Foundation
24 Oct 2022

A ruling by India's top court that grants unmarried women equal abortion rights could end up being largely symbolic without concerted efforts to tackle persistent barriers to the procedure, reproductive rights campaigners say.

Stigma and myths stemming from laws against sex-selective abortion of girls deter many women, campaigners and experts said, while a lack of affordable and rural facilities are hitting poorer and marginalised groups.

Continued: https://bdnews24.com/the-long-read/q8hug027cu

The Fight for Abortion and Reproductive Justice after Roe

SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER 2022
BY CAMILA VALLE, EMILY JANAKIRAM, HOLLY LEWIS, SHERRY WOLF

Spectre Journal (USA) recently hosted an event for donors about global lessons for the struggle for abortion rights and reproductive justice after the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. The panel included Camila Valle, Sherry Wolf, Emily Janakiram, and Holly Lewis. This is an edited transcript of their speeches and wrap ups after the discussion.

Camila Valle: I know people are probably thinking about what just happened to our right to abortion and reproductive healthcare in the US, which other speakers will go into tonight, but I wanted to start with a historic victory in a different part of the world: that of the Argentinian abortion movement, which won legalization at the end of 2020—and not just legalization, but free abortion as part of their socialized healthcare system.

Continued: https://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article7850

Indian women cautious about Supreme Court’s ‘historic’ abortion ruling

Abortion rights have been extended to unmarried women, but how will this affect women’s lives in reality?

Deepa Parent
12 October 2022

Women who have had abortions in India fear the extension of abortion rights “will do nothing to change the rot in our society”. They say class inequality and prejudice against women still present the biggest barriers to accessing equal reproductive rights in the country.

Their stark warnings contrast with the hopeful note struck by many Indian women and reproductive rights activists, who have called the Supreme Court’s ruling on 29 September “historic” and “progressive”.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/india-abortion-supreme-court-unmarried-women/

When People Don’t Say ‘Abortion’: How News Media Shapes Public Perception

Representation in the media can make or break the fight for safe abortions. Here’s how to do it right.

ANOUSHKA RAJESH
28 Sep 2022

“Where I am from, people don’t even say the word 'abortion'," says Meenakshi Saxena, who works with the Foundation for Reproductive Health Services India. She goes on to explain how instead they use 'MTP' as a verb.

MTP refers to the celebrated Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, the law that protects abortion rights in India.

Continued: https://www.thequint.com/fit/her-health/international-safe-abortion-day-news-media-public-perception-guidelines

Laws Are Not Enough To Ensure Safe Abortion In India, Here’s Why

Despite liberal abortion laws in India, women undertake unsafe abortion routes.

SAUMYA RASTOGI
28 Sep 2022

Abortion has been legal in India for over 50 years because of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act in 1971. A recent amendment to the act in 2021 has allowed women to seek safe abortion services due to contraceptive failure. There has been an increase in the gestation limit to 24 weeks for special categories of women and only a single opinion of a medical provider required for 20 weeks of gestation. These categories include survivors of sexual assault, minors, women whose marital status changes during an ongoing pregnancy, and those with physical and mental disabilities.

Abortion activists argue that the law could be more inclusive in its terminology by changing ‘woman’ with ‘pregnant person’, which extends the rights to not just cisgender women, but also trans people and the entire LGBTQI+ community. More so, in cases of survivors of rape or sexual assault, the gestational limit should have been eliminated as done for foetal anomalies.

Continued: https://www.herzindagi.com/society-culture/reasons-for-unsafe-abortions-india-article-209261

28.09.2022

Commentary

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abortion stigma

Centre for Law and Justice

Dr. Jagriti Varshney

Dr. Sonia Sharma

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

The unspoken truth – Restrictions on abortion care in the Asia-Pacific

KELLY DURRANT AND PHOEBE RYAN
21 September, 2022

The overturning of Roe versus Wade is a huge setback for reproductive rights in the United States, and worldwide. But closer to home, there are many countries in Australia’s Asia-Pacific neighbourhood where access to legal, safe abortion care has never been available.

The US now joins El Salvador, Nicaragua and Poland in becoming the fourth country to roll back access to abortion in the last 25 years, a stark contrast to the more than 60 countries which have liberalised their abortion laws in that same period.

Continued: https://www.fijitimes.com/the-unspoken-truth-restrictions-on-abortion-care-in-the-asia-pacific/

21.09.2022

Unmarried Indian Women Deserve Access To Safe Abortions

SNEHAL MUTHA
August 29, 2022

One of the many ways society polices women’s bodies and sexuality is by creating different hierarchies of medical care that a woman could receive based on whether society approves of her lifestyle or not. For instance, did you know that the upper time limit to seek abortion care is different for married and single women in our country? While this could change legally, soon, it does make us wonder, when will women’s rights stop being subjective to society’s understanding of morality?

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act has to date discriminated between married and unmarried women by limiting the latter’s access to abortion care to a certain limit. The prejudices were in Rule 3B(c) of the MTP Rules, 2003, which allows termination up to 24 weeks for women, who undergo a change of marital status during the pregnancy, but for unmarried women, it is 20 weeks.

Continued: https://www.shethepeople.tv/top-stories/opinion/abortion-care-for-unmarried-women/

29.08.2022

Featured

Opinion

abortion stigma

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

Snehal Mutha

unmarried women and abortion

South Africa – When all else fails: Why people opt for backstreet abortions

Mohale Moloi & Yolanda Mdzeke
8 Jun 2022

Waiting for the bus? Chances are you will see an advert promising “cheap, fast, pain-free abortions”. Browsing through your local paper’s classifieds you might well spot a similar ad there. Going online? The adverts for abortion services frequently pop up there, too.

But these ads are usually not for legitimate abortions despite abortions having been legal in South Africa since 1996.

Continued: https://mg.co.za/health/2022-06-08-when-all-else-fails-why-people-opt-for-backstreet-abortions/

How women are resisting Poland’s abortion ban

By Costanza Spocci
26 May 2022

Warsaw, Poland – On a cold, hazy December morning, the Ryz sisters stand on a sidewalk of a busy street in Warsaw.

“Shall we go to church?” 24-year-old Olympia asks her sister, Melania, grinning and holding up a dozen pink, yellow and grey stickers with the words, “Abortion is OK”, and the hotline numbers and social media profiles of Polish pro-choice organisations.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2022/5/26/how-women-are-resisting-polands-abortion-ban

26.05.2022