Everyone should be ‘pro-abortion’ when the patient is a child, UBC scholars argue

When a child becomes pregnant, treating her as an adult overlooks potential medical harms and ethical duties involved. UBC scholars argue that a child’s best interests make abortion the appropriate standard of care.

Erik Rolfsen
Mar 11, 2026

When the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the constitutional right to abortion care in 2022, several states enacted abortion bans. That legal shift raised a question that has received little focused attention: What do physicians, judges and parents owe to an impregnated child?

University of B.C. philosophy professor Dr. Kimberley Brownlee (KB) and co-author Alyssa Izatt (AI), a PhD candidate in philosophy, answer that question unequivocally in their forthcoming paper in Ethics.

Continued: https://news.ubc.ca/2026/03/everyone-should-be-pro-abortion-when-the-patient-is-a-child-ubc-scholars-argue/

11.03.2026

Research

adolescent pregnancy

adolescents and abortion

Alyssa Izatt

children having abortions

Dr. Kimberley Brownlee

everyone should be pro-abortion

minors and abortion

teenagers and abortion

Canada

Global

United States

Why teenage pregnancy is on the rise in Nigeria – Expert

May 21, 2025
Vanguard

Mrs Roseline Akinlabi, Adolescent Desk Officer, Osun Primary Health Care Board, says that child marriage and peer pressure are some factors responsible for increase in teenage pregnancy in the country.

Akinlabi said this during an enlightenment programme organised by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), The Challenge Initiative (TCI), on Wednesday in Osogbo.

Continued: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/05/why-teenage-pregnancy-is-on-the-rise-in-nigeria-expert/

21.05.2025

adolescent pregnancy

child marriage

Ouson Primary Health Care Board

Roseline Akinlabi

The Challenge Initiative

UNICEF

United Nations Children’s Fund

Right wing policies threaten gender equality and health security

Young people call for all sexual and reproductive health services including safe abortion rights

SHOBHA SHUKLA – CNS
08 Feb 2025

Donald Trump’s presidency is likely to have far-reaching consequences for sexual and reproductive health, bodily autonomy and human rights worldwide. He has already withdrawn USA’s financial support to the UN health agency World Health Organization (WHO), and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will no longer share its invaluable expertise with the WHO.

Also all ongoing (as well as future) projects funded by US Agency for International Development (USAID) have been put on immediate hold. Many of these are lifesaving health programmes, including those directly related to sexual and reproductive health services.

Continued: https://kashmirtimes.com/opinion/comment-articles/right-wing-policies-threaten-gender-equality-and-health-security

Philippines – WGNRR calls for urgent passage of prevention of adolescent pregnancy bill

January 20, 2025

The Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) and partners stand in strong solidarity with advocates, civil society organizations, stakeholders, and policymakers in the Philippines in supporting the passage of Senate Bill No. 1979, also known as the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Bill (PAP Bill).

We are deeply concerned that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has announced his intention to veto Senate Bill 1979 in ‘its current form,’ just days after emphasizing that ‘the teaching of sex education in our schools is very, very, very important.’ This contradiction to his position is disheartening, especially given the severity of the adolescent pregnancy crisis in the Philippines. Moreover, it is alarming that his decision seems to have been influenced by the spread of misinformation and disinformation about the bill.

Continued: https://wgnrr.org/wgnrr-calls-for-urgent-passage-of-prevention-of-adolescent-pregnancy-bill/

Childhood cut short: Three stories of adolescent pregnancy from Paraguay

28 November 2023
UNFPA

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay – No one seemed to mind when Noelia* got a boyfriend. Nobody in her family said a word, even though her boyfriend was 18 years old and she was just 13.

When Noelia went to see the cardiologist who had cared for her since birth through the public health service, the doctor explained the risk of pregnancy to her, but not how to prevent it. Although her mother accompanied her to medical appointments and knew about her daughter’s relationship, she did not express any concerns. Nor did anyone at school explain sexual abuse or birth control methods to her.

Soon, Noelia stopped going to school. Then she stopped going to the health service. She was pregnant.

Continued: https://www.unfpa.org/news/childhood-cut-short-three-stories-adolescent-pregnancy-paraguay

28.11.2023

Commentary

adolescent pregnancy

Dr. Natalia Kanem

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Dominican Republic: Submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – 94th Session

Human Rights Watch
August 31, 2023

The National Confederation of Rural Women (Confederación Nacional de Mujeres del Campo or CONAMUCA), Network of United Youth Voices (Red Juvenil Voces Unidas), the Coalition for Women’s Life and Dignity (Coalición por la Vida y la Dignidad de las mujeres), and Human Rights Watch write in advance of the 94th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (the “Committee”) and its review of the Dominican Republic. This submission addresses articles 3, 6, 24, 28, and 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and covers access to abortion and specific aspects of the right to education.

The total abortion ban in the Dominican Republic, in effect since 1884, threatens the health and lives of girls, women, and pregnant people, and is incompatible with the country’s international human rights obligations.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/31/dominican-republic-submission-un-committee-rights-child

31.08.2023

adolescent pregnancy

Human Rights Watch

Luis Abinader

maternal mortality ratio

Pan-American Health OrganizationPan-American Health Organization

total abortion ban

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

Adolescents with HIV face “silence” over sex and contraception

Interviews in rural Senegal suggest adolescents still can’t get information on sexual and reproductive health, even in healthcare settings

Hester Phillips
06 July 2023

A serious lack of information and services for adolescents with HIV in rural Senegal is leading to unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions and more babies being born with HIV.

What is the research about? - What happens when adolescents who were born with HIV reach an age when they begin to think about sex, and possibly become sexually active. Researchers interviewed 21 adolescent girls and 19 adolescent boys with HIV (ages 12-19) in rural areas outside Dakar. They also interviewed their parents/guardians and local healthcare workers.

Continued: https://www.beintheknow.org/news-and-blogs/adolescents-hiv-face-silence-over-sex-and-contraception

06.07.2023

Research

access to information

adolescent pregnancy

HIV services

sexual and reproductive health

Nigeria – Unintended pregnancy, abortion in street-involved adolescents in Lagos, Osogbo high — Survey

by Sade Oguntola
June 22, 2023

UNINTENDED pregnancy and induced abortion is a common experience among the sexually active street-involved adolescents, with a history of school attendance significantly reducing the likelihood of being pregnant, a study has revealed.

It added that those aged between 15 and 19 years who became pregnant are significantly less likely to abort.

Continued: https://tribuneonlineng.com/unintended-pregnancy-abortion-in-street-involved-adolescents-in-lagos-osogbo-high-survey/

22.06.2023

Ghana – 6,000 Adolescents In Volta Region Pregnant – Stakeholders Urged To Address Trend

20-May-2023

According to Ghana Statistical Service data from the 2021 Population and Housing Census, about 79,733 girls in Ghana aged 12 to 17 have been in a union, either married or living together with a man. Out of this number, 25,999 are girls of junior high school-going age (12 to 14 years).

In the Volta Region, it states that one out of four girls are married or are in a union before 18 years. According to the GHS District Health Information Management System (DHIMS), over 6,000 girls got pregnant between 2020 and 2021 alone.

Continued: https://www.peacefmonline.com/pages/local/news/202305/487762.php

20.05.2023

News

adolescent pregnancy

domestic violence

gender-based violence

Ghana Health Service

Hilda Kotoh

Thywill Eyra Kpe

United Nations Fund for Population Activities

Vietnam – Teenagers lack knowledge about reproductive health

SGGP
February 21, 2023

Some medical experts believed that minors lack basic knowledge and skills on protection and care for reproductive and sexual health, so they easily become victims of sexual abuse, leading to bad consequences. Lack of parents' and relatives’ care and schooling also worsened the problem.

According to the World Health Organization, children entering adolescence are going through many physical and psychological changes like exploring their own capabilities and expanding many new relationships. Teenagers having early sexual intercourse have a higher risk of sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancy, and unsafe abortion.

Continued: https://www.sggpnews.org.vn/teenagers-lack-knowledge-about-reproductive-health-post100396.html