Dr. Malcolm Potts, gutsy global changemaker for reproductive health and women’s rights, dies at 90

May 9, 2025

A University of Cambridge–trained obstetrician and reproductive scientist, Dr. Potts emerged in the 1960s as a leader in what was then a revolutionary movement for access to reliable contraception and safe abortion.

Long before he joined the faculty of UC Berkeley School of Public Health in 1992 as the inaugural Fred H. Bixby Endowed Chair in Population and Family Planning, Potts was widely recognized as a visionary, with a rare gift for using science to win opponents over to his mission to promote women’s health—and the right to self-determination—around the world.

Continued: https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/news-media/school-news/dr-malcolm-potts-dies-at-90

Viewing the abortion issue through public health lenses

BY ALVONA LOH ZI HUI
Published July 15, 2022

Fragmented views to abortion globally have caused its legal status to vary widely across countries.

As the United States Supreme Court recently struck down the landmark Roe v Wade 1973 ruling, it is fitting to revisit the case for safe, accessible and legal abortions from the public health point of view.

Continued: https://www.todayonline.com/commentary/viewing-abortion-issue-through-public-health-lenses-1944941

Anticipated abolition of Roe v. Wade after 49 years takes away freedom and health for many American women

Boulder Daily Camera
January 22, 2022
By Warren M. Hern

One of the great legal landmarks in American history, and one of the most important landmarks in the history of women, is one year short of its 50th anniversary. The Supreme Court handed down its Roe v. Wade decision on Jan. 22, 1973, and it is very doubtful that it will reach that 50th anniversary. With its anticipated abolition by the Court goes freedom and health for many American women.

The Supreme Court is now a partisan tool of the Republican Party and its partner in gaining overwhelming, unassailable political power. We are headed for permanent minority rule by a white supremacist, misogynistic, theocratic minority that opposes basic personal freedom, secular society, freedom of the press, scientific knowledge, social justice, civil rights, voting rights, democracy itself, and thought.

Continued: https://www.dailycamera.com/2022/01/22/warren-m-hern/

USA – How did women get abortions when they were illegal? A 1966 Post series reveals the answer

How did women get abortions when they were illegal? A 1966 Post series reveals the answer
Before Roe v. Wade, women died trying to end their pregnancies

The Lily News
June 13, 2019

Original story by Elisabeth Stevens for The Washington Post.

As new abortion restrictions are being imposed in Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Utah and other states, nearly a half-century after Roe v. Wade, The Washington Post is looking back at a four-part series that ran in January 1966 on how women in the Washington area obtained abortions. At the time, abortion was illegal with few exceptions in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.

Below is an abridged version of The Post’s four-part series, edited to highlight personal experiences. The original headlines of the series are now subheads for each section.

Continued: https://www.thelily.com/how-did-women-get-abortions-when-they-were-illegal-a-1966-post-series-reveals-the-answer/

Countries where abortion is legal – and where it is totally illegal

Countries where abortion is legal - and where it is totally illegal
In the most restrictive nations, women who terminate their pregnancies face lengthy jail terms

Mar 12, 2019

Women in England and Wales have had the right to seek an abortion since 1968, but more than 50 years on, many women around the world do not have the same choice.

A 2017 report by the Guttmacher Institute, which studies reproductive health laws, found that 42% of women of reproductive age live in countries where abortion is either banned or only allowed in specific circumstances.

Continued: https://www.theweek.co.uk/100132/countries-where-abortion-is-legal-and-where-it-is-totally-illegal

12.03.2019

restrictive abortion laws

USA – Remembering an Era Before Roe, When New York Had the ‘Most Liberal’ Abortion Law

Remembering an Era Before Roe, When New York Had the ‘Most Liberal’ Abortion Law

By Julia Jacobs
July 19, 2018

In 1971, Pamela Mason was a college freshman living in Ohio when she got pregnant. She knew immediately that she wanted an abortion, but the procedure was heavily restricted in her state.

Still, she wanted to find a way. The clinic near her university’s campus referred her to an abortion clinic in Manhattan, and when she was about 10 weeks along, Ms. Mason and her boyfriend scraped together enough money to drive to New York City.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/us/politics/new-york-abortion-roe-wade-nyt.html