Is Europe next? Concerns over abortion rights rise after Supreme Court overturns Roe

“The fact it’s become a talking point is a massive step forward. Whatever anyone’s views are on abortion, it’s not helpful if we can’t talk about it,” one abortion rights opponent said.

Aug. 7, 2022
By Patrick Smith

LONDON — Abortion rights opponents have long been stuck on the fringes of politics in much of Western Europe. The Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has many in the movement hoping that is about to change.

That abortion was thrust into the headlines and onto the agenda has been a big step forward, said Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a co-director of March for Life U.K., an annual event in September in London.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/europe-concerns-abortion-rights-rise-supreme-court-overturns-roe-rcna38651

Poor Decision-Making: Abortion and American Violations of Human Rights Law

By Chinyere Obasi
July 17, 2022

The most prolific human rights organizations in the United States and abroad value equal and unrestricted access to all maternal care, including abortion, as a human right.

At home, the American Civil Liberties Union has fought for the right to abortion since the 1950s, and Physicians for Human Rights has reaffirmed this stance as recently as May of 2022. Abroad, the Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the World Health Organization have all argued the same: Access to abortion is a human right. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the U.N.’s official body designed to advocate for and protect such liberties, wrote in a 2018 statement that “States parties must provide safe, legal and effective access to abortion” when the pregnant person is at risk of harm, physical or otherwise, and that those parties should not take steps toward criminalizing abortion, which would inherently promote unsafe abortion.

Continued: https://harvardpolitics.com/poor-decision-making/

A woman faces 3 years in prison for sending abortion pills in Poland. Her case may signal what’s to come in the US.

Anna Medaris
Jul 13, 2022

An activist is facing up to three years in prison for sending abortion medication in Poland, where the procedure is illegal except in cases of rape, incest, and to save the mother's life, Vice World News reported.

The woman, 47-year-old Justyna Wydrzyńska, is a doula and one of the founders of Abortion Dream Team, which provides education and support for people seeking abortions in Poland.

Continued: https://www.insider.com/woman-faces-3-years-prison-for-sending-abortion-pills-poland-2022-7

13.07.2022

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Abortion Dream Team

Abortion Without Borders

Agnes Callamard

Amnesty International

IN PHOTOS: Here’s how green became the colour of abortion rights

By Amanda Connolly, Global News
Posted July 6, 2022

From the streets of Poland to crowds in Argentina, Mexico and, most recently, the United States following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, abortion rights protests have something in common: the colour green.

Green banners, snapping in the air. Green scarves, green bandanas, green shirts.

Continued: https://globalnews.ca/news/8970022/green-colour-of-abortion-rights/

The end of Roe has implications for abortion rights around the globe

June 29, 2022
RACHEL TREISMAN

Some countries have taken unprecedented steps to expand access to abortion in recent years, but international rights groups have long warned that overturning Roe v. Wade could weaken abortion rights around the world, potentially leading some nations to adopt new restrictive laws.

As NPR's Ayana Archie and Joe Hernandez report:
Many countries are expanding abortion access

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/29/1107656228/the-end-of-roe-has-implications-for-abortion-rights-around-the-globe

29.06.2022

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Amnesty International

Global Justice Center

Protecting the lives of our women and girls

Tuesday May 31 2022
Rida Tahir

There has recently been a significant debate on unsafe abortions and their consequences throughout the world since a document of the draft judgement by the Supreme Court of the United States overturning Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113) was leaked. Roe v Wade is a landmark US case. The verdict, which came out on January 22, 1973, said that states can't put too many restrictions on abortion.

Due to restrictive laws and policies, many women and girls (survivors/victims of child marriage, etc.) are forced to seek unsafe abortions, unavailability of safe abortion services, the high financial cost of accessing safe abortion services, and societal attitudes towards abortion and gender inequality. The WHO has revealed that: "Unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal deaths and morbidities. It can lead to physical and mental health complications and social and financial burdens for women, communities, and health systems."

Continued: https://www.geo.tv/latest/419958-headline-protecting-the-lives-of-our-women-and-girls

31.05.2022

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Opinion

Amnesty International

CEDAW

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Killed by abortion laws: five women whose stories we must never forget

As the US supreme court threatens to undo 49 years of access to safe and legal terminations, five women who died because of bans on abortion stand as warnings of what is at stake globally

Joe Parkin Daniels, Sarah Johnson, Weronika Strzyżyńska, Kaamil Ahmed and Mercy Kahenda
Sat 7 May 2022

[Stories about:]
Savita Halappanavar, Ireland
Olga Reyes, Nicaragua
‘Izabela’, Poland
‘Manuela’, El Salvador
‘Mildred’, Kenya

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/may/07/killed-by-abortion-laws-five-women-whose-stories-we-must-never-forget

As U.S. may restrict abortion, other nations are easing access

May 4, 2022
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOGOTA, Colombia — As women in the United States find themselves on the verge of possibly losing the constitutional right to abortion, courts in many other parts of the world have been moving in the opposite direction.

That includes in a number of traditionally conservative societies — such as recently in Colombia, where the Constitutional Court in February legalized the procedure until the 24th week of pregnancy, part of a broader trend seen in parts of heavily Catholic Latin America.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2022/05/04/1096533640/as-u-s-may-restrict-abortion-other-nations-are-easing-access

04.05.2022

Commentary

Featured

Agnes Callamard

Amnesty International

Catalina Martínez Coral

Center for Reproductive Rights

A look at some of the world’s toughest abortion laws

New limits on abortion rights are being pursued in the US and other countries.

Published On 3 May 2022
Al Jazeera

Amnesty International has “fervently” called on United States authorities to protect the right of abortion as the country’s top court appears set to vote to overturn the Roe v Wade decision that legalised abortion nationwide, according to a leaked initial draft majority opinion published by Politico on Monday.

“While moves to decriminalise and legalise abortion in places like Argentina, Ireland, Mexico and Colombia in the last few years have been a huge win for the global community, there are grim signs that the United States is out of step with the progress that the rest of the world is making in protecting sexual and reproductive rights,” Amnesty’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said on Tuesday.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/3/a-global-look-at-abortion-and-some-of-the-worlds-toughest-laws

03.05.2022

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News

Amnesty International

Poland’s Anti-Abortion Laws Obstruct Humanitarian Assistance to Ukrainian Pregnant Refugees and Rape Survivors

As sexual violence on children and young women is increasingly reported, pregnant women, including rape survivors, struggle to access sexual healthcare under Poland’s strict abortion laws

by Mathilde Grandjean
April 20, 2022

Since the start of the war, over 4.6 million Ukrainian refugees – 90% of whom are women and children – have fled their homes to seek sanctuary in neighbouring countries. Poland has received the highest number of displaced Ukrainians, as nearly 3 million refugees have entered the country since February. Amongst them are rape survivors and pregnant refugees in urgent need of medical help, including access to emergency contraception and abortion.

However, Poland’s near-total ban on abortion added to a lack of key sexual and reproductive health medicines and products obstruct humanitarian efforts to provide medical assistance to rape survivors and refugees who wish to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

Continued: https://impakter.com/poland-anti-abortion-laws-obstruct-humanitarian-assistance-to-ukrainian-pregnant-refugees-and-rape-survivors/