Amnesty records sharp increase in abortion ‘obstacles’ in Argentina

The NGO listed misinformation, a lack of medical supplies, and aggressive behavior by medical staff as some of the key barriers

Christopher Martin
May 29, 2025

Amnesty International offered a damning assessment of the situation of sexual and reproductive rights for women and girls in Argentina.

In a recent report titled “It’s Also for You: Defending Access to Abortion in the Face of Public Policy Rollbacks,” the human rights organization conducted a field study of the situation women and girls face when trying to access legal abortion. Among the key obstacles they face, the report highlighted five main barriers: …

Continued: https://buenosairesherald.com/society/amnesty-records-sharp-increase-in-abortion-obstacles-in-argentina

29.05.2025

Amnesty International

It’s Also for You: Defending Access to Abortion in the Face of Public Policy Rollbacks

Argentina used as a ‘testing ground’ for eroding abortion rights, warns Amnesty

Alarm as Javier Milei’s government curbs state supply of abortion pills and seeks to reverse landmark legalization

Harriet Barber in Tucumán
Wed 28 May 2025

Argentina is being used as a “testing ground” for stripping back abortion rights internationally as it cuts funding for contraceptives and ends the distribution of abortion pills, Amnesty International warned on Wednesday.

Before the inauguration of President Javier Milei in December 2023, the state bought abortion pills, which were then distributed for free through the public health system.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/may/28/argentina-womens-rights-javier-milei-testing-ground-eroding-abortion-rights-seek-reverse-landmark-legalisation-warning-amnesty

South Africa – Dr Dusi, Dr Google, stigma and all the other reasons pregnant women are risking their lives

In today’s newsletter, Tanya Pampalone and Mia Malan explain why South Africa still has unsafe abortions.

By Bhekisisa Team
May 5, 2025

There are piles of R100 notes, a hand holding a tinted vial, a small plastic bag of brown herbs and a bloody sanitary pad with a message in green type: “Thank you Dr Dusi. Now I’m Free.” There is also a phone number where, presumably, you’ll find someone at the other end of the line eager to help.

If Dr Dusi doesn’t pick up, or, more likely, has changed his number, don’t worry. There are plenty of others to call. Dozens of them.

Continued: https://bhekisisa.org/health-news-south-africa/2025-05-05-dr-dusi-dr-google-stigma-and-all-the-other-reasons-pregnant-women-are-risking-their-lives/

A case of conscience: The Christian feminists fighting Brazil’s anti-abortion laws

A growing movement of Christian feminists are making their voice heard as they oppose threats to tighten the country’s abortion laws. Alice McCool reports from inside their fight.

1 May 2025
Alice McCool

Every month, for 15 days, hundreds of women queue outside a public bank in the town square of Viçosa do Ceará, in rural northeast Brazil. As they wait to receive money from the Bolsa Familia programme – government aid for poor Brazilian families – a woman in her sixties speaks to them through a megaphone.

Liliane de Carvalho is there every single day from 6.30am, unless ‘something unexpected happens’. As a longstanding member of a local Catholic church, she’s preaching – but not about sin or guilt. She’s preaching about the right to abortion.

Continued: https://newint.org/women/2025/case-conscience-christian-feminists-fighting-brazils-anti-abortion-laws

‘Care Is a Political Act’: MADRE’s Global Legacy of Organizing and Solidarity

4/18/2025
by Eleanor J. Bader

In the mid-1980s, neither Amnesty International nor Human Rights Watch considered rape a weapon of war or categorized sexual assault as a violation of human rights. But MADRE did. The 40-year-old, U.S.-based global feminist organization helped correct these egregious omissions.

The group’s legacy includes numerous other accomplishments: MADRE was one of the first domestic organizations to partner with international LGBTQ+ and Indigenous activists and was one of the first to analyze foreign policy through a feminist lens.

Continued; https://msmagazine.com/2025/04/18/care-is-a-political-act-madres-global-legacy-of-organizing-and-solidarity/

Slovakia: Proposed constitutional amendments would crush the rights of LGBTIQ+ people and be a backward step for gender equality

8 April 2025
Amnesty International

Amendments to the Constitution of Slovakia to recognize only two sexes (male and female) and limit adoption to only married heterosexual couples, would have a devastating impact on the rights of LGBTIQ+ people, said Amnesty International ahead of an expected debate and vote in the Slovak parliament.

The battery of proposed amendments would also restrict access to reproductive health by allowing refusal of abortion care by health professionals on the grounds of “conscience”, denying pregnant people safe and timely abortions and mandate parental approval on comprehensive sexuality education in schools. This would restrict children’s access to information necessary for sexual violence prevention, education about consent, and sexual and reproductive health, for example.

Continued: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2025/04/slovakia-proposed-constitutional-amendments-would-crush-the-rights-of-lgbtiq-people-and-be-a-backward-step-for-gender-equality/

Why US abortion restrictions matter beyond borders

To restore its position as a global advocate for human rights, the United States must ensure access to abortion within its borders.

March 10, 2025
By Jena Merritt

Abortion is healthcare—essential, life-saving, and fundamental to bodily autonomy. However, access to this critical service has become increasingly uncertain in the United States. Since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, state-level restrictions have created a patchwork of access, leaving many without options. While the immediate effects are felt domestically, the ramifications extend far beyond US borders, influencing global attitudes toward reproductive rights.

Continued: https://www.openglobalrights.org/why-US-abortion-restrictions-matter-beyond-borders/

What the UN’s ruling on abortion in Ecuador and Nicaragua means for the rest of the world

Although implementation will depend on each country, these sorts of rulings have a potential for global influence

By Elizabeth Hlavinka
February 19, 2025

The United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a ruling last month with the potential to expand reproductive rights in Ecuador and Nicaragua. Although it’s unclear how each country will implement the UN mandates handed down, the ruling is a step forward for a growing reproductive rights movement working to decriminalize abortion in Latin America.

In 2016, Planned Parenthood Global, Amnesty International, and other Latin American activism groups came together to form the “Son Niñas, No Madres” (Girls, Not Mothers) movement. They have filed legal cases before the UN Human Rights Committee against Ecuador and Nicaragua, representative of a regional pattern of girls forced to become mothers due to sexual violence and a lack of access to reproductive health services like abortion in 2019.

Continued: https://www.salon.com/2025/02/19/what-the-uns-ruling-on-abortion-in-ecuador-and-nicaragua-means-for-the-rest-of-the-world/

Poland: Unjust conviction of activist accused of aiding an abortion must be overturned

January 30, 2025
Amnesty International

Following today’s Court of Appeal announcement that a verdict in the appeal hearing of Justyna Wydrzyńska, a human rights defender convicted in 2023 for helping a woman in an abusive relationship access a safe abortion, will be handed down on 13 February, Monica Costa Riba, Amnesty International’s Women’s Rights Senior Campaigner, said:

“Justyna Wydrzyńska should have never been prosecuted let alone convicted and no one should be criminalized for helping pregnant people access essential health care.

Continued; https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/01/poland-unjust-conviction-of-activist-accused-of-aiding-an-abortion-must-be-overturned/

30.01.2025

News

Abortion Dream Team

Amnesty International

Stella Creasy warns UK is seeing weaponisation of abortion like US and whoever disagrees must ‘wake up’

Labour MP speaks amid fears UK could become new battleground for abortion rights, with campaigners pushing for decriminalisation this year but anti-abortionists hitting back from other side

Tara Cobham
Tuesday 28 January 2025

The UK is seeing the “weaponisation of abortion” after anti-abortionists learned from effective tactics in the US over the past decade, a senior Labour backbencher has warned.

Stella Creasy warned she has personally seen the agenda of American anti-abortion groups now being pushed in parliament, citing the example of longtime Donald Trump ally Nigel Farage calling for parliament to debate imposing stricter limits on abortion last year.

Continued: https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/politics/abortion-rights-stella-creasy-trump-farage-b2686637.html

28.01.2025