Andorran minister says abortion will be decriminalized before next election

The country's co-heads of state are a Catholic bishop and the French president.

Edgar Beltrán
Jun 03, 2026

An Andorran minister said Monday that the decriminalization of abortion in the country will be approved before parliamentary elections are held next year, amid negotiations with the Catholic Church in the principality.

The Andorran minister of institutional relations, Ladislau Baró, said in a Jun. 1 interview that the proposal to decriminalize abortion in the country is finished but thorny negotiations with the Holy See might delay the bill.

https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/andorran-minister-says-abortion-will

03.06.2026

Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat

Far-right activist sentenced in Poland over abortion protest clash

Stanisław Kaleta
29.05.2026

A prominent far-right activist has been sentenced to 10 months of unpaid community service for manhandling a protester during mass demonstrations triggered by a tightening of Poland’s abortion laws.

A Warsaw court ruled on Friday that Robert Bąkiewicz must carry out 30 hours of supervised community work per month and pay 5,000 zloty (around €1,200) in compensation to women’s rights activist Angelika Domańska.

Continued: https://tvpworld.com/93542894/bakiewicz-polish-far-right-activist-sentenced-over-abortion-protest-clash

29.05.2026

anti-choice terrorism

anti-choice violence

Catholic Church

National Women’s Strike

Beyond Slogans: The Abortion Crisis In Nigeria

Editorial
May 15, 2026

Recently, the Order of Knights of St Mulumba of the Catholic Church organised their annual Pro-Life Walk and Talk, calling on Nigerians to shun abortion and reflect on its numerous consequences.

…Such convictions deserve respect in a deeply religious society such as ours. However, beyond moral arguments lies a difficult and often painful reality that cannot be ignored. Unsafe abortion has become a major public health concern in Nigeria, contributing significantly to maternal deaths and long-term health complications among women and girls.

Continued: https://leadership.ng/beyond-slogans-the-abortion-crisis-in-nigeria/

15.05.2026

Editorial

Catholic Church

Leadership Initiative for Youth Empowerment

Order of Knights of St Mulumba

Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of Nigeria

World Health Organisation

La Voisin, the 17th-Century Witch Who Ran a Huge Abortion Network in Paris

La Voisin helped women get abortions, which were illegal in 17th-century France, where the Catholic Church had significant influence over the country’s laws. Sound familiar?

By Danielle Han
April 17, 2026

Catherine Monvoisin (commonly known as La Voisin) was born in 1640—but in many ways, it feels like she belongs to the year 2026. She enjoyed telling fortunes; was anti-king enough to (almost) kill off Louis XIV; and despite living in a time when abortion was illegal, was not afraid to provide women with life-saving care. Per some records, it also seems like she slept with a good fraction of Paris. Good for her! If she were alive today, I’m sure we would have been great friends.

Alas, she died at 40, when she was executed for alleged witchcraft, after failing to murder King Louis. But we’ll get to that in a moment.

Continued: https://www.jezebel.com/la-voisin-the-17th-century-witch-who-ran-a-huge-abortion-network-in-paris

Philippines – Unintended pregnancies, abortions persist in PH despite total ban

Cristina Eloisa Baclig
April 09, 2026

Abortion is illegal in the Philippines in all circumstances. Yet data and personal accounts suggest the procedure persists, often in secrecy and, in many cases, under unsafe conditions.

A recent analysis by University of the Philippines Diliman associate professor and Inquirer data scientist Dr. Rogelio Alicor Panao, drawing from World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, found that unintended pregnancies and abortion remain closely intertwined even where the procedure is criminalized.

Continued: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2209231/unintended-pregnancies-abortions-persist-in-ph-despite-total-ban-2

Filipinas seek abortions online in largely Catholic nation

16 Mar 2026
AFP

MANILA - Jane had been bleeding heavily for days before finally seeking help, not from a hospital but from the man who sold her the pills meant to end her six-week pregnancy.

Abortions are strictly outlawed in the mainly Catholic Philippines, forcing women to turn to a patchwork of providers operating in the online shadows.

Continued; https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/3217783/filipinas-seek-abortions-online-in-largely-catholic-nation

‘A matter of life and death’: Activists fight for abortion rights in Poland

During decades of communist rule, Poland had one of the most liberal abortion laws in Europe. But in 1993, four years after the fall of communism, abortion was largely banned because the Catholic Church strongly advocated a complete ban on termination of pregnancy.

25.12.2025

Their baby's heartbeat gave Dorota Lalik and her husband Marcin hope that everything could be fine after all. Dorota, a 33-year-old pharmacist, was rushed to the hospital one Sunday morning when her water broke at 20 weeks pregnant.

in such circumstances, pregnancies are very risky and often unsustainable. Without amniotic fluid, the fetus is at high risk of infections, which can cause sepsis, which can be fatal for the pregnant woman.

But Marcin says that he and Dorota, who was given antibiotics by doctors and advised to rest and keep her legs elevated, were repeatedly assured by hospital staff "that everything looked good and that no one was in danger."

Continued: https://en.vijesti.me/bbc/789015/A-matter-of-life-and-death--activists-fight-for-abortion-rights-in-Poland

A Royal Veto Keeps Abortion Illegal in Monaco

Prince Albert II's decision to reject a popular bill reveals how Catholicism overrides women's rights and public opinion

Diane de Vignemont
December 12, 2025

The news broke quietly, almost casually, on a November morning in the familiar columns of the daily newspaper Monaco-Matin. Between stories on traffic snarls and the ever-impressive celebrations of Monaco’s annual National Day, Prince Albert II of Monaco announced his decision to keep abortion illegal.

“I feel that the current framework respects who we are with regard to the place that the Catholic religion occupies in our country, while ensuring safe and humane support,” the prince said in a statement. His announcement was something of a surprise. Albert II had spent six months deliberating over the long-debated measure that would have legalized abortion in the principality, draft bill no. 267. He had now asked his government “to inform the National Council that its proposed law would not be acted upon.”

Continued: https://newlinesmag.com/essays/a-royal-veto-keeps-abortion-illegal-in-monaco/

Poland marks five years since mass abortion rights protests

22.10.2025

October 22 marks five years since the autumn of 2020, when hundreds of thousands of people poured onto the streets of more than 600 cities and towns across Poland in the largest demonstrations since the Solidarity movement helped bring down communism in 1989.

Across Poland red flares lit up the night as crowds carrying the lightning-bolt symbol of the Women’s Strike filled the streets. Chants against the Catholic Church and the then-ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party echoed across the country - defining images of outrage over a near-total abortion ban.

Continued: https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/7784/Artykul/3597197,poland-marks-five-years-since-mass-abortion-rights-protests

Banning abortion is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes

October 16, 2025
Seda Saluk, Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, University of Michigan

Pregnant women crossing borders to get an abortion. People who miscarry facing jail time or dying from infection. Doctors who won’t perform lifesaving procedures on a pregnant patient for fear of prosecution.
For years, this was the kind of thing that happened in Poland, Nicaragua or El Salvador. Now, it’s headline news in the United States.

As a scholar who studies the relationship between reproductive rights and political regimes, I see the U.S. mirroring a pattern that has happened in authoritarian regimes around the world. When a government erects barriers to comprehensive reproductive care, it doesn’t just cause more death and suffering for women and their families. Such policies are often a first step in the gradual decline of democracies.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/banning-abortion-is-a-hallmark-of-authoritarian-regimes-265459