US abortion ban: Experts urge country to join women’s rights convention

By World Nation News Desk
Updated 26/10/2022

The Committee of Experts on Women’s Rights highlighted this Friday that The United States is one of only seven countries in the world that is not a party to the convention. It protects the fundamental guarantees of women, including sexual and reproductive health.

“Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Urge the United States to Join To the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in order to respect, protect, fulfill and promote the human rights of women and girls,” the expert group said in a statement.

Continued: https://worldnationnews.com/us-abortion-ban-experts-urge-country-to-join-womens-rights-convention/

26.10.2022

CEDAW

CEDAW Committee

Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Committee of Experts on Women's Rights

Michelle Bachelet

Unsafe abortions contribute 13% to causes of maternal mortality in Nigeria

BY THE EAGLE ONLINE
SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

Thirteen per cent of the causes of Maternal Mortality in Nigeria has been attributed to unsafe abortions.

The Country Director, Ipas Nigeria Health Foundation, Lucky Palmer, noted this in a statement on Wednesday.

Continued: https://theeagleonline.com.ng/unsafe-abortions-contribute-13-to-causes-of-maternal-mortality-in-nigeria/

29.09.2022

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International Safe Abortion Day

Ipas Nigeria Health Foundation

Lucky Palmer

Maputo Protocol

maternal mortality

Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa

US abortion debate: Rights experts urge lawmakers to adhere to women’s convention

1 July 2022
United Nations

A week since the US Supreme Court overturned a landmark, 50-year-old judgement guaranteeing access to abortion, top UN-appointed independent experts urged United States lawmakers on Friday to adhere to international law that protects women’s right to sexual and reproductive health.

The UN women’s rights committee said that the US is one of only seven countries throughout the world that is not party to the international convention that protects women’s human rights, including their right to sexual and reproductive health.

Continued: https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/07/1121862

01.07.2022

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

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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Momentous revolution of women’s rights in Ecuador: An unceasing strive for liberation of abortion laws

Varshunn Bhan Miskeen & Aditya Pandey
August 7, 2021

With the Constitutional Court of Ecuador passing the verdict of decriminalizing abortion in all instances of rape, Ecuador has joined the group of countries who have decriminalized abortion in selective cases. The passing of this verdict has allowed the Ecuadorian women who had been raped and wanted abortion, to no longer be penalised for their actions. The judges of the Ecuador Constitutional Court had decriminalized the two articles with the ratio of 7 against 2 in favour of the verdict. Before, the law only allowed for this procedure only in the instance of critical risk to woman’s health or if a raped woman had a mental disability. Abortion under the two selective conditions has been legal since 1938.

Continued: https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/legally-speaking/momentous-revolution-womens-rights-ecuador-unceasing-strive-liberation-abortion-laws

07.08.2021

Comprehensive Penal Code

Constitutional Court of Ecuador

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women

decriminalization of abortion

Rethinking Abortion In India: A Human Rights Conversation

Niharika Kaul
16 May 2021

The issue of abortion has gained particular momentum in the past few months with two interesting developments in very different parts of the world- the passage of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) (Amendment) Bill 2020 in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) in India and the recent passage of the Argentinian abortion bill, that legalises abortions up to the 14th week of pregnancy. While the MTP (Amendment) Bill 2020 extends the existing time period within which abortion can be conducted in India to 24 weeks in some cases, the Argentinian bill replaces the prior abortion law based on the 'exception model', where three exceptions were allowed to an otherwise blanket criminal prohibition- when a pregnancy endangers the life or health of a woman, girl, or pregnant person, or when it results from rape. After the Argentinian Senate narrowly rejected a bill to decriminalize abortion in 2018, the lower house of Congress finally passed the bill this January.

Continued: https://www.livelaw.in/columns/medical-termination-of-pregnancy-mtp-amendment-bill-2020-world-health-organisation-who-174212

Abortion in Northern Ireland: at the interface between politics and law

22 March 2021
by Anurag Deb, UK Human Rights Blog

Abortion reform in Northern Ireland has had a fraught history, to say the least. Matters appeared to finally come to a head when in 2019, the UK Parliament enacted the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2019 (2019 Act), which created a duty on the Secretary of State to implement abortion reform by following the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination of Women (CtteEDAW). Nearly two years and two statutory instruments later, Stormont finds itself mired in fresh controversy as long-term abortion facilities in Northern Ireland have yet to be commissioned. So the obvious question arises: what happened?

Continued: https://ukhumanrightsblog.com/2021/03/22/abortion-in-northern-ireland-at-the-interface-between-politics-and-law/

Northern Ireland’s women won abortion rights but its politicians won’t accept that

After Stormont voted to restrict abortion rights, Westminster is intervening to secure the services women are legally entitled to

Susan McKay
20 Mar 2021

Northern Ireland is no country for young women. Out of 87 members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) at Stormont last week, just 12 voted to allow women the right to choose abortion in line with international human rights standards. These are built into a law smuggled into NI while the institutions in Belfast were collapsed in acrimony in 2019, following an inspiring collective effort by local feminists and the British Labour MP Stella Creasy. Jubilant, proud, relieved and tearful, women stood at Stormont with banners that said, simply, “Decriminalised”.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/20/northern-ireland-women-abortion-rights-stormont-westminster

Northern Ireland abortion law changes proposed by the DUP

By Jayne McCormack, BBC News NI Political Reporter
Feb 16, 2021

The DUP has proposed a new law to prevent abortions being carried out in NI in cases of non-fatal disabilities.

NI's abortion laws changed significantly last year following legislation passed at Westminster.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-56041850

Argentina’s Abortion Legislation Sparks Hope in Caribbean

February 14, 2021
By Kate Chappell (IPS)

HAVANA TIMES – It was a joyful, tearful celebration in the early morning hours of Dec. 30, 2020 for countless Argentinians when they heard the news: the senate had legalized terminations up to 14 weeks of pregnancy. Prior to this, activists have said that more than 3,000 women died of botched, illegal abortions since 1983. And across the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region, this renewed sense of optimism was compounded after President Joe Biden rescinded what is known as the “global gag rule,” which essentially denied funding to international non-profit organizations that provided abortion counseling or referrals.

Now, women and campaigners across LAC are hopeful that these developments will spur lawmakers to consider decriminalizing abortion in their countries, sparing women their lives, economic well-being, dignity and access to a range of options to make the best choice for their reproductive and overall health.

Continued: https://havanatimes.org/features/argentinas-abortion-legislation-sparks-hope-in-caribbean/