South Africa – Unsafe abortions continue to proliferate due to a lack of knowledge, stigma and nurses’ attitudes

Noxolo Majavu
28 Sep 2023

Despite safe medical abortion services being offered for free in public health facilities, the number of backdoor abortions being performed, especially on teenagers, is increasingly escalating as bogus doctors profit from the desperation of young women.

The scarcity of nurses and skill shortages, along with the lack of knowledge and the stigma around abortion, are among the reasons young people still opt for terminating pregnancies through illegal abortions at backdoor clinics.

Continued: https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/unsafe-abortions-continue-to-proliferate-due-to-a-lack-of-knowledge-stigma-and-nurses-attitudes-20230928

Liberia’s New Health Law Among Most Liberal in Africa for Abortion

--- But faces hurdle in Senate

Sep 1, 2023
TINA S. MEHNPAINE

When Teta graduated from high school in 2015, she had big plans: attend college and become a medical doctor. But when the then-17-year-old discovered she was pregnant, that bright future was cast into doubt.

The father of the unborn child, her boyfriend of four years, denied the baby was his. Afraid of the shame and disgrace that would come with being an unwed teenage mother, Teta sought an abortion.

“I was scared and confused,” said Teta. “I had no plans of becoming a mother at age seventeen, my family and everybody looked up to me.”

Continued: https://www.liberianobserver.com/liberia-liberias-new-health-law-among-most-liberal-africa-abortion

3 held for abortion in Manila

Emmanuel Tupas - The Philippine Star
August 14, 2023

MANILA, Philippines — Three suspected abortionists were arrested during an entrapment operation in Sampaloc, Manila on Wednesday, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) reported on Friday.

Analiza Delfin, 52; Loid Ngitngit, 55, and Christian Punzalan, 40, were caught while performing induced abortion in a clandestine clinic in Barangay 406, CIDG director Maj. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr. said.

Continued: https://www.philstar.com/nation/2023/08/14/2288420/3-held-abortion-manila

14.08.2023

clandestine abortion

clandestine clinics

illegal abortion

prosecuting providers for abortion

Women’s Reproductive Rights and Abortion in Morocco: Regulatory Reforms Should Not Miss the Bigger Picture

March 31, 2023
Othman Regragui

Summary
In Morocco, abortion is criminalized except to safeguard a woman’s life and health. But the current legal framework, inherited from the French Protectorate (1912-56), no longer properly reflects the social reality of contemporary Morocco, where more than 200,000 clandestine abortions are carried out every year. In 2015, a consultative commission appointed by King Mohammed VI proposed widening the legal parameters for pregnancy termination to include rape, incest, and fetal impairment. Yet the commission rejected progressive Islamic jurisprudence that would have authorized abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy, and it failed to address the existing constraints for Moroccan women to access the procedure. Due to political inertia, Penal Code amendments that would have loosened the country’s strict abortion laws have stalled in the parliament for nearly seven years and successive governments failed to integrate the issue into a fully-fledged reproductive framework including other entangled and pressing issues such as contraception and sexual education. The recent death of a 14-year-old girl following a botched “back alley” abortion at the house of her abuser is the latest reminder of the need to better protect women’s reproductive rights in the North African country. This tragedy should also push the authorities to address the socio-legal drivers behind unwanted pregnancies — such as unduly light punishments for sexual crimes, systemic discrimination against single mothers, and the exploitation of underage girls working as house servants — and recognize these factors as critical impediments to women’s reproductive rights.

Source: https://www.mei.edu/publications/womens-reproductive-rights-and-abortion-morocco-regulatory-reforms-should-not-miss

31.03.2023

Decriminalization of abortion in Benin: a solution to reduce female mortality and morbidity?

Kparon Baaru
March 28, 2023

Unsafe abortions are one of the causes of female mortality and morbidity worldwide. According to the WHO, estimates of the number of abortions in Africa stand at 6 million. Of this figure, only 3% are done in medicalized and safe conditions for women. Among the victims who eventually succumb or suffer over time from serious infections, cancer of the cervix or sterility, there are a large number of adolescent girls and young women. To remedy this, a few rare African countries are taking the resolution to legalize voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion). Among these, is now added Benin. Is the legalization of abortion the solution to reduce clandestine abortions and a step forward in access to sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) in Benin?

The WHO defines abortion as a simple health intervention that can be managed effectively by a wide range of health workers using drugs or by surgery. Abortion is a subject that we avoid talking about especially in the presence of adolescents and young people in Africa. This neglected point in the debates is an integral part of SRHR. Adolescents and young people do not have access to reliable information related to sexuality and reproduction as they should.

Continued: https://www.breakinglatest.news/world/decriminalization-of-abortion-in-benin-a-solution-to-reduce-female-mortality-and-morbidity-kparon-baaru/

Benin passed one of Africa’s most liberal abortion laws. Why are women still dying?

Social and spiritual factors mean that desperate women are still risking their lives by resorting to unsafe terminations

Sarah Johnson
Tue 28 Feb 2023

There is a patient Dr Véronique Tognifode, a gynaecologist, will always remember. About eight years ago, Abosede*, a student, visited her clinic in tears. Pregnant with an unwanted baby, she asked for an abortion, but the law in Benin at that time permitted termination only in cases of rape or incest, or where the mother’s life was at risk or the unborn child had a serious medical condition.

Tognifode counselled her, telling her a baby was a blessing and that she would help her through the pregnancy. Tognifode felt Abosede took all this on board, and “she left in a calmer state, saying she would come back for prenatal appointments”.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/feb/28/benin-africa-liberal-abortion-laws-women-still-dying

How US abortion organisers are learning from Honduran activistsc

As networks, some clandestine, form to help women access abortion in the US, they look to Central America for a road map – and a warning.

By Delaney Nolan
Published On 19 Feb 2023

New Orleans, United States – The half dozen women gathered in the backyard pause for a moment to listen to the television next door. The neighbour is playing a football game at high volume. It’s loud. That’s good – it gives them cover.

“I couldn’t hear anything from the sidewalk,” says Ana,* referring to the women’s conversation. “I think we’re OK,” says another. The rest are reassured.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/2/19/how-us-abortion-organisers-are-learning-from-honduran-activists

Why So Many Indians Watch YouTube To Know How To Get An Abortion

Turns out, that a large population in India is still not aware that abortion is legal.

By Adrija Bose
8 July 2022

A 25-year-old woman in Nagpur used household utensils to self-abort last year by watching a YouTube tutorial. The procedure that involves a safe place, safe tools and a trained medical practitioner was carried out by herself, in her own home when her parents were away. The woman survived but she had to spend days in the hospital, recovering from an acute infection from the procedure that could have killed her. This is not the only story of a botched abortion.

This is not the only story of a botched abortion.

Continued: https://www.boomlive.in/explainers/abortion-india-legal-watching-youtube-roe-v-wade-us-18465

How Abortion Pills Changed the Political Debate in Ireland

Analysis by Clara Ferreira Marques
May 17, 2022

If the US Supreme Court overturns the five-decade-old constitutional right to abortion, as expected, many women will find it far harder to end an unwanted pregnancy. But this won’t be a return to pre-1973, largely thanks to changes to medical technology. Abortion pills, often taken at home, are already making the reality of abortion easier and safer in the early stages of gestation. And even with inevitable new restrictions, they are set to change the political fight too.

Sydney Calkin is a senior lecturer in human geography at Queen Mary University of London and the author of a forthcoming book, “Abortion Beyond Borders: Abortion Pills and the Future of Reproductive Freedoms.” Her work has focused on cross-border abortion access and activism, an area where politics, gender and reproduction overlap. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/how-abortion-pills-changed-the-political-debate-in-ireland/2022/05/17/f409c526-d5ed-11ec-be17-286164974c54_story.html

How Latin American women are winning the battle for abortion rights

Argentina, Colombia and Mexico have recently legalised or decriminalised abortion. Could Chile be next?

Diana Cariboni
29 April 2022

It was inconceivable, just five years ago, that ultra-conservative Colombia would decriminalise abortion, or that Catholic, neoliberal Chile would be gearing up to vote on a new constitution that enshrines sexual and reproductive rights, including on-request abortion.

Yet in February, Colombia’s constitutional court removed abortion (up to 24 weeks) from the criminal code in response to a court case brought by Causa Justa – the spearhead of a wide-ranging social and legal campaign of more than 120 groups and thousands of activists.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/women-latin-america-winning-abortion-rights/