LIBERIA – Gov’t Restriction on Abortion Pill Use, Sale Triggers Public Outcry

Rights advocate demands full disclosure of U.S.–Liberia health compact implementation plan

April 6, 2026
By Lincoln G. Peters

Congo Town, Monrovia, Liberia – The Liberian government’s recent decision to restrict the sale and use of abortion pills has sparked strong backlash from institutions and human rights advocates, who argue that the move threatens women’s health and contradicts national commitments to reduce maternal mortality.

The Ministry of Health has issued a new policy tightening controls on the sale and use of Misoprostol, commonly known as Cytotec.

Continued: https://www.thenewdawnliberia.com/govt-restriction-on-abortion-pill-use-sale-triggers-public-outcry/


Guyana – The Great Abortion Resistance: The Government v Mid-level Health Workers

By Fred Nunes (Stabroek News)

January 12, 2026

On January 15, 2026, the Government of Guyana will celebrate the tenth anniversary of its quiet disregard of an unequivocal High Court ruling regarding mid-level health care professionals and early term, non-surgical abortion services. Ever since 1995, all duly registered mid-level health workers have been legally authorized to perform early term, non-surgical abortions.

There is no need for additional registration to perform abortions.  They only need three things: (i) access to Misoprostol (Cytotec), (ii) a cooperating physician, and (iii) the Form F on which they must submit an anonymous report. That’s all.

But the Ministry of Health has waged a very successful, 30-year war against this provision.  Why?

Continued: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2026/01/12/features/in-the-diaspora/the-great-abortion-resistance-the-government-v-mid-level-health-workers/


Inside Mexican Feminists’ Fight For Safe and Legal Abortion

Rebecca Grant on the Battle for Reproductive Freedom in Latin America and Throughout the World

By Rebecca Grant
June 24, 2025

Abortion had been a federal crime in Mexico since 1931, but every state within the country permitted abortion for pregnancies that resulted from rape, and others allowed it if the life of the mother was in danger or in the event of severe fetal anomalies. So when the legislature in Guanajuato, a state in central Mexico, proposed in 2000 to revoke the lone exception to the state’s abortion ban, Verónica “Vero” Cruz thought something along the lines of “Oh hell no.” Eliminating the provision would have resulted in a total ban in a place plagued by sexual violence, and Cruz, a respected activist and the leader of Las Libres, a recently formed feminist collective in Guanajuato, was not about to let the meager sliver of abortion rights that existed in her state shrink any further, or women’s well-being to be used as a political pawn. Something had to be done.

Continued:  https://lithub.com/inside-mexican-feminists-fight-for-safe-and-legal-abortion/


Brazil/USA – Why We Must Keep Talking About Abortion Pills

As part of a delegation to Brazil, I saw how our countries’ respective struggles to maintain and expand reproductive justice are really part of the same fight.

Regina Mahone
June 16, 2025

Brasília, Brazil—We packed ourselves into a meeting room at the back of the Socialism and Freedom Party (known as PSOL) office in the National Congress building in Brasília on May 14. The bird-shaped capital of Brazil was developed in the 1950s as a modern, futuristic city, but inside the legislative building are standard government meeting spaces, with cubicle walls and drab, windowless halls.

We took our seats at the big conference table or on one of the folding chairs located along the sides. Lunch was served—an assortment of breads, including the staple pão de queijo; salads; fresh juice; and Brazilian carrot cake, which was fluffy (nothing like the traditional US version) and delicious.

Continued: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/medication-abortion-misoprostol-brazil/


How a network of women in Latin America transformed safe, self-managed abortions

June 8, 2025
By Marta Martínez, Liana Simstrom
Podcast: 41-Minute Listen

In November 1990, more than 3,000 women descended on the sleepy beach town of San Bernardo del Tuyú, Argentina, for what was becoming a legendary event.

Activists, doctors, academics, social workers and lawyers from across the Americas traveled all the way to attend a feminist gathering known as an Encuentro.

While they publicly debated their political demands, the piece of information that made the biggest impact on the future of abortion was exchanged in private, in whispers.

Continued; https://www.npr.org/2025/06/08/g-s1-68729/latin-america-abortion-activism


Jordan’s Abortion Conundrum

The country’s strict laws leave women with impossible choices and facing financial struggles, stigma and dangerous procedures

Meghan Davidson Ladly
November 29, 2024

Amal watches her children play on the living room floor of her house on a quiet street in a suburb of Jordan’s capital. As dusk settles over the sloping hills of Amman, she sinks into a sofa and lights a cigarette, adjusting her hijab.

“It is illegal, but you can’t know how I feel,” she says. “I couldn’t think of anything except getting rid of this pregnancy. Even my kids — I couldn’t think of them. And I knew I had to make a decision.”

Continued: https://newlinesmag.com/spotlight/jordan-abortion-conundrum/


Antigua & Barbuda – Women share their stories as legal challenge against anti-abortion laws gains traction

13 June 2024
By Elesha George

As news of a legal challenge against Antigua and Barbuda’s anti-abortion laws gains momentum, several women have come forward to share their personal experiences and reasons for having illegal abortions. Their stories highlight the complex and deeply personal nature of the decision to terminate a pregnancy.

One woman, who was attending university, found herself in a financial and emotional bind. “We were broke. I was going to university and the father didn’t want the responsibility of having a family at that time,” she shared.

Continued: https://antiguaobserver.com/women-share-their-stories-as-legal-challenge-against-anti-abortion-laws-gains-traction/


In Morocco, Women Turn To Booming Online Abortion Pill Market

By Claire GOUNON
May 26, 2024

Asmaa was terrified at the thought of giving birth again, but with abortion largely illegal in Morocco she turned to the thriving illicit online pills market to end her pregnancy.

The 37-year-old mother of one went on Facebook after her gynaecologist told her about other women who had managed to get their hands on abortion pills through the platform.

Continued: https://www.barrons.com/news/in-morocco-women-turn-to-booming-online-abortion-pill-market-62a86370


In Brazil, an abortion debate pits feminists against the church

Critics say the country’s abortion ban jeopardizes the health of Black and poor women.

By Gabriela Barzallo
12 Apr 2024

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – In 2019, Mariana Leal de Souza, a 39-year-old Black woman living outside Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, was having a hard time coping with the suicide of her teenage son when she was confronted with more difficult news: She was pregnant.

“I couldn’t believe it,” the social worker told Al Jazeera during a recent video call. “Mentally and financially, I wasn’t ready for another pregnancy after the loss of my son.”

She decided to terminate, but there was a problem: Brazil’s Penal Code permits abortion only if the pregnancy is the result of rape, puts the mother’s health at risk or doctors diagnose severe malformations to the fetus. None of these applied to Leal de Souza.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/12/in-brazil-an-abortion-debate-pits-feminists-against-the-church


Ugandan Women Risk Their Lives to Access Abortion

“Many girls are dying because we have chosen to ignore them.”

Friday, 8 March, 2024
Culton Scovia Nakamya

For Jovia (not her real name), 2023 was the worst year of her life. The 20-year-old business student was gang-raped at a drunken house party in the Kampala suburb of Kansanga and six weeks later realised that she was pregnant.

“I wondered what I am going to tell my parents. For God’s sake, I am just in my second semester of year one, and I didn’t know who did it,” she said.

Her options were limited, as abortion is illegal in Uganda except under rare circumstances. She confided in a female friend, who suggested they visit the Kampala suburb of Nakulabye, an area known as a hub of clinics that administer clandestine abortions, mostly to students.

Continued: https://iwpr.net/global-voices/ugandan-women-risk-their-lives-access-abortion