USA – RFK Jr. Is Coming for Abortion Pills

And he’s relying on bogus science to make his case.

Julianne McShane, Mother Jones
May 15, 2025

Earlier this month, the Trump administration scored seemingly positive headlines when it asked a federal court to dismiss a case brought by three Republican states seeking to restrict telehealth access to mifepristone, the first of two drugs used in a medication abortion.

Several news outlets claimed in headlines that the administration would “defend” access to the pills, despite the fact that Project 2025 and several of Trump’s top appointees have made it clear that they believe access to mifepristone—which, along with the second drug, misoprostol, now account for more than 60 percent of all abortions that occur nationwide—should be drastically rolled back, as I have previously reported. In reality, the administration merely argued the states do not have standing to sue and did not weigh in on the underlying issue of access to the pills.

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/05/rfk-jr-is-coming-for-abortion-pills/

Kenya – Rights groups demand more funds to curb abortion deaths

By Mercy Kahenda
May 12, 2025

Human rights defenders have petitioned Parliament to allocate more funds for maternal and reproductive health services in a bid to curb unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and related deaths.

Their call follows findings from a recent study indicating that at least 972,694 induced abortions were reported in 2023.

Additionally, the report shows that 355 women die annually for every 10,000 live births due to pregnancy-related complications, many of which are linked to unintended pregnancies.

Continued: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/health-science/article/2001518789/rights-groups-demand-more-funds-to-curb-abortion-deaths#google_vignette

Kenya’s national study reveals urgent gaps in reproductive health—and a path forward

Carolyne Okallo, Youth and Communications Advisor, Ipas Africa Alliance
May 9, 2025

A recently released national report details a study highlighting gaps in Kenya’s sexual and reproductive health services—and gives compelling evidence that expanding access to modern and effective family planning and contraception is crucial to preventing unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortion methods.

Ipas Africa Alliance was part of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) that provided support for the study, “Incidence of Induced Abortions and the Severity of Abortion-related Complications in Kenya”. The joint study conducted by the Ministry of Health, the African Population and Health Research Center and Guttmacher Institute outlines the systemic changes needed to improve women’s reproductive health in Kenya.

Continued: https://www.ipas.org/news/kenyas-national-study-reveals-urgent-gaps-in-reproductive-health-and-a-path-forward/

09.05.2025

Research

African Population and Health Research Center

How inadequate government funding for health is fuelling unsafe abortions

The Reproductive Health and Rights Alliance
6 May 2025

A recent study by the Ministry of Health, the African Population and Health Research Centre, and the Guttmacher Institute has shown that an estimated 792,694 induced abortions occurred in Kenya in 2023[1].

The study also revealed that more than half of all women with post-abortion complications received treatment in public health facilities.

However, the capacity of health facilities to provide basic and comprehensive post-abortion care was low, with only 18.3 per cent of primary health facilities offering all the elements of basic post-termination care and 24.1 per cent of referral-level facilities providing the full package of comprehensive post-abortion care.

Continued: https://khrc.or.ke/press-release/how-inadequate-government-funding-for-health-is-fuelling-unsafe-abortions/

06.05.2025

News

Research

Abuja Declaration

African Population and Health Research Centre

Center for Reproductive Rights highlights

Guttmacher Institute

post-abortion complications

Reproductive Health and Rights Alliance

Virtual Abortion Care Is a Lifeline, Not a Safety Net

by Amy Hagstrom Miller
May 1, 2025

New data from the Guttmacher Institute shows that more people are turning to virtual abortion care—and while that tidbit might sound like a silver lining in our post-Roe world, it can be dangerously misleading if we’re not careful.

Telehealth is, without a doubt, an essential tool. My organization was one of the first abortion providers in the country to offer telemedicine back in 2009. And since the FDA allowed abortion pills to be delivered by mail in 2021, we have worked tirelessly to expand our virtual abortion care into 10 states to reach as many patients as possible. But let’s be clear: virtual care alone isn’t a silver bullet. And it’s not a stand-in for truly accessible care.

Continued: https://time.com/7281013/abortion-telemedicine-virtual-access

The First 100 Days of the Trump-Vance Administration: Attacks on Reproductive Freedom and Scientific Evidence

Amy Friedrich-Karnik, Anna Bernstein, Emma Stoskopf-Ehrlich, Guttmacher Institute
April 24, 2025

In its first 100 days, the Trump-Vance administration has attempted to dismantle and disrupt a broad range of domestic and international programs and policies, sowing chaos and negatively impacting the lives of millions. Through executive orders, funding freezes, contract terminations, mass layoffs and other actions—many of which have been challenged as unconstitutional—these policy changes have, by design, had an especially detrimental impact on the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of people in the US and across the world.

These actions constitute an attack on both science and the basic value of reproductive freedom. Their impact has been immediate and will continue to have long-term and far-reaching consequences.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/2025/04/first-100-days-trump-vance-administration-attacks-reproductive-freedom-and-scientific

24.04.2025

Commentary

Geneva Consensus Declaration

Stability in the Number of Abortions from 2023 to 2024 in US States Without Total Bans Masks Major Shifts in Access

Isaac Maddow-Zimet and Kimya Forouzan, Guttmacher Institute
April 2025

New full-year estimates from Guttmacher Institute’s Monthly Abortion Provision Study show that the total number of abortions provided in all US states without total abortion bans remained relatively stable between 2023 and 2024, increasing by less than 1%, and the proportion of people traveling across state lines to obtain an abortion declined slightly, from 16% to 15%.

The overall stability in the number of abortions in states without total bans continued despite shifts in policy that have increased obstacles to accessing this care in many states. In 2024, 14 states* had total bans on abortion in effect, and Florida and Iowa implemented bans at six weeks’ gestation that drastically narrowed options for abortion access for both their own residents and (in the case of Florida) for residents across the region more broadly.

https://www.guttmacher.org/report/stability-number-abortions-2023-2024-us-states-without-total-bans-masks-major-shifts-access

15.04.2025

Monthly Abortion Provision Study

Nigeria – Unsafe abortion is not a choice: How stigma pushes women into danger

Women Empowering Women Initiative (WEWIN)
April 8, 2025

In Nigeria, the conversation around abortion is often shrouded in silence, stigma, and misinformation. For many women and girls, abortion is not a decision taken lightly—it is a decision made within constrained realities, limited options, and in some cases, in a desperate bid for survival. Yet, the societal and institutional stigma attached to abortion drives many into unsafe conditions, endangering lives that could otherwise be protected by comprehensive reproductive health care.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, approximately 1.8 million induced abortions occur in Nigeria every year, with over half of them deemed unsafe. The restrictive legal framework, where abortion is only permitted to save a woman’s life, means access to safe abortion services is limited and often shrouded in secrecy. But beyond legal restrictions, stigma plays a more insidious role, silencing women, discouraging healthcare providers, and eroding the dignity of those who seek reproductive autonomy.

Continued: https://businessday.ng/opinion/article/unsafe-abortion-is-not-a-choice-how-stigma-pushes-women-into-danger/

08.04.2025

Women Empowering Women Initiative

USA -With Risks to Patients and Providers Growing, States Should Revisit Abortion Reporting Requirements

Kelly Baden, Joerg Dreweke, Guttmacher Institute
March 2025

The increasingly hostile political and legal climate for abortion rights and access in the United States requires reconsideration of longstanding systems of state-mandated abortion reporting. Data on abortion incidence and trends are critical for understanding changes in the abortion access landscape and, in turn, can be vital in shaping public policies to improve reproductive health access and outcomes. However, the current climate has escalated the risk of mandated data collection being used to stigmatize, harass, or even prosecute abortion patients and providers—including in situations where abortion care is provided and obtained legally.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/2025/03/risks-patients-and-providers-growing-states-should-revisit-abortion-reporting-requirements

12.03.2025

Research

#WeCount

abortion reporting requirements

Guttmacher Institute

Joerg Dreweke

Kelly Baden

mandated data collection for abortion

Monthly Abortion Provision Study

pregnancy criminalization

Guttmacher Releases First-Ever State-Level Data on Medication Abortion Provision

Data show medication abortion remains critical as federal attacks on access intensify

Feb 27, 2025

The Guttmacher Institute released the latest round of data from its Monthly Abortion Provision Study, an initiative launched in 2023 to produce monthly estimates of clinician-provided abortions in US states without total abortion bans. In addition to state and national abortion estimates from January 2023 through November 2024, for the first time the data also include state-level estimates of the proportion of abortions provided via medication in 2023 in states without total abortion bans and the proportion of all abortions that were provided by online-only clinics in 2023 in states without total bans or bans on telemedicine provision. In an accompanying policy analysis, Guttmacher experts put these findings in the larger political context, outlining the current and future threats to medication abortion in the United States.

The new data confirm that medication abortion accounts for the majority of abortions provided in nearly all US states without total abortion bans, ranging from 95% in Wyoming and 84% in Montana to 44% in Washington, DC and 46% in Ohio. These estimates expand on Guttmacher’s previous finding that 63% of all clinician-provided abortions in 2023 in the United States (excluding states with total abortion bans) were medication abortions.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2025/guttmacher-releases-first-ever-state-level-data-medication-abortion-provision

27.02.2025