After Roe, abortion’s underground railroad gains steam

A network of activists is helping women terminate pregnancies in countries where the procedure is banned.

BY CARLO MARTUSCELLI, EMILY SCHULTHEIS, MANDOLINE RUTKOWSKI AND JAKUB KORUS
OCTOBER 29, 2022

RIGA — If you want to get an abortion in Poland, Kinga Jelinska is happy to help. Legally terminating your pregnancy is almost impossible in the Eastern European country. Abortion is only allowed in the case of rape or incest, or when it threatens the life of the woman.

That’s where Jelinska comes in. She’s the co-founder and executive director of Women Help Women, an Amsterdam-based nonprofit that helps provide women with the pills needed for an at-home medical abortion. The service Jelinska’s group provides falls into a legal grey zone; self-induced abortion is illegal in a number of countries, but in Poland, it’s not explicitly banned.

Continued: https://www.politico.eu/article/roe-v-wade-europe-abortion-pill-illegal-underground-network/

Is Europe next? Concerns over abortion rights rise after Supreme Court overturns Roe

“The fact it’s become a talking point is a massive step forward. Whatever anyone’s views are on abortion, it’s not helpful if we can’t talk about it,” one abortion rights opponent said.

Aug. 7, 2022
By Patrick Smith

LONDON — Abortion rights opponents have long been stuck on the fringes of politics in much of Western Europe. The Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has many in the movement hoping that is about to change.

That abortion was thrust into the headlines and onto the agenda has been a big step forward, said Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a co-director of March for Life U.K., an annual event in September in London.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/europe-concerns-abortion-rights-rise-supreme-court-overturns-roe-rcna38651

Polish activists protest after woman’s death in wake of strict abortion law

Demonstrations and candlelit vigil after woman, 30, dies of septic shock in 22nd week of pregnancy

Tue 2 Nov 2021

A Polish hospital has said that doctors and midwives did everything they could to save the lives of a pregnant woman and her foetus in a case that has put the spotlight on the country’s new stricter abortion law.

The 30-year-old woman died of septic shock in her 22nd week of pregnancy. Doctors did not perform an abortion, even though her foetus was lacking amniotic fluid, according to a lawyer for the family.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/02/polish-activists-protest-after-first-death-in-wake-of-stricter-abortion-law

Polish protesters blame woman’s death on new abortion law

by The Associated Press
Mon., Nov. 1, 2021

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish protesters paid tribute Monday to a woman who died in the 22nd week of pregnancy, with reproductive rights activists saying she is the first person to die as a result of a restriction of Poland’s abortion law.

People lit candles on All Saint’s Day, a religious holiday when Poles visit cemeteries and mourn the dead. They placed the candles in front of Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw, which issued a ruling last year that led to the tightening of what was already one of Europe’s most restrictive abortion laws.

Continued: https://www.thestar.com/news/world/europe/2021/11/01/polish-protesters-blame-womans-death-on-new-abortion-law.html