Governor Sanwo-Olu moves to legalize abortion in Lagos state

By Naija247news Media Nigeria
November 25, 2022

Reports reaching Naija247News that Babajide Sanwo-Olu governor of Lagos state is planning to legalize abortion in Nigeria’s commercial capital.

Naija247News recalled that earlier in the year The Lagos State Government has developed a policy document on safe termination of pregnancy toward guiding healthcare professionals to provide safe and lawful abortion services in the state. Olusegun Ogboye, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, said this at a stakeholders’ meeting to launch the document on Tuesday in Lagos.

Continued: https://naija247news.com/2022/11/25/nigeria-moves-to-legalize-abortion/


Women Groups Protest Lagos Continuous Suspension Of Safe Termination Of Pregnancy

By YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE
On Sep 7, 2022

In protest against the delay in lifting the suspension on safe termination of pregnancy in Lagos State, about 150 women groups across various rights and civil society organisations took to the streets to make their grievance known to government.

The Lagos State government had through the Ministry of Health developed a policy document on safe termination of pregnancy in a bid to guide healthcare providers within the state to provide safe and lawful abortion services within the ambit of the law.

Continued: https://tribuneonlineng.com/women-groups-protest-lagos-continuous-suspension-of-safe-termination-of-pregnancy/


Roe v Wade: How its scrapping will affect women worldwide

The US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the longstanding abortion ruling will have a chilling effect on reproductive healthcare provision in low income and middle income countries.

BMJ 2022; 378
doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.o1844 (Published 11 August 2022)
Sally Howard, freelance journalist1,  Geetanjali Krishna, freelance journalist

In 2018 a reproductive health organisation in Kenya found that anti-abortion advocates had put the address of its reproductive rights helpline on social media. “It was a veiled threat,” its programme manager, Mina Mwangi, tells The BMJ. “They wanted us to know that they knew how to get us.”

On 24 June 2022 the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that protected women’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.1 Sexual and reproductive health rights organisations across the world, including Mwangi’s, feared the effects of the overturning in terms of funding and potential attacks. “We are heightening our security because of how emboldened the opposition are,” Mwangi says, adding that she dreads a potential withdrawal of funds from US non-governmental organisations: her organisation receives over 50% of its funding from US donors.

Continued: https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o1844


More Americans who want abortions are turning to Mexico for help

By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN
Fri July 22, 2022

Verónica Cruz says she's been getting frantic calls from women in the United States.

Abortion clinics have canceled their appointments, and they're scared, she says.

"As soon as the Supreme Court decision came out, they were left without service. There are many people who call us crying, very desperate," Cruz told CNN in a recent interview. "And the majority don't even speak Spanish."

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/21/health/mexico-abortion-assistance-cec/index.html


Lagos develops guidelines on safe, lawful abortion

“In 2011, the Lagos State House of Assembly updated the criminal code, providing for abortion to save the life and protect the physical health of the woman."

By Agency Report 
June 29, 2022

The Lagos State Government has developed a policy document on safe termination of pregnancy toward guiding healthcare professionals to provide safe and lawful abortion services in the state.

Olusegun Ogboye, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, said this at a stakeholders’ meeting to launch the document on Tuesday in Lagos.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/539745-lagos-develops-guidelines-on-safe-lawful-abortion.html


‘I Paid The Price With My Womb’: Tales Of Unsafe Abortions in India
Developing countries’ contribution is 97% of all unsafe abortions. More than half of them occur in Asia.

ISHITA DAS
Published: 21 Mar 2022

Rajlaxmi* (name changed) was sitting on the pavement of her rented shanty in Neharpar, Faridabad. She looked different from the last time I saw her.

Something was amiss.

Her eyes were hollow, her pearly white smile
seemed to have fallen into an abyss, her child-like persona absent.

Continued: https://www.thequint.com/fit/unsafe-abortion-most-common-cause-of-maternal-deaths-in-india


Abortion and the right to choice: Is MTP (Amendment) Act 2021 a breakthrough for India?

Gayatri Vinayak
Mon., April 5, 2021

Rajya Sabha recently passed a bill to allow abortions of up to 24 weeks for special categories of women, up from the existing 20 weeks gestation period.

Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2021, which amends the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, special categories of women, including victims of incest, rape victims, minors and differently-abled women, will be allowed to undergo abortion till 24 weeks.

Continued: https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/abortion-and-the-right-to-choice-is-mtp-amendment-act-2021-a-breakthrough-for-india-112220154.html


Welcoming positive change in US foreign policy

The incoming Biden administration is set to adopt policies that promote equality and human rights around the world, says Katherine Zappone

Katherine Zappone
TUE, 15 DEC, 2020

One of many reasons to welcome Donald Trump’s departure from the White House is that a deeply damaging and harmful piece of foreign policy is expected to exit with him.

The so-called ‘Global Gag Rule’, a policy which prohibits US aid to foreign nongovernmental organisations who refer to or advocate abortion services, has cost the lives of tens of thousands of women and girls in the poorer regions of the world during the past four years.

Continued: https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-40190628.html


A Biden Promise About Overseas Abortion Funding Could Prove Difficult To Implement

December 3, 2020
Nurith Aizenman

Among the promises that President elect-Biden is expected to fulfill immediately upon taking office: lifting a ban that President Trump imposed on U.S. foreign aid dollars related to abortion.

Specifically, the ban prohibits foreign aid funding for privately-run overseas-based groups that "perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning" for women. Among the activities that are barred: providing referrals for abortion or offering advice or medical information on the procedure. And this is prohibited even if the group funds their communications around abortions with non-U.S. sources.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/12/03/933052858/a-biden-promise-about-overseas-abortion-funding-could-prove-difficult-to-impleme


Abortion provider changes name over controversial figure’s views on eugenics

By Bianka Farmakis
Nov 16, 2020

A leading global abortion provider has changed it's name in the UK in an effort to distance itself from Marie Stopes, claiming her views on eugenics are in "stark contrast" to the charity's values.

The provider, Marie Stopes International, will be known as MSI Reproductive Choices, severing its connection to the woman who paved the way for family planning.

While the move will occur Tuesday in the UK, the name change will ripple across the 37 countries the charity is located in world wide.

Continued: https://honey.nine.com.au/latest/marie-stopes-abortion-clinic-changes-name-over-eugenics-views/9255ba40-4a84-42a8-9651-6ce6c1831b37