Malawi – Safe Abortion Legalization Urged to Reduce Maternal Mortality

Oct 14, 2024 
Malawi24

Authorities emphasize that legalising safe abortion can significantly reduce maternal mortality rates. Every year, countless women lose their lives to unsafe abortion procedures.

This comes as the world commemorated the International Safe Abortion Day on 28 September 2024.

Source: https://malawi24.com/2024/10/14/safe-abortion-legalization-urged-to-reduce-maternal-mortality/


Unite in abortion solidarity: a message from FIGO President

On International Safe Abortion Day, FIGO President Professor Kihara Anne-Beatrice shares a moving message to women's health care providers and advocates around the world.

28 September 2024
Professor Kihara Anne-Beatrice, FIGO President

The theme for the International Safe Abortion Day is “Unite in abortion solidarity” – a clear indication for our pulling together to move further and faster. Acceleration of progress towards reduction of preventable morbidity/ mortality from unsafe abortion which still ravages many of our nations, must occur. Furthermore, we need to value investment in women’s human capital, reproductive justice, and quality of life.

Unsafe abortion often results from unplanned, mistimed or unwanted pregnancy. The lack of access to contraceptive information and services; contraception failure following uptake followed by discontinuation, inappropriate switching, erratic use, and unmet needs. Additional barriers include …

Continued: https://www.figo.org/blog/unite-abortion-solidarity-message-figo-president


Malawi: Enact Termination of Pregnancy Bill to Reduce Maternal Morbidity and Mortality

27 September 2024
Centre for Solutions Journalism (Blantyre)

Every year on September 28, Malawi joins the rest of the world in commemorating the global day of action for access to safe and legal abortion.

As we commemorate this year's International Safe Abortion Day, statistics from medical facilities regarding the number of women and girls experiencing complications from unsafe abortions show that the nation's abortion law, which was passed in the colonial era in 1930, is not only out of date but has also utterly failed to lower the number of unsafe abortions.

Continued: https://allafrica.com/stories/202409270375.html


Widening access to quality abortion care from the grassroots up

Testimonies of how access to quality abortion make a difference in the lives of women and girls

28 September 2023
World Health Organization

This year, International Safe Abortion Day profiles the unstoppable movement that is shaped by the diverse sexual and reproductive health community around the world, dedicated to protecting and promoting access to abortion care that is safe, affordable, timely and dignified.

In a series of captivating stories, the World Health Organization together with  IBP Network highlights some important key players in this abortion care movement: local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs). In many parts of the world, these organizations are successfully translating WHO’s research and evidence-based recommendations into concrete actions that support women and girls’ agency and right to health.   

Continued: https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/widening-access-to-quality-abortion-care-from-the-grassroots-up


Humanists International joins 354 NGOs calling for an end to barriers to abortion access

DATE / 7 OCTOBER 2020

On 28 September, in honour of International Safe Abortion Day, Humanists International co-sponsored a joint statement at the UN on ongoing threats to sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) in light of COVID-19.

The statement was delivered during the General Debate of the 45th session of the Human Rights Council and was supported and signed by a total of 354 organizations and 643 individuals.

States are ignoring their duties to ensure abortion access during COVID-19

Continued: https://humanists.international/2020/10/humanists-international-joins-354-ngos-calling-for-an-end-to-barriers-to-abortion-access/


Uganda – Experts cautious as activists push for access to abortion drug

The Independent
September 28, 2020

Kampala, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT |  Activists are calling for easing of restrictions on dispensing abortion drug mifepristone, as the world commemorates international safe abortion day.

The day is marked on September 28, every year to remind the world of women’s right to access safe and legal abortion. It is based on the fact that more and more women are dying from the lack of access to safe abortion, a public health emergency that, according to activists, has been ignored.

Continued: https://www.independent.co.ug/experts-cautious-as-activists-push-for-access-to-abortion-drug/


Telemedicine and self-managed abortion: a discussion paper

by Marge Berer
26 August 2020

Introduction
Telemedicine for abortion care is the use of communications technology to arrange an abortion in a clinical setting or self-managed by the woman at home with medical abortion pills and for follow-up after the abortion. For International Safe Abortion Day, 28 September 2020, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion (ICWRSA) is promoting the use of telemedicine to arrange and follow-up an abortion and to support women’s right to have an abortion at home in the first trimester of pregnancy with medical abortion pills if she so chooses.

This discussion paper provides a history of how the use of telemedicine
and self-managed abortion with abortion pills at home have developed.
Initially, in Brazil in the 1980s, women shared information about the use of
misoprostol informally. Then, feminist-run safe abortion information hotlines
were set up, starting in 2005, to provide women with the information they need
(and in some cases provide the pills) to have an abortion at home. There are
currently one or more such hotlines in at least 26 countries in all world
regions. More recently, health professionals began to use what is now called
telemedicine (or telehealth) for this same purpose. This paper is about telemedicine
and the conditions that make self-managed abortion safe, and gives examples of
abortion services that put telemedicine and self-managed abortion together. It
also covers the role pharmacies can and are playing in support of these
changes.

Continued: https://mailchi.mp/safeabortionwomensright/newsletter-26-aug-2020?e=372dd34034


Abortion is Healthcare: 28 Providers

INTERNATIONAL SAFE ABORTION DAY 28 September 2019

Abortion is Healthcare: 28 Providers

A newsletter from the International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion, featuring the stories of 28 abortion providers, in honour of September 28.

Continued: https://mailchi.mp/safeabortionwomensright/abortion-is-healthcare-28-providers-for-international-safe-abortion-day?e=372dd34034


FIGO Statement for International Safe Abortion Day

FIGO Statement for International Safe Abortion Day

25.09.2019

FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) is celebrating and supporting International Safe Abortion Day on September 28th 2019.

FIGO regards reproductive choice, including access to safe abortion services, as a basic and non-negotiable tool for ensuring the human rights of every woman, not just in one region or country, but globally.

When an abortion is provided by qualified providers in appropriate settings, it is one of the safest medical procedures known to science. But it is unacceptable that each year up to 13 percent of maternal deaths worldwide result from unsafe abortion.

Continued: https://www.figo.org/news/figo-statement-international-safe-abortion-day-0016246