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/

India – Hospitals to not insist on ID proof of rape survivors seeking abortion, says Delhi HC

Delhi HC added that medical protocols must align not only with statutory obligations, but also with compassion, practicality, and understanding.

Jun 02, 2025

The Delhi High Court has asked hospitals in the national capital to refrain from demanding ID proofs of rape survivors seeking termination of their pregnancy on orders of courts.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma also underlined the pressing need for "clear, practical and sensitive" medical protocols for such survivors, particularly minors.

Continued: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/hospitals-shouldn-t-insist-on-id-proof-of-rape-survivors-seeking-abortion-delhi-hc-101748870645674.html

03.06.2025

Peru’s gender-based violence crisis requires structural solutions

Ben Radford, Cali
March 22, 2025

Women in Peru face one of the highest levels of gender-based violence in Latin America, along with structural barriers to accessing vital healthcare such as abortion and contraception.

The Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP) recorded 71,717 cases of psychological violence, 63,692 cases of physical violence and 12,524 cases of sexual assault against women last year — but the actual number is much higher due to underreporting.

Continued: https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/perus-gender-based-violence-crisis-requires-structural-solutions

22.03.2025

Commentary

Ben Radford

femicide

gender-based violence

Latin American Network of Women Defenders of Social and Environmental Rights

Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations

Betrayed by the System in Brazil

Friday 28 February 2025
by L.M. Bonato

While various human rights reports show that annually between one and four million Brazilian women have abortions, the right to women’s bodily autonomy remains a major battle. Currently the law allows abortion only in the case of rape or to save the woman’s life. This means millons of women are forced to seek underground abortions.

Given the rise of conservative parties following Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency, far-right politicians are seeking to roll back legal abortion even in the case of rape. Congressman Sóstenes Cavalcante has introduced Bill PL 190424, which would criminalize abortion under all circumstances after 22 weeks of pregnancy.

Continued: https://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article8874

28.02.2025

What the UN’s ruling on abortion in Ecuador and Nicaragua means for the rest of the world

Although implementation will depend on each country, these sorts of rulings have a potential for global influence

By Elizabeth Hlavinka
February 19, 2025

The United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a ruling last month with the potential to expand reproductive rights in Ecuador and Nicaragua. Although it’s unclear how each country will implement the UN mandates handed down, the ruling is a step forward for a growing reproductive rights movement working to decriminalize abortion in Latin America.

In 2016, Planned Parenthood Global, Amnesty International, and other Latin American activism groups came together to form the “Son Niñas, No Madres” (Girls, Not Mothers) movement. They have filed legal cases before the UN Human Rights Committee against Ecuador and Nicaragua, representative of a regional pattern of girls forced to become mothers due to sexual violence and a lack of access to reproductive health services like abortion in 2019.

Continued: https://www.salon.com/2025/02/19/what-the-uns-ruling-on-abortion-in-ecuador-and-nicaragua-means-for-the-rest-of-the-world/

Guatemala: Failed Response to Sexual Violence Against Girls

Inadequate Health Care, Education, Social Security, Justice for Young Survivors

Human Rights Watch
February 18, 2025

(Guatemala City) – Successive governments in Guatemala have failed to meet their obligations toward girls facing early and forced pregnancies due to sexual violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The authorities need to provide sexual violence survivors with comprehensive health care, education, and social security, as well as necessary legal protections, justice and reparations.

The 85-page report, “‘Forced to Give Up on Their Dreams’: Sexual Violence against Girls in Guatemala,” documents the numerous barriers that girls who are survivors of sexual violence face accessing essential health care, education, social security, and justice. Guatemalan law classifies any sexual activity involving a child under 14 as sexual violence. Guatemala’s National Registry of Persons (RENAP) reported that between 2018 and 2024, 14,696 girls under 14 gave birth and became mothers, in many cases against their will.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/02/18/guatemala-failed-response-sexual-violence-against-girls

18.02.2025

Commentary

Cristina Quijano Carrasco

forced pregnancies

Forced to Give Up on Their Dreams’: Sexual Violence against Girls in Guatemala

Human Rights Watch

sexual violence

sexual violence survivors

UN ruling on pregnant girls offers hope for abortion care

Enid Muthoni, Lori Adelman
Jan 29, 2025
Center for Reproductive Rights

Nicaraguan Susana was 13-years-old when she became pregnant by her grandfather, who had repeatedly raped her. When she found out, Susana said she did not want to continue with the pregnancy, and, with the help of her grandmother, pled five times for the complaint against her aggressor to be accepted. In a country like Nicaragua, which totally bans abortion and has normalized human rights violations, voices like Susana's are not heard. She was forced into motherhood, while her aggressor was never prosecuted. However, this month Susana finally got justice on Jan. 20.

On the same day Donald Trump returned to the White House, the United Nations Human Rights Committee delivered three groundbreaking rulings, holding Ecuador and Nicaragua responsible for grave human rights violations against Susana and two other young survivors of rape who were forced into motherhood. The Committee is clear: everyone, and with greater emphasis on girls, has the right to be free from sexual violence and free to make their own choices. Although the decisions are about the cases of Norma from Ecuador and Lucía and Susana from Nicaragua, they set a new international standard for more than 170 signatory countries of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including the United States.

Continued: https://www.context.news/socioeconomic-inclusion/opinion/un-ruling-on-pregnant-girls-offers-hope-for-abortion-care

29.01.2025

News

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Movimiento Son Niñas No Madres

Planned Parenthood Global

rape and abortion

sexual violence

United Nations Human Rights Committee

UN Ruling: Ecuador and Nicaragua Must Legalize Abortion to End Violations of Girls’ Human Rights

The Human Rights Committee recognizes that abortion bans violated the rights of girls who survived sexual violence and were forced into motherhood.

22.01.2025
Center for Reproductive Rights

(PRESS STATEMENT) — In a major victory for girls’ and women’s rights, the United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled Monday that Ecuador and Nicaragua violated the human rights of three girls who were forced into motherhood due to abortion bans in those States. In its decision, the Committee recognized that forced pregnancies and forced motherhood disrupts the personal, family, educational, and professional goals of girls, and constitutes a form of cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment by severely restricting their right to a dignified life.

The cases of Norma (Ecuador), and Susana and Lucia (Nicaragua), were brought before the Committee in 2019 by the Center for Reproductive Rights and allied organizations. The girls were 12 and 13 years old when they became pregnant after being raped by men in positions of power and authority whom they trusted (the biological father, the grandfather, and a priest, respectively).

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/un-ruling-ecuador-and-nicaragua-must-legalize-abortion-to-end-violations-of-girls-human-rights/

Why Trump’s next presidency poses a new global threat to women’s health

Rachel Schraer
Dec 3, 2024

Immediately after Donald Trump clinched a second term in the White House, mail orders of abortion pills spiked across the U.S. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood, the country’s biggest provider of reproductive health services, saw an eightfold increase in appointments for long-acting contraceptive devices known as IUDs.

The reality of another Trump presidency appears to have stoked fears among many Americans that their access to abortion and contraception could be further restricted. But the issue stretches beyond U.S. borders. Around the world, hundreds of millions of women who had no say in Trump’s election could lose vital health services because of his decisions.

Continued: https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/why-trump-s-next-presidency-poses-a-new-global-threat-to-women-s-health/ar-AA1vbYiK

USA – Abortion Bans Can Be Deadly for Victims of Domestic Violence

Abusers often use pregnancy as a tool to exert control. When abortion is no longer an option, countless women and children are at even greater risk.

10/15/2024
by Gia Elise Barboza-Salerno, Ms.Magazine

As the 2024 election approaches, voters face a critical decision: whether to protect reproductive rights at the ballot box. In many states, abortion access is on the line, either through direct ballot measures or by electing candidates whose policies will determine the future of these rights. But what is often overlooked in this debate is the dangerous ripple effect abortion bans have on domestic violence.

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned the constitutional right to choose whether to terminate a pregnancy, abortion bans have made pregnant individuals more vulnerable to abuse and, in some cases, deadly violence.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2024/10/15/abortion-bans-domestic-violence-women-die/

15.10.2024