France – The pill: from symbol of women’s liberation to subject of growing mistrust

Initially a symbol of liberation, the pill went on to become an almost inevitable part of a woman’s contraceptive journey. But today its use in France is in decline, the drop in popularity fuelled by health warnings, mistrust and a changing attitude towards contraception.

4 October 2026

"What seemed to us to be a tremendous liberation – and which was a tremendous liberation – is clearly no longer seen in the same light."

At 79, gynaecologist Danielle Hassoun remembers a generation that started having sex at a time when abortion was still illegal. “So we didn’t weigh up the same factors,” she says.

Fully legalised in France in 1967, for decades the pill symbolised a major advance in women's health: the ability to separate sexuality from motherhood, and to choose when or whether to have a child.

Continued: https://www.rfi.fr/en/science-and-technology/20261004-the-pill-from-symbol-of-women-s-liberation-to-spread-of-mistrust

04.10.2026

French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety

Jennifer Saint-Martin Denys

Polish activists launch abortion pill locker to bypass near-total ban

‘AbortOmat’ in Warsaw offers novel way to challenge country’s restrictions and allow women swift, anonymous access

Ashifa Kassam, European community affairs correspondent
Sun 4 Oct 2026

They call it the “world’s first parcel locker for abortion pills”. Polish campaigners have launched a new means of distribution as part of their ongoing effort to skirt the country’s near-total ban on abortion.

Painted pink and framed by zebra-striped curtains, the 22-compartment “AbortOmat” in Warsaw allows women to access the pills swiftly and anonymously using a six-digit code. The service was envisaged for those who cannot or do not want to wait days for mail delivery due to a missed miscarriage or health complications, or who worry about receiving the pills at home.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/04/polish-activists-launch-abortion-pill-locker-to-bypass-near-total-ban

04.10.2026

self-managed abortion

Africa – Who Pays the Price When Abortion Is Unsafe? NFM X Space Examines the Cost of Access

Cynthia Velle
October 2, 2026

On September 28, 2026, Naija Feminists Media (NFM) marked International Safe Abortion Day with an X Space titled “Who Pays the Price When Abortion Is Unsafe?” bringing together speakers from Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya to examine the realities of abortion access, the consequences of unsafe abortion and the wider impact of reproductive healthcare restrictions on women and girls.

The one-hour conversation brought together over 30 listeners, and the conversation featured Oluwatoyin Magbagbeola, founder and CEO of Femrivied; Sherifa Awudu, a sexual and reproductive health and rights expert and researcher; Wakesho Langali, a Kenyan SRHR advocate, feminist activist and communications practitioner with Positive Young Women Voices; and Diana Mushiyi, a Kenyan human rights advocate, activist and emerging researcher. Omotuemen Favour, founder of the Save the Girl Child Initiative, was also invited but could not join the conversation.

Continued: https://naijafeministsmedia.org.ng/who-pays-the-price-when-abortion-is-unsafe-nfm-x-space-examines-the-cost-of-access/

Global – Advancing sexual and reproductive health through curriculum reform: reflections and learnings

FIGO
October 1, 2026

For the past two years, the Collaborate for Women: Abortion and Contraception Care Together (C4W ACCT) initiative has worked to strengthen capacity and national uptake of competency-based education in family planning (FP) and comprehensive abortion care (CAC) across five countries in Africa and Asia. Interprofessional collaboration among OBGYNs and midwives has also been central to these efforts, helping to advance sustainable improvements in women’s health.

As phase 2 of the project draws to a close, the five participating national OBGYN societies – in Bangladesh (OGSB), DRC (SCOGO), Mozambique (AMOG), Nepal (NESOG) and Sierra Leone (SLAGO) – reflect on the progress achieved, the lessons learned and the crucial role professional societies play in advancing curriculum reform and improving Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services.

Continued: https://www.figo.org/news/advancing-sexual-and-reproductive-health-through-curriculum-reform-reflections-and-learnings

01.10.2026

Commentary

C4W ACCT

Collaborate for women: Abortion and Contraception Care Together

FIGO

International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics

USA – Red States Just Asked the Supreme Court to Kill Abortion Shield Laws

The long-expected constitutional showdown over states’ rights and abortion rights is here.

Nina Martin, Mother Jones
Oct 1, 2026

In what promises to be the most consequential showdown over reproductive rights since the end of Roe v. Wade, three states with near-total abortion bans asked the US Supreme Court on Wednesday to strike down blue-state laws that have enabled tens of thousands of abortions every year across state lines since 2022.

The action by Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas was a dramatic escalation in the long-running battle over so-called shield laws, which provide legal immunity to doctors, organizations, and advocates in liberal states who deliver abortion care, mostly in the form of pills, to people in states with draconian abortion laws.

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/10/red-states-just-asked-the-supreme-court-to-kill-abortion-shield-laws/

Activists launch world’s first abortion pill delivery locker in Poland

Oct 1, 2026
Notes from Poland

Activists in Poland have launched what they say is the world’s first delivery locker that provides women with abortion pills, access to which is normally tightly restricted. They have placed the device opposite parliament in Warsaw, a location intended to send a message to the politicians who have made Poland’s abortion laws among the strictest in the world.

The locker (called an “abortomat” in Polish, combining the words aborcja, meaning abortion, and automat, meaning an automatic machine) has been launched by Women Help Women (WHW), a global organisation that provides “self-managed abortion”, and Abortion Dream Team (ADT), a Polish activist group.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2026/10/01/activists-launch-worlds-first-abortion-pill-delivery-locker-in-poland/

01.10.2026

Law and Justice party

self-managed abortion

Women protest in defence of abortion rights in Colombia

Agence France-Presse . Bogota, Colombia

30 September, 2026

Hundreds of women wearing green bandanas demonstrated in favor of abortion rights in Colombia on Monday, as President Abelardo de la Espriella’s right-wing government calls for stricter laws.

Abortion was legalised up to 24 weeks of pregnancy in 2022, following a landmark ruling by Colombia’s Constitutional Court.

Continued: https://www.newagebd.net/post/latin-america/315922/women-protest-in-defence-of-abortion-rights-in-colombia

30.09.2026

News

Abelardo de la Espriella

Camila Tovar

Colombia Constitutional Court

green bandanas

International Safe Abortion Day

Malta – Don’t use disability to slam abortion, activist tells pro-lifers

‘Not in my name’: Lara Calleja challenges use of disability in arguments against abortion

30 September 2026
by Juliana Zammit

Author and activist Lara Calleja has called for disabled people to be included more in the abortion debate, saying disability is often used in arguments against abortion.

“Not in my name”, Calleja told MaltaToday, objecting to the use of disabled people as an argument against abortion.

She said people sought abortions for many different reasons and emphasised that disabled people needed to be part of that discussion themselves.

Continued: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/144696/dont_use_disability_to_slam_abortion_activist_tells_prolifers

30.09.2026

News

disability and abortion

Joanna Delia

Lara Calleja

Voice for Choice Malta

Women deserve better – The Power of EU citizens to shape Women’s Rights Debate

Wednesday, September 30, 2026
National Women’s Council

NWC today (30th September) highlighted the power of EU citizens and civil society to shape EU policies on reproductive rights. Exploring the historic success of the European Citizens’ Initiative, My Voice, My Choice, NWC called on the Irish Government to use the EU Presidency as an opportunity to champion women’s health at EU level and address ongoing barriers to abortion care in Ireland.

The enormously successful European Citizens’ Initiative, My Voice, My Choice, which received over 1.2 million verified signatures, was one of the case studies discussed at the event Europe in Action: Citizen Participation & Women's Health in Trinity College Dublin to mark International Safe Abortion Day (28th September). My Voice, My choice served as a powerful campaigning tool to put issues around women’s health and access to abortion firmly on the agenda, not only at EU level but in the different member states.

Continued: https://www.nwci.ie/learn/press_release/women_deserve_better_the_power_of_eu_citizens_to_shape_womens_rights_debate

30.09.2026

Commentary

8th March Institute

Adriana Lamackova

Center for Reproductive Rights

International Safe Abortion Day

Maria Walsh

My Voice My Choice campaign

National Women’s Council

Nika Kovač

Paula Pinzón Hernández

Inside the Clandestine Network of Abortion-Pill Mules

“There may come a time where we are one of the only, if not the only, option for the nation.”

Rebecca Grant, Mother Jones
November+December 2026 Issue
(online Sep 30, 2026)

When Lena walks into the cafe near an airport somewhere outside the US, she looks like any other traveler grabbing a cup of coffee before a flight. She orders a drink and picks a table out of earshot of other patrons, keeping her suitcase close by her side.

In the clandestine world of underground abortion activists, Lena—not her real name—is a courier. The trips she takes abroad—we can’t say where—are supply runs to pick up generic versions of mifepristone and misoprostol, the two drugs that make up the standard medication abortion regimen. Soon, another traveler—her supplier—approaches her table, also dragging a suitcase.

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/09/underground-abortion-activists-mifepristone-misoprostol-medical/