USA – The Anti-Abortion Movement Can’t Use This Myth Anymore

Covid-19 may end up inadvertently speeding up abortion progress in America — and exposing conservative hypocrisy along the way.

May 13, 2021
By Jessica Valenti, New York Times

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration announced that people seeking abortion pills during the Covid-19 pandemic will no longer have to visit a doctor’s office to get a prescription. Under the Trump administration, patients were required to receive the first of the medication’s two doses in person, a mandate upheld by the Supreme Court in January. The new policy instead allows for telemedicine consultations and pills sent by mail.

The decision is a practical one for the Covid era: It reduces unnecessary face time in doctor’s offices, which cuts down the potential for exposure. It could also be a huge blow to the anti-abortion movement. Groups like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have been pushing the Biden administration to make the F.D.A.’s decision permanent. Last week, in a legal filing, the agency announced it was reviewing their restrictions on the medication.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/opinion/abortion-pill-fda-covid.html

Women on Web Telemedicine Abortion Service Turns 15!

May 10, 2021
Women on Web

For 15 years now, Women on Web, the first ever telemedical abortion service, has made sure that pregnant people around the world have access to safe abortions. The first abortion Women on Web provided was to a woman living in Lisbon, who completed the online consultation on May 10, 2006, when abortion was still illegal in Portugal.

Continued: https://www.womenonweb.org/en/page/20954/women-on-web-telemedicine-abortion-service-turns-15

13.05.2021

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Dr. Rebecca Gomperts

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Lawmaker urges Malta to stop criminalising women who seek abortions

By Emma Batha, Thomson Reuters Foundation
MAY 12, 2021

LONDON, May 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Maltese lawmaker made history on Wednesday by calling for the decriminalisation of abortion in the Mediterranean island, which has one of the world’s strictest bans.

In the first such move to amend the country’s tough abortion laws, independent MP Marlene Farrugia presented a bill which would remove criminal sanctions for women who seek terminations.

Continued: https://www.reuters.com/article/malta-law-abortion/lawmaker-urges-malta-to-stop-criminalising-women-who-seek-abortions-idUSL8N2MZ4QE

12.05.2021

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Lara Dimitrijevic

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USA – The EACH Act would overturn a “blatantly racist” abortion rule. Will it pass?

By Clare Busch
May 12, 2021

When Stephanie Loraine Piñeiro was 17, she found out she was pregnant. Loraine Piñeiro decided to have an abortion, but because she was Medicaid recipient — like more than 72 million other Americans — her insurance wouldn’t cover the costs of the procedure. So, Loraine Piñeiro picked up extra shifts at her restaurant job, earning $2.17 per hour in base pay, to earn the necessary $450. She was still in high school.

She was in that position thanks to the Hyde Amendment, a policy dating back to 1976 that prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except in the case of rape, incest, or if the pregnant person’s life is in danger. “When I learned about the Hyde Amendment, I realized how much it affected my life,” Loraine Piñeiro tells Mic. “I had no idea how I would figure out how to pay for an abortion. Those types of resources aren't easily available.”

Continued: https://www.mic.com/p/the-each-act-would-overturn-a-blatantly-racist-abortion-rule-will-it-pass-77726691

Reproductive Health in East Africa: Guttmacher Institute Joins Advocates at Annual Regional Convening to Discuss How to Prevent Unsafe Abortion

MAY 11, 2021

Guttmacher Institute

Despite the liberalization of abortion laws in many Sub-Saharan African
countries in recent years and the subsequent expansion of services such as
postabortion care, unsafe abortion is still common in the region and exacts a
heavy toll on individuals, families and health systems. Sub-Saharan Africa has
the highest estimated proportion of abortions that are unsafe in the world (77%
as of 2010–2014, compared with the global average of 44%), as documented in the
2020 report From Unsafe to Safe Abortion in Sub-Saharan Africa: Slow but Steady
Progress.

In line with one of its objectives to develop
the capacity of advocates and policymakers to access and utilize evidence to
ensure that family planning and reproductive health are prioritized in national
policies and budgeting processes, the Guttmacher Institute accepted an
invitation from the East African Reproductive Health Network (EARHN) to lead a
session at its 11th annual coordination meeting.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2021/reproductive-health-east-africa-guttmacher-institute-joins-advocates-annual

US – The Supreme Court considers an important showdown over abortion this week

The Court has been surprisingly hesitant to weigh in on abortion. But a pending case is likely to force its hand.

By Ian Millhiser
May 11, 2021

The Supreme Court has been sitting on a potentially very significant abortion case for the last two months, one that the Court’s rules say it should dismiss. We’re likely to find out this week whether the Court will dismiss this case, however, and that decision could tell us a great deal about how fast the Court plans to move in rolling back abortion rights.

In February, about a month after President Joe Biden took office, the Supreme Court announced that it would hear three consolidated cases challenging a Trump administration policy targeting abortion clinics.

Continued: https://www.vox.com/22428611/supreme-court-abortion-gag-rule-title-x-american-medical-association-becerra-biden-trump

Why Biden Needs to Go Big on Abortion

To be a transformational president, Biden has to fight loud and hard against the Republican assault on reproductive rights.

by Emily Crockett
May 10, 2021

Many progressives found themselves pleasantly surprised with Joe Biden after his first 100 days in office. He’s willing to go big, embrace the legacy of FDR and LBJ, and pass trillions in investments on party-line votes if Republicans don’t offer real solutions. In his first joint address to Congress last month, Biden laid out his agenda and made an unapologetic, empathetic case for big solutions to big crises: not just the pandemic and economic collapse, but also climate change, gun violence, systemic racism, immigration, and more. From the well of the House, Biden proudly advocated for just about every progressive reform that his administration supports. Yet he was silent on one major issue: the decimated state of access to safe, legal, and affordable abortion and the Republican Party’s continually escalating efforts to make it worse.

Continued: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2021/05/10/why-biden-needs-to-go-big-on-abortion/

UK – Women have right to choose abortion at home

Louise McCudden
10 May 2021

When visiting a clinic remains such a tough experience for so many, removing the option of telemedicine, without a clinical basis for doing so, would be indefensible.

In March 2020, as part of its Covid-19 response, the UK government temporarily allowed early medical abortion to be carried out at home. Previously, only the second of the two pills used to terminate a pregnancy, misoprostol, could be taken at home; mifepristone had to be taken in a clinic. Now, if the pregnancy is under 10 weeks’ gestation and a remote consultation gives the go-ahead for abortion at home (known as “telemedicine”), there is no need to visit a clinic at all. Both pills can either be collected in person or posted directly to a home address.

Continued: https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/women-have-right-to-choose-abortion-at-home

10.05.2021

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The mobile apps helping Mexican women seek abortion

Feminist groups and activists in Mexico are helping women perform ‘at-home’ abortions.

10 May 2021

Al Jazeera
(20 minute podcast)

Feminist groups and activists in Mexico have taken it upon themselves to help
women gain access to abortion, in a country where it is largely illegal. At
great risk to their safety, they use social networks to inform women on how to
perform “at-home” abortions. They have taken to the streets and to their
cellphones to push back against the law, while helping women find the support
they seek. The local efforts come as Mexico’s Supreme Court prepares to discuss
the legal merits of cases surrounding abortion in June.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/2021/5/10/the-mobile-apps-helping-mexican-women-seek-abortion

10.05.2021

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Polish women’s groups work to circumvent new abortion regime

October’s court ruling outlaws abortions even in the case of foetal abnormalities

May 8, 2021
Derek Scally in Berlin

Justyna Wydrzynska draws an exhausted breath before describing her long days assisting the Polish women who call her each day for help.

A member of the ironically titled Abortion Dream Team, a collective which helps Polish women secure terminations abroad, Ms Wydrzynska said the women who reached her were living in a waking nightmare.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/polish-women-s-groups-work-to-circumvent-new-abortion-regime-1.4558721