Australia – How abortion is weaponised in family court

A recent change to the Family Law Act may still fall short of protecting women from being cross-examined about their sexual health history.

By Madison Griffiths
June 14 – 20, 2025

In the mid 1990s, Louisa* – barely an adult – made two decisions to spare herself a lifetime of pain. On two separate occasions, she slipped quietly through the gates of a concealed clinic, careful to avoid the protesters gathered out the front. Louisa had weighed up her options and knew that acquiring abortion care was her best bet. She wasn’t yet financially or emotionally fit to become a mother. Nor could she bear to be tethered to the man who had got her pregnant.

Almost two decades later, in 2021, Louisa arrived at the Family Law Court in Brisbane’s central business district. She was ready, she thought, to fight for the custody of her then seven-year-old daughter. The last thing she expected was for those choices in her early 20s to be raised in the hearings. On the sixth day, the independent children’s lawyer asked Louisa’s ex-husband if he was aware that, in a previous relationship, she had terminated two pregnancies.

Continued: https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/2025/06/14/how-abortion-weaponised-family-court

UK – Anti-choice groups and some MPs want to end pills-by-post abortions that help thousands of women a year

It would be a huge blow to women's rights and hit those in vulnerable situations especially hard

By Jennifer Savin
13 June 2025

A group of cross-party MPs, including Reform's Richard Tice and Caroline Johnson of the Conservative Party, backed by ardent anti-choice groups with religious affiliations, are hoping to push forward an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill next week which would see the end of telemedicine (pills-by-post) abortions.

This method of ending a pregnancy is a preferred choice for thousands of women every year, particularly those who live in remote areas and who cannot easily access a clinic in person, and those in vulnerable situations, such as an abusive relationship.

Continued: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/health/a65057077/telemedicine-abortion-amendment/

13.06.2025

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abortion law reform

Caroline Johnson

Crime and Policing bill

MSI Reproductive Choices

Richard Tice

telemedicine abortion

What Arizonans can learn from Brazil’s near-total abortion ban

By Rep. Analise Ortiz
June 13, 2025

This is the powerful translation of Nem Presa, Nem Morta, the name of an advocacy organization that is leading the resistance against anti-abortion laws in Brazil. In a country with a near-total ban, this is more than a name, it is a rallying cry against restrictions that can lead to jail time and death.

I met them, and other activists, on a legislative delegation to Brazil made possible by the State Innovation Exchange and the Women’s Equality Center. Why should a State Senator from Arizona care about abortion policy in Latin America when our state just passed Prop. 139 to enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution? Because by strengthening connections between the U.S. and Brazil, we can exchange strategies and deepen our understanding of how to stand in resistance to protect each other across the globe.

Here are four ways:.

Continued: https://coppercourier.com/opinion/opinion-what-arizonans-can-learn-from-brazils-near-total-abortion-ban/

Wales is UK worst for surgical abortions, says charity

June 13, 2025
Kate Morgan, Communities correspondent, BBC Wales News

Wales is the worst part of the UK for providing surgical abortions with many women treated in England, according to a leading healthcare charity.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said it was "astonishing" Wales was behind Northern Ireland, where abortion was only decriminalised in 2019.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9890ld7dmjo

13.06.2025

News

Bpas

British Pregnancy Advisory Service

Russian officials approve abortion propaganda ban, increase pressure on women

Darina Boykova | U. Ottawa Faculty of Law, CA
June 12, 2025

Saint Petersburg legislators approved a provincial bill Wednesday to introduce fines for “encouragement of abortions” to purportedly help create a “safe… family and motherhood informational environment” in the region.

The bill would establish an increasing fine scale for citizens, public persons, and people of legal professions for encouraging abortions. When asked why the male authors of the bill did not consult female legislators, one of them stated, “We stand on the side of protection of interests of women. We clearly understand the situations women are in.”

Continued: https://www.jurist.org/news/2025/06/russian-officials-approve-abortion-propaganda-prohibition-increase-pressure-on-women/

12.06.2025

USA – Inside the legal fight over the telehealth clinics that help women defy abortion bans

Every month, thousands of women evade abortion bans in their home states by turning to telehealth clinics willing to send them pregnancy-ending drugs through the mail

By MICHAEL HILL and SUSAN HAIGH, Associated Press
June 12, 2025

Every month, thousands of women thwart abortion bans in their home states by turning to telehealth clinics willing to prescribe pregnancy-ending drugs online and ship them anywhere in the country.

Whether this is legal, though, is a matter of debate. Two legal cases involving a New York doctor could wind up testing the shield laws some states have passed to protect telehealth providers who ship abortion pills nationwide.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/inside-legal-fight-telehealth-clinics-women-defy-abortion-122763768

Why are so many European microstates against abortion?

In Andorra and Liechtenstein, abortion is still banned. In Monaco, it is illegal to perform an abortion. San Marino is an exception: in 2022 abortion was finally legalised. From the seaside principality of Monaco to the hilly enclave of San Marino, ENTR set out to meet those who fought sometimes insurmountable battles in the smallest of countries to break one of the biggest taboos.

June 12, 2025
By: Renée BERTINI, Jade BRIEND-GUY

“I didn't actually know I was pregnant, because I was on the pill". Under the already scorching May sun, Juliette Rapaire, 30, begins her story with a scenario common to many who choose to have an abortion. "It was the end of 2022, I went to see a gynaecologist for ovarian cysts, and he told me that I was pregnant. I was almost a month pregnant, so it was still within the legal time frame to get an abortion in France."

The young Monegasque woman then decided to contact a French gynaecologist practicing just across Monaco’s borders. On paper, abortion has been decriminalised in the microstate since 2019. People choosing to terminate their pregnancy no longer risk a fine or imprisonment. But doctors and midwives who conduct abortions still risk sanctions: five to ten years in prison and a blanket ban on practicing medicine. This means people from Monaco trying to get an abortion still do so elsewhere, mainly in France.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20250612-why-are-so-many-european-microstates-against-abortion-monaco-san-marino

Everything you need to know ahead of an important UK vote on abortion next week

Under a Victorian law, abortion is still technically illegal in the UK – here's what is happening to fight that

By Marie-Claire Chappet
12 June 2025

Many living in the UK may be unaware that, though abortions can be accessed safely and legally in this country, abortion is – at least technically – still illegal. This is because of a preexisting law from 1861, a legal quirk that an upcoming parliamentary vote hopes to resolve.

All abortions that take place in the UK are only available under the 1967 Abortion Act, which sets out certain parameters – such as the time period in which one can have a termination and that requests must have medical approval. This means that any abortion which happens outside of these restrictions is a criminal act, subject to lengthy jail time. The 1861 law serves as the legal framework. The 1967 act is the exception.

Continued: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/culture-news/a65034495/uk-vote-on-abortion/

12.06.2025

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1967 Abortion Act

abortion law reform

British Pregnancy Advisory Service

Katherine O’Brien

MSI Reproductive Choices

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

The Network: Breaking Bread

season 24, episode 2
June 12, 2025
34-Minute Listen, with Transcript
by Marta Martínez, Victoria Estrada, Abby Wendle

The network had developed a method that had the potential to get women widespread access to safe abortions. But to make that happen, a whisper network wasn't enough.

Hosts Marta and Victoria take us across Latin America to trace how the network entered a new era. Women spoke up and teamed up. They challenged each other and sometimes even broke the law.

Podcast and transcript: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1263508253

12.06.2025

Center to Defend Landmark Decision in Kenya Guaranteeing Abortion Access for Survivors of Sexual Violence

Anti-rights groups seek to overturn a 2019 judgment in the case of a 14-year-old girl who died as a result of an unsafe abortion in Kenya.

Center for Reproductive Rights
June 10, 2025

In 2019, the High Court of Kenya affirmed that the Kenyan Constitution guarantees survivors of sexual violence access to safe and legal abortion care. The historic decision came in a case brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights and its partners on behalf of the family of JMM, a 14-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted, became pregnant, and died from complications of an unsafe abortion.

The Center is expected to be at the Kenya Court of Appeal in the coming weeks to defend that judgment from anti-rights groups that are asking the Court to overturn it. In appealing the High Court’s decision in the case, FIDA-Kenya and others v. Attorney General and others, the Kenyan Christian Professional Forum and the Kenya Attorney General argue that abortion is not a constitutional right.

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/jmm-fida-appeal-abortion-kenya/

10.06.2025