Honduran Lawmakers Vote to Lock in Bans on Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage

By Reuters
Jan. 21, 2021

TEGUCIGALPA (REUTERS) - Members of the Honduran Congress voted on Thursday to amend the constitution making it much harder to reverse existing hard-line bans on abortion and same-sex marriage, as lawmakers double down on socially conservative priorities.

Lawmakers voted to require a three-quarters super-majority to change a constitutional article that gives a fetus the same legal status of a person, and another that states that civil marriage in the Central American nation can only be between a man and a woman.

Continued: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-01-21/honduran-lawmakers-vote-to-lock-in-bans-on-abortion-same-sex-marriage

21.01.2021

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constitutional amendment to ban abortion

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Juan Orlando Hernandez

Honduras lawmakers seek to lock in ban on abortion for ever

A constitutional reform would require a three-quarters majority in congress to overturn Latin America’s most draconian ban

Jeff Ernst in Tegucigalpa
Thu 21 Jan 2021

Legislators in Honduras are pushing a constitutional reform through Congress that would make it virtually impossible to legalise abortion in the country – now or in the future.

The measure, called a “shield against abortion” by its proponents, comes in response to the feminist “green wave” movement sweeping across Latin America that recently achieved its biggest victory yet with the legalisation of abortion in Argentina.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jan/21/honduras-abortion-constitutional-reform-ban

21.01.2021

shield against abortion

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Women’s Movement for Peace

Why President Biden Should Increase Access to the Abortion Pill

BY MOIRA TAN
JANUARY 20, 2021

In this op-ed, Moira Tan, a 23-year-old Washington, D.C.-based reproductive justice organizer and legal scholar, explains how access to the abortion pill can help young people. She is a member of the Young Womxn of Color 4 Reproductive Justice Leadership Council and a volunteer with Collective Action for Safe Spaces DC.

Nearly 50 years after the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade (1973), challenges to abortion continue to deluge the political landscape. From Louisiana to Kentucky to Colorado and Oregon, none of us young people organizing for abortion access in our communities are left unscathed by the relentless attacks on the constitutionally-affirmed procedure. There are unnecessary waiting periods, the proliferation of deceitful clinics, age restrictions, and more, with hundreds of bills and regulations introduced every year at the state and federal levels.

Continued: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/president-biden-abortion-pill

Trump left international abortion rights in shambles, activists say. Can Biden undo the damage?

Biden vowed to repeal the ‘global gag rule,’ but Trump’s ‘anti-woman rhetoric’ isn’t necessarily going away

Urooba Jamal
Jan. 19, 2021

In 2019, Melvine Ouyo, a health policy expert and reproductive rights activist, attended a conference in her city of Nairobi, where antiabortion campaigners were protesting the event. Shortly after that, Ouyo said, she met a pregnant 14-year old girl who had no information about how she could access a safe abortion if she chose.

Ouyo said she believes that if the Trump administration’s “global gag rule” — a U.S. foreign aid policy that restricts funding for abortion-related services — had not been in place, the campaigners wouldn’t have had such a prominent platform, and the girl would have had more information about her reproductive health options.

Continued: https://www.thelily.com/trump-left-international-abortion-rights-in-shambles-activists-say-can-biden-undo-the-damage/

Dominican Republic activists fear total abortion ban banishes women to the dark ages

Scores of Dominican women die each year from botched attempts to end unwanted pregnancies

Michelle Del Rey in Santo Domingo
Mon 18 Jan 2021

As Argentina becomes the first major Latin American country to fully legalize abortion, activists in the Dominican Republic fear their own government is banishing its women to the dark ages by upholding a total ban first implemented in 1884.

The Dominican Republic is one of four countries in Latin America – along with Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador – where abortion is illegal in all circumstances.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jan/18/dominican-republic-total-abortion-ban

New Manitoba health minister not responsible for reproductive health, despite holding purse strings

Past PC health ministers deferred all questions about abortion to minister for status of women

Marina von Stackelberg · CBC News
Posted: Jan 13, 2021

Manitoba's Department of Health may be in charge of the funding, but the Progressive Conservative government has decided talking about reproductive health — including abortion — remains a women's issue.

The office for newly appointed Health Minister Heather Stefanson confirmed she'll continue the PC government's practice of sending questions about reproductive health care to the minister for the status of women.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/reproductive-health-minister-1.5870793

Group Takes Legal Action Over Lack of Abortion Services in Northern Ireland

A human rights group says the government’s inaction has left a health care void in a country where the procedure was legalized in 2019, but remains largely unavailable.

By Megan Specia
Jan. 11, 2021

A human rights group in Northern Ireland is taking legal action against the government over its failure to provide abortion access, the group announced on Monday, highlighting the continuing struggle for safe abortions more than a year after the procedure was legalized in the region.

The organization, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, cited deep concerns about a lack of abortion services, which it says has left a health care void for many women and girls.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/world/europe/northern-ireland-abortion.html

Victory for Argentina’s women as abortion charges are dropped

Hundreds of criminal cases could be halted following landmark change in legislation

Amy Booth in Buenos Aires
Sun 10 Jan 2021

Argentina has announced it will drop criminal charges against women accused of having abortions following the government’s historic decision to legalise the procedure.

The announcement offers hope to the mostly poor and marginalised women facing criminal sanctions. But lingering problems such as obstetric violence and sexism in the justice system show the struggle for reproductive justice is not over, according to campaigners.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/10/victory-for-argentinas-women-as-abortion-charges-are-dropped

UK ministers face legal action over lack of abortion services in Northern Ireland

Exclusive: government accused of failing to ensure access more than a year after terminations legalised

Alexandra Topping
Sun 10 Jan 2021

Northern Ireland’s human rights commission (NIHRC) has launched a landmark legal action against the UK government for its failure to commission safe and accessible abortion services more than a year after abortion was made legal in the country, the Guardian can reveal.

The Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, is accused of unlawfully denying the rights of women in the country, who experts warn are being forced to use unregulated services and to travel to high-risk areas during the pandemic. The NIHRC is also taking action against the Northern Ireland Executive and the country’s Department of Health.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/10/uk-ministers-face-legal-action-over-lack-abortion-services-northern-ireland

Canada – New Brunswick being sued over abortion access

Lawsuit filed by civil liberties group seeks to force government to fund abortion services in private clinics

Jacques Poitras · CBC News
Posted: Jan 07, 2021

A national civil liberties group has officially launched a lawsuit aimed at forcing the New Brunswick government to fund abortion services in private clinics.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association filed the constitutional challenge in Court of Queen's Bench in Fredericton. "The province is violating women's, girls' and trans people's fundamental right to make their own choices, their right to privacy, to safety and, of course, to equality," Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, the CCLA's director of equality programs, told reporters.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/abortion-new-brunswick-lawsuit-civil-liberties-association-medicare-1.5864555