Jamaica – Church hypocrisy on abortion

Junior minister Cuthbert-Flynn lashes religious leaders for ignoring rapists, men who impregnate teens

Monday, May 03, 2021
BY BRITTNY HUTCHINSON

CHURCH leaders came in for strong lashing yesterday for their strident opposition to the decriminalisation of abortion while remaining mostly silent concerning men who rape and impregnate women and girls, often forcing them to abort the pregnancy.

Seemingly a lone voice in the parliamentary wilderness as she battles for decriminalising of abortions — pre-term removal of the foetus from the uterus — junior minister for health and wellness Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn also wants the men who put women in that situation to be punished, including being sent to prison.

Continued: https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/front-page/church-hypocrisy-on-abortion-junior-minister-cuthbert-flynn-lashes-religious-leaders-for-ignoring-rapists-men-who-impregnate-teens_220538

Time to stop sacrificing lives of Kenyan women and girls at the altar of religious fundamentalism

April 29, 2021
By Venoranda Kuboka, Josephine Achieng and Maureen Kemunto

We don’t talk about religious fundamentalism enough, especially its negative effects on the rights, health and dignity of women in Kenya.

Religious fundamentalism is one of the most pervasive social maladies in Kenyan today, especially to the lives of women because it has stigmatized, restricted and criminalized access to essential reproductive health services.

Continued: https://citizentv.co.ke/blogs/opinion-time-to-stop-sacrificing-lives-of-kenyan-women-and-girls-at-the-altar-of-religious-fundamentalism-10798167/

Malawi Parliament Rejects Debate On Liberalizing Abortion Law

By Lameck Masina
March 12, 2021

BLANTYRE, MALAWI - Malawi's National Assembly has rejected a motion to debate liberalizing the country's strict law against abortion, which is only allowed if the mother's life is at risk.  Despite thousands of Malawian women dying each year from unsafe abortions, lawmakers on Thursday unanimously rejected a motion to debate the long-delayed Termination of Pregnancy Bill.  

The bill, pushed by activists since 2015, aimed to expand legal abortion from cases where the mother’s life is at risk to include rape, incest, fetal deformity, and threats to health. 

Continued: https://www.voanews.com/africa/malawi-parliament-rejects-debate-liberalizing-abortion-law

Strickland Introduces Legislation To Protect Reproductive Health Rights Worldwide By Repealing the Harmful Helms Amendment

MARCH 11, 2021
BY CONGRESSWOMAN MARILYN STRICKLAND

In commemoration of International Women’s Day and during Women’s History Month, Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) introduced the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act with Representatives Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Norma Torres (D-CA) and over 140 original cosponsors.

This historic legislation would repeal the Helms Amendment, which attacks reproductive rights by banning the use of U.S. foreign assistance funds on abortion services overseas. Repealing the Helms Amendment is a critical step toward achieving reproductive and economic freedom and equity for millions worldwide. The Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act is supported and endorsed by a diverse coalition of more than 170 organizations.

Continued: https://thesubtimes.com/2021/03/11/strickland-introduces-legislation-to-protect-reproductive-health-rights-worldwide-by-repealing-the-harmful-helms-amendment/

Malawi: Abortion Bill in Parliament On Thursday As Malawi As Churches Oppose

10 MARCH 2021

By Chipambano Mbewe, Nyasa Times (Leeds)

The Malawi Parliamentary Health Committee says it will present and move a
motion of the Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) bill on Thursday, March 11 2021 in
the Parliament which will also be presented as a Private Member's Bill
respectively in the face of opposition from faith groups.

If passed, the termination of pregnancy bill would allow abortions when a
woman's mental or physical health is in danger, in cases of rape and incest,
and when there are serious foetal abnormalities.

Continued: https://allafrica.com/stories/202103110315.html

Uganda – Role of morality in legal and policy development process

WEDNESDAY MARCH 10 2021
Annah Kukundakwe

President Yoweri Museveni in his speech during the NRM Liberation Day on January 26 said people should leave their religious beliefs at home and not carry them to office.

I am not sure what motivated him to take this stance, but in my case, I am motivated by the fact that the morality whip that is mainly wielded by religious leaders and members of their congregation, has proven to be untenable.

Continued: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/oped/commentary/role-of-morality-in-legal-and-policy-development-process-3318306

10.03.2021

Featured

Opinion

Annah Kukundakwe

National Sexuality Education framework

religion and abortion

Thousands of women dying ‘like chickens’ as efforts to change Malawi’s strict abortion laws stall

Roughly 12,000 women die from back street abortions each year in Malawi, yet continuing efforts to relax strict laws face heavy opposition

By Henry Kijimwana Mhango, MANGOCHI, MALAWI
19 February 2021

It was Angrita's only choice: to terminate a pregnancy by any means necessary and save her family from shame. But the procedure took her to the grave.

The 14 year old orphan was rejected by a man who she says impregnated her. Dorothy Fundai, her grandmother, hides tears as she recalls how Angrita’s fear of being a “laughing stock” in her remote village near Mangochi, at the southern tip of Lake Malawi, drove her to adopt dangerous methods to terminate her pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/thousands-women-dying-like-chickens-efforts-change-malawis-strict/

Jamaica – Churches must back off from abortion issue, says Reverend

Sunday | February 7, 2021
Corey Robinson - Senior Staff Reporter

Discussions on abortion should not be limited to religion and morality, and according to one man of the cloth, if the churches are not prepared to consider the social implications of the practice, they best take a back pew and leave the discussion solely to the policymakers.

Straight-talking Anglican cleric, the Reverend Sean Major-Campbell – while reinforcing his long-standing view that Christianity is only effective so far as its relevance to the lives of people – said church leaders who take a myopic approach on the abortion discussion are doing a disservice to Jamaican women.

Continued: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20210207/churches-must-back-abortion-issue-says-reverend

Biden’s refusal to condemn abortion elicits abhorrent statement from Cardinal Muller

By Michael Coren, Contributing Columnist, Toronto Star

Tue.,
Feb. 2, 2021

In a new interview, Cardinal Gerhard Muller, the former Prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — what was in more robust times
known as the Roman Catholic inquisition — has made a quite extraordinary
statement about the U.S. and President Joe Biden.

“Now the U.S., with its conglomerated political, media and economic power,” he
says, “stands at the head of the most subtly brutal campaign to de-Christianize
Western culture in the last 100 years.”

Continued: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2021/02/01/bidens-refusal-to-condemn-abortion-elicits-abhorrent-statement-from-cardinal-muller.html

02.02.2021

Featured

Opinion

Cardinal Gerhard Muller

Catholics and abortion

Doctrine of the Faith

Thai monk faces online backlash over abortion stance

JANUARY 28, 2021
By Nanchanok Wongsamuth

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Buddhist monk known for his support for LGBT+ rights has sparked outrage among conservatives after he called for Thailand to decriminalise abortion.

Phra Shine Waradhammo was among about 20 pro-choice activists who protested in front of the Thai parliament this week, calling for all penalties to be revoked for women who choose to terminate a pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-women-buddhism-trfn/thai-monk-faces-online-backlash-over-abortion-stance-idUSKBN29Y0P7

28.01.2021