Uganda – Unsafe abortions increasingly recorded among adult women, new data shows

The Independent
February 9, 2026

Unsafe abortion is no longer predominantly a problem among teenage girls, as previously reported. New health surveillance data indicate that adult women, many of them married and in their prime reproductive years, now account for a growing proportion of abortion-related deaths in Uganda.

According to the Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) report for the Financial Year 2024/2025, abortion-related complications account for 4 per cent of all maternal deaths, translating to 189 deaths per 100,000 live births nationwide. The situation is particularly alarming in the Busoga sub-region, where abortion-related deaths stand at 7 per cent, with most cases occurring among women aged 25 years and above.

Continued; https://www.independent.co.ug/unsafe-abortions-increasingly-recorded-among-adult-women-new-data-shows/

09.02.2026

News

Aggrey Bameka

Buwenge General Hospital

Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response

Zimbabwe – Poverty drives rise in unsafe abortions

February 8, 2026
Mashudu Mambo

Poverty has been identified as one of the leading factors behind the rise in illegal and unsafe abortions in many areas across the country where reports indicate that some families are extorting money from alleged perpetrators to conceal rape cases.

According to reports, several sexual abuse cases, especially those involving juveniles are being settled privately, particularly when the alleged perpetrators are from better-off families.

Continued: https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/poverty-drives-rise-in-unsafe-abortions/

08.02.2026

Zimbabwe – Dilemma reignites debate on rape, abortion and women rights

February 7, 2026
Muchaneta Chimuka, Features Writer

MULTI-AWARD-WINNING filmmaker, Joe Njagu’s Dilemma, explores how a couple’s dream of having a baby turns nasty after Chloe Thandeka “Busi” Ncube is gang-raped by armed robbers at their matrimonial home and impregnated, leaving her traumatised.

Cultural and religious beliefs within her family become a stumbling block for Busi to access safe abortion services at the local clinic and for her to get justice. This creates a big wound in the heart of the vulnerable woman.

Continued: https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/dilemma-reignites-debate-on-rape-abortion-and-women-rights/

07.02.2026

Termination of Pregnancy Act

Nigeria – Maternal mortality: Experts warn Ogun residents against patronising quacks

January 31, 2026
By Gift Oba

In a bid to reduce maternal deaths caused by unsafe abortions, experts and stakeholders in Ogun State have warned residents to seek medical care from qualified and well-trained doctors rather than quacks.

The warning was given at a one-day training for civil society organisations on basic reproductive health issues and the reduction of unsafe abortions, held on Friday in Abeokuta.

The President of the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Ogun State branch, Dr Deborah Osisanwo, explained that every life is important, especially that of mothers, and urged quacks to desist from terminating pregnancies but instead refer such cases to professional health practitioners.

Continued: https://dailypost.ng/2026/01/31/maternal-mortality-experts-warn-ogun-residents-against-patronising-quacks/

31.01.2026

News

Dapo Wahaab

Dr Deborah Osisanwo

Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria

STOP guidelines for abortion

Expanded Global Gag Rule is a major blow to global health and human rights

The newly expanded rule further advances an extreme anti-rights agenda

Ipas
January 29, 2026

The Jan. 27 expansion of the Global Gag Rule is just the latest action by the current U.S. administration to decimate global health and human rights.

“This policy weaponizes U.S. foreign aid to force the administration’s harmful agenda on people around the world,” says Anu Kumar, Ipas President and CEO. The newly expanded Global Gag Rule will use the power of all non-military U.S. foreign funds to restrict work by a wide array of actors on gender equity, LGBTQI+ rights, and diversity, equity and inclusion—as well as abortion.

“Bullying countries into complying with anti-rights and extremist ideology is despicable and unacceptable,” Kumar says. “The imperialist goals of this administration are on full display in this policy’s conditions to receive U.S. foreign assistance.”

Continued: https://www.ipas.org/news/expanded-global-gag-rule-blow-to-global-health/

29.01.2026

Commentary

Anu Kumar

Dr. Jean-Claude Mulunda

Liberia: Former Legislator and Abortion Advocate Says Public Health Bill Is Not “Abortion on Demand,” But Live Saving Measure

By Joyclyn Wea
January 29, 2026

When a pregnancy turns dangerous, doctors do not always have time to debate words. Liberian pharmacist and former politician Joseph Somwarbi told a recent workshop in Monrovia that abortion opponents have taken advantage of the issue to score political points at the cost of thousands of Liberian women’s and children’s lives.

Somwarbi, who said he lost his seat as representative from Nimba County and his role as chairman of the House Committee on Health over his support for the bill, said the abortion provision is designed to give doctors, women, and their families the chance to save women’s lives when pregnancy is threatening to kill or injure them and the unborn child.

Continued: https://frontpageafricaonline.com/health/liberia-former-legislator-and-abortion-advocate-says-public-health-bill-is-not-abortion-on-demand-but-live-saving-measure/

29.01.2026

Liberia's Public Health Bill

Uganda – Rising abortion-induced complication cases alarm Soroti hospital authorities

by Juliet Akello
January 29, 2026

Soroti Hospital data shows that about 80 abortion-related cases were handled in the 2025-2026 period, compared to less than 50 cases reported the previous year. Medical staff say the increase points to a growing prevalence of unsafe and induced abortions in communities served by the facility.

Continued: https://www.newvision.co.ug/category/health/rising-abortion-induced-complication-cases-al-NV_227085_022026

29.01.2026

Soroti Regional Referral Hospital

Uganda Penal Code Act

MSF condemns sweeping expansion of the Global Gag Rule

The US Government’s new Promoting Human Flourishing in Foreign Assistance policy entrenches discrimination against the world’s most vulnerable.

January 27, 2026

On Friday, the Trump Administration introduced its new Promoting Human Flourishing in Foreign Assistance (PHFFA) policy, which expands the Global Gag Rule to its most extreme version to date and imposes alarming new conditions, in an attempt to reshape US foreign assistance along ideological lines.

The policy intensifies its prohibition on safe abortion care and adds extensive restrictions on other categories of health and rights, including gender-affirming and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) frameworks. These moves directly contradict established medical consensus and evidence-based standards for delivering effective health care and humanitarian assistance.

Continued: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/msf-condemns-sweeping-expansion-global-gag-rule

USA: Expansion of Global Gag Rule will threaten lives and rights of millions worldwide

23 January 2026
Amnesty International

In response to the expected announcement by the Trump administration on Friday of an expansion of the Global Gag Rule blocking US international aid to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counselling or information, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy Policy & Campaigns, Erika Guevara-Rosas, said:

“The expansion of the Global Gag Rule is an assault on human rights. By targeting organizations that support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and recognize gender diversity, the Trump administration is deliberately deepening inequality and putting the lives of millions around the world at risk.

Continued; https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2026/01/usa-expansion-of-global-gag-rule-will-threaten-lives-and-rights-of-millions-worldwide/

23.01.2026

Commentary

Amnesty International

The shared challenges of giving birth

The stories of patients from Nigeria, Central African Republic, and Bangladesh illustrate the shared challenges pregnant women face trying to access care.

January 22, 2026
Doctors without Borders

Every two minutes, a woman dies from complications of pregnancy or childbirth. Most of these deaths would be preventable with timely care.

Timely care, however, can be difficult to access in many of the countries where Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) works, where violence, poverty, insecurity, and other obstacles can delay care or push it out of reach when it’s needed. For a pregnant woman with complications like eclampsia or hemorrhage, this can be life-threatening.

Continued: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/shared-challenges-giving-birth