LIFE empowers young women to prevent unsafe abortion

February 14, 2025
by Chinyere Okoroafor

No fewer than 40 young women from that ages of 15 – 35 years have been trained on the importance of reproductive health and the dangers of unsafe abortion in Lagos by Leadership Initiative for Youth Empowerment (LIFE).

The three day capacity building workshop On Amplifying female voices in demanding accountability on preventable maternal deaths held at Sunfit, Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos.

It aimed at equipping young individuals with the knowledge to make informed decisions about their bodies and reproductive choices which will help reduce the number of deaths from unsafe abortions. The project aims to build the capacity of 40% of participants to educate others and create awareness.

Continued: https://thenationonlineng.net/life-empowers-young-women-to-prevent-unsafe-abortion/


How Trump and Musk’s War on Government Will Lead to More Abortions

There would be 1.3 million unsafe abortions.”

David Corn, Washington, DC, Bureau Chief. Mother Jones
Feb 12, 2025

In 2023, during a speech at a Washington, DC, gala for the far-right Faith & Freedom Coalition, Donald Trump declared that he was proud to be “the most pro-life president” in US history. Yet with the war on the federal government that he and his billionaire sidekick Elon Musk are now waging, one probable result will likely not please his conservative Christian allies: an increase in the number of abortions, perhaps by over 1 million.

The first target of the Trump-Musk crusade has been the US Agency for International Development, the federal agency that distributes foreign aid through programs that help millions of people defend against deadly diseases (such as malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis, Covid, and ebola), obtain clean water, gain access to health care, bolster democratic institutions, and build more productive local economies. Of its $23.4 billion budget for 2024, the agency earmarked $2.2 billion for health initiatives. About one-quarter of that was to be spent on clean-water programs. Two-hundred-and-forty-seven million dollars was committed to maternal and child health. Programs for family planning and reproductive health received $191 million. (Including other government programs, Congress in recent years has annually appropriated about $600 million in total for overseas family planning.)

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/donald-trump-elon-musk-usaid-abortions/


Kenya – Health experts warn restrictive policy will drive more women toward unsafe abortions

Unsafe abortions, driven by restrictive laws and pervasive stigma, continue to claim lives and destroy futures.

Monday, February 10, 2025
By Angeline Ochieng

A few hours after leaving a herbalist's house, Mercy* started experiencing strong abdominal pains. A sudden, hot rush of a warm liquid running down Mercy's inner thighs startled her. To her shock, she noticed blood flow.

The 16-year-old felt a little relieved. Hours earlier, she had been a guest of the herbalist, and she knew for certain these were after-effects of the unsafe abortion procedure she had undergone in the company of a friend at her rural home in Bungoma.

Continued: https://nation.africa/kenya/health/health-experts-warn-restrictive-policy-will-drive-more-women-toward-unsafe-abortions--4921212


Right wing policies threaten gender equality and health security

Young people call for all sexual and reproductive health services including safe abortion rights

SHOBHA SHUKLA – CNS
08 Feb 2025

Donald Trump’s presidency is likely to have far-reaching consequences for sexual and reproductive health, bodily autonomy and human rights worldwide. He has already withdrawn USA’s financial support to the UN health agency World Health Organization (WHO), and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will no longer share its invaluable expertise with the WHO.

Also all ongoing (as well as future) projects funded by US Agency for International Development (USAID) have been put on immediate hold. Many of these are lifesaving health programmes, including those directly related to sexual and reproductive health services.

Continued: https://kashmirtimes.com/opinion/comment-articles/right-wing-policies-threaten-gender-equality-and-health-security


Why women risk their lives and turn to quacks, pills for abortions

Due to poor government facilities and the denial of the procedure due to laws banning sex selection, marginalised women opt for cheaper solutions.

Menaka Rao, IndiaSpend.com
Feb 4, 2025

As a girl growing up in small-town Uttar Pradesh, Pooja wanted to “get ahead in life”. She wanted to be a working woman, earn a comfortable living and get out of the confines of her village. But getting married soon after graduation – when she was just 21 – paused her plans.

Pooja, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, lives in Azamgarh’s Atraulia block and has two sons, seven and 12 years. “I was stuck taking care of two children,” she said. But she managed to study further and finished her Bachelors in Education while her second child was a baby. Now, after working all day, she studies at night for government competitive exams for teacher jobs.

Continued: https://scroll.in/article/1078405/why-women-risk-their-lives-and-turn-to-quacks-pills-for-abortions


The Trump administration has launched a “war on development”, leading human rights organisations say

3 Feb 2025 

Joint statement by ILGA World and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)

GENEVA – The Trump administration is using foreign aid as a deadly political weapon, ILGA World and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) said today, and millions of people are already in dire straits because of its policies.

The executive order implementing a 90-day pause in US foreign development aid is wreaking havoc on the lifesaving work of human rights, civil society, and grassroots organisations —according to ILGA World and IPPF.

Continued: https://reliefweb.int/report/world/trump-administration-has-launched-war-development-leading-human-rights-organisations-say


Nigeria – FG launches MAMII Project To Halt Maternal, Neonatal Mortality in Kano

Thursday, 30 January 2025
By Victor Christopher

As part of halting avoidable death, the federal government says efforts are underway to improve access to healthcare services for pregnant women and reduce maternal mortality.

The coordinating minister of health, Professor Ali Pate disclosed this at the launch of the Maternal & Neonatal Mortality Innovative Initiative MAMII in Kano.

Continued: https://www.nigeriainfo.fm/news/homepagelagos/fg-launches-mamii-project-to-halt-maternal-neonatal-mortality-in-kano/


Nigeria – How Unsafe Abortion Causes Life-Threatening Complications For Women – LIFE

Taiwo Jimoh 
January 29, 2025

Unsafe abortion is a significant contributor to maternal deaths in Nigeria, with estimates ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 deaths annually. This high mortality rate is primarily due to restrictive abortion laws, which drive women to seek unsafe procedures from unqualified practitioners majority of maternal deaths in Nigeria are linked to unsafe abortions.

According to a recent study carried out by the Leadership Initiative For Youth Empowerment (LIFE), unsafe abortion is still a major public health concern in Nigeria and a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in the country.

Continued: https://newtelegraphng.com/how-unsafe-abortion-causes-life-threatening-complications-for-women-life/#google_vignette


Attacks on reproductive health will have devastating consequences worldwide

MSF is committed to ensuring people have access to sexual and reproductive health services, but we cannot do it alone.

January 28, 2025

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) condemns the Trump Administration’s recent reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy, more commonly known as the Global Gag Rule, as well as the US government’s support of the so-called Geneva Consensus Declaration.

The Global Gag Rule prevents organizations abroad from using their own non-US government funds to provide or advocate for safe abortion care as a condition to receive US global health assistance. This includes direct services, as well as information, counseling, and referrals, even in countries where abortion is legal. When the policy was last in place from 2017 to 2021, critical health programs were disrupted and suspended in low- and middle-income countries.

Continued: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/attacks-reproductive-health-will-have-devastating-consequences-worldwide


Africa – Young people call for all sexual and reproductive health services including safe abortion rights

Jan 27, 2025
By Shobha Shukla, Africa Science News

Not dismayed with regressive reimposition of “global gag rule”, young people are calling to decriminalize abortion and make safe and legal abortion accessible globally to all, including the youth. Six out of 10 unplanned pregnancies end in induced abortion, and around 45% of these abortions are unsafe.

Governments of all countries worldwide will meet at the 69th session of UN Commission on Status of Women (CSW) in March 2025 to review progress an the Beijing Declaration.  

Continued: https://africasciencenews.org/young-people-call-for-all-sexual-and-reproductive-health-services-including-safe-abortion-rights/