International court could press El Salvador to change abortion ban

By JULIA BARAJAS, STAFF WRITER
APRIL 17, 2021

About seven months into her pregnancy, Manuela passed out at her family home in a rural part of Morozán in northeast El Salvador.

Her frightened relatives, who had no car, carried her in a hammock to a hospital many miles away. There, a physician asked the groggy woman, who was hemorrhaging and had lumps on her neck, for her husband. He’d migrated to the U.S., she said.

Continued:
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-04-17/el-salvador-abortion-ban-international-court

Ghana – Abortion claims 66 lives in 2020 — GHS

APR 15, 2021

Sixty-six women died in 2020 due to abortion related complications, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has revealed.

More than 54,000 cases of abortion, out of which 25,866 cases were classified as spontaneous abortions, were recorded in the country's heath facilities in 2020.

Continued: https://www.modernghana.com/news/1075023/abortion-claims-66-lives-in-2020.html

15.04.2021

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Dr. Chris Opoku Fofie

Kenya – 15-year-old minor arrested for throwing foetus in pit latrine

3 out of 4 abortions that occurred in Africa and Latin America were unsafe.

by NANCY AGUTU, Senior Digital Reporter
08 April 2021

A 15-year-old minor has been arrested after procuring an abortion in Kabartonjo in Baringo county.

DCI director George Kinoti said detectives rescued the foetus from the verge of death after the minor threw it in the toilet.

Continued: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2021-04-08-15-year-old-minor-arrested-for-throwing-foetus-in-pit-latrine/

08.04.2021

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arresting women for abortion

fetal personhood

George Kinoti

jailing women for abortion

French Manifesto of the 343 turns 50

April 5, 2021
By Marta Garde

Paris, Apr 5 (efe-epa).- Fifty years ago, 343 women in France were called ‘sluts’ for having the courage to sign a petition admitting to having had a then illegal abortion.

Claudine Monteil, one of the signatories, was 21 years old at the time and the youngest member of the group that included famous personalities such as feminist writer and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir and actress Catherine Deneuve.

Continued: https://www.laprensalatina.com/french-manifesto-of-the-343-turns-50/

05.04.2021

French Manifesto of the 343

legalization of abortion

Lesotho- ‘Let the people decide’

3/30/2021

(MENAFN - The Post) MASERU -BASOTHO will soon have their say on a proposed law that seeks to legalise abortion.

This, after MPs managed to make some headway in their negotiations with a group of church leaders who have been vehemently opposed to the legalisation of abortion.

Continued: https://menafn.com/1101833739/Lesotho-Let-the-people-decide&source=22

30.03.2021

Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service

In Kenya, abortion focus obscures legislation towards safe reproductive healthcare services

Tagged “the abortion bill”, the Reproductive Healthcare bill of 2019 is, in fact a comprehensive document

Written by Laila Le Guen
Posted 30 March 2021

Reproductive rights in Kenya is an intimate and emotive topic where hard lines have been drawn on both sides. Pro- and anti-abortion campaigners keep cycling through episodes of heightened attention when high-profile cases arise and passions continue to run high. Meanwhile, the country registers numbers of unsafe abortions that are among the highest in Africa. Maternal mortality is high at about 6,000 deaths per year, 17 per cent of them from complications of unsafe abortion.

Limited legal recourse to access termination of pregnancy is a potential compromise that remains contested, leaving the two camps with a status quo that seems hard to shake off. What's at stake on both ends of this fiercely debated issue?

Continued: https://globalvoices.org/2021/03/30/in-kenya-abortion-campaigners-obscure-legislation-towards-safe-reproductive-healthcare-services/

The pandemic has caused as many as 1.4 million unintended pregnancies. Here’s how that impacts women’s lives.

Abigail Higgins, The Lily
Mar. 22, 2021

When the world ground to a halt a year ago, millions of women saw their contraceptive supplies dry up and their routes to replenish them cut off.

New research by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) found that 12 million women couldn’t get the family planning services they needed, leading to an estimated 1.4 million unintended pregnancies.

Continued: https://www.thelily.com/the-pandemic-has-caused-as-many-as-14-million-unintended-pregnancies-heres-how-that-impacts-womens-lives/

In Dominican Republic, proposal to ease abortion ban polarizes nation

Mar 19, 2021
By Ezequiel Abiu Lopez

SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - As the abortion rights movement gains pace across Latin America, the issue is heating up in the Dominican Republic - one of the few countries in the region with a total ban on abortion - where activists were camped for an eighth day on Friday outside the president's palace.

Latin America, where the Catholic Church has held cultural and political sway for centuries, has some of the most stringent abortion laws in the world. Argentina legalized the medical procedure in December and abortion rights activists hope it will give impetus to a regional movement.

Continued: https://wtvbam.com/2021/03/19/in-dominican-republic-proposal-to-ease-abortion-ban-polarizes-nation/

19.03.2021

religion and abortion

Ghana – Abortion stigma contributing to rise in maternal deaths — PPAG

Date: Mar - 18 - 2021
BY: Doreen Andoh

The Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) says unsafe abortion is an issue of public health concern and contributes significantly to maternal morbidity and mortality.

It says although the law permits the discontinuation of pregnancies under certain conditions, abortion-related stigma is deterring people, particularly, young girls, from accessing safe abortion services.

Continued: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/abortion-stigma-contributing-to-rise-in-maternal-deaths-ppag.html

Attitudes towards abortion in the DRC suggest there are ways to overcome stigma

March 15, 2021
Sara E Casey

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), restrictive abortion laws, limited medical resources, and high costs – all heightened by two decades of conflict – have led to barriers in access to safe abortion.

Despite the legal restrictions, abortion is common in the DRC although national data are lacking. One study in Kinshasa estimated that 61% of pregnancies in 2016 were unintended, and there was a rate of 56 abortions per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 49. An estimated 88% of abortions in Middle Africa are unsafe.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/attitudes-towards-abortion-in-the-drc-suggest-there-are-ways-to-overcome-stigma-156392

15.03.2021