South Africa – Abortion: The impact of poverty and racial oppression

STAFF REPORTER KHOMAS
Oct 23, 2020

As a preliminary remark, this article continues my reflection on the complex matter of abortion, exploring this moral mine-field with a sobre mind and reasonable approach. South Africa had a high maternal mortality rate, especially among the “African” population. Septic abortion is a major contributor to maternal death incidence rates.

Various studies have shown the incidence,
extent and terrible consequences of unsafe abortion.

Continued: https://neweralive.na/posts/opinion-abortion-the-impact-of-poverty-and-racial-oppression

23.10.2020

Featured

Opinion

Abortion and Sterilization Act

Khomas

maternal death

maternal mortality

maternal mortality rate

septic abortion

Termination for Pregnancy Act of 1996

An Anti-Abortion Law Killed Rosie Jimenez 43 Years Ago. It’s Still In Effect

ZOE AVELLAN
OCTOBER 20, 2020

When I was younger, I always welcomed October — the change of seasons, the cooler weather, the whole autumn experience. Now, October reminds me of the struggles I overcame, and it makes me think about a young Tejana who faced similar struggles 43 years ago — with tragic consequences.

Rosie Jimenez was born and raised about an hour away from my hometown, in the region of southern Texas known as the Rio Grande Valley. She came from a family similar to mine, with Mexican roots and humble beginnings. But I only heard about her story a few years ago.

Continued: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/10/10069843/hyde-amendment-abortion-funding-cost-care

Mistreated pregnant women deserve more than your outrage

A meaningful response to obstetric violence requires political will from policy-makers and accountability for government failures.

Khatondi Soita Wepukhulu
16 October 2020

Global leaders must act urgently to ensure that safety and dignity in pregnancy and childbirth become automatic, integral parts of the maternal health care experience of all women.

On 18 September 2020, a harrowing video appeared on Twitter. It showed a woman, Jackline Faustina, giving birth on the road outside Nairobi’s Pumwani maternity hospital. The woman, it was said and later confirmed by city authorities, had been denied entry into the hospital. It was the second day of a ‘go-slow’ industrial action by hospital staff.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/mistreated-pregnant-women-deserve-more-your-outrage/

America must stop using international aid to export anti-abortion ideology

‘US policies have restricted access to comprehensive and often lifesaving, reproductive healthcare.’

Anu Kumar and Patty Skuster, Ipas
15 October 2020

At this moment in US political history, Americans have a chance to rid the United States of its contradictory, confusing, and ideologically driven approach to reproductive health around the world.

The United States is the largest donor to global health and humanitarian assistance. But for decades it has been a case study in contradictions when it comes to aid and foreign policy, and in no area is this more evident than reproductive health and rights, particularly abortion.

Continued: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/2020/10/15/US-abortion-sexual-reproductive-health-aid

The rape survivors facing an ‘impossible choice’ in Brazil

By Ana Ionova, Rio de Janeiro
Oct 14, 2020

Paloma had just cobbled together enough money for a clandestine abortion when the coronavirus pandemic shuttered much of Brazil.

The 27-year-old had been raped late last year by an ex-boyfriend who remained a close family friend. The mother of two found out she was pregnant a few weeks later, after moving from her native Bahia to Minas Gerais, a nearby state, for work.

"I didn't know what to do," recalls Paloma. "The only thing I was certain of was that I didn't want this child."

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54447343

Malawi: Chiefs Back Abortion Bill, Urge Malawi MPs to Pass Law On Termination of Pregnancy

13 OCTOBER 2020
Nyasa Times (Leeds)
By Osman Faiti

Some chiefs in the Southern Region have backed an amendment of the abortion law that allows for the termination of unwanted pregnancies under certain conditions and are persuading members of Parliament to pass the Termination of Pregnancy Bill when it is tabled for debate during the current sitting of the National Assembly.

Under the yet to be enacted Termination of Pregnancy Bill, expectant mothers in Malawi would be afforded the opportunity to seek abortion in certain circumstances, without having to resort to backstreet procedures that have led to the death of scores of women.

Continued: https://allafrica.com/stories/202010130280.html

13.10.2020

Religious Network for Choice

Termination of Pregnancy Bill

Bhutan – Demand for abortion pills— a legal dilemma

October 10, 2020

The news of “demand for abortion pills rise in Thimphu” in Kuensel this week deserves our attention. The horrifying stories of abandonment of human fetuses and informal reports of unsafe abortions taking place across the border are sadly not uncommon in Bhutan. The issue of abortion is sensitive and controversial because the very nature of abortion is emotional, often against one’s social values and spiritual beliefs. It is also of moral and ethical dilemma among physicians.

Section 146 of the Penal Code of Bhutan (PCB), 2004, criminalizes abortion except when the mother’s life is in danger or of unsound mental condition or when pregnancy is a result of rape or incest. This provision is discriminatory itself as abortion is a crime only if certain criteria are not met violating the rights of both the mother and fetus.

Continued : https://kuenselonline.com/demand-for-abortion-pills-a-legal-dilemma/

The State of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: A Conversation with Dr. Zara Ahmed

October 9, 2020
By Deekshita Ramanarayanan
15-minute podcast

“Unintended pregnancy and abortion are reproductive health experiences shared by tens of millions of people around the world, irrespective of personal status or circumstance. What differs though are the obstacles,” said Dr. Zara Ahmed, Associate Director of Federal Issues at the Guttmacher Institute in this week’s Friday Podcast. Research from the Guttmacher Institute on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) found that in 2018, there were 121 million unintended pregnancies globally, and of those, 61 percent ended in abortion. About half of these abortions were in unsafe conditions and led to approximately 23,000 preventable pregnancy related deaths, said Ahmed.

“A major finding of our research is about the legal status of abortion,” said Ahmed. “This is important. Abortion rates are the same where abortion is broadly legal and where it’s restricted – exactly the same.” Guttmacher research shows that in settings where abortion is restricted, the proportion of unintended pregnancies that end in abortion increased nearly 40 percent over the last 30 years.

Continued: https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2020/10/state-sexual-reproductive-health-rights-conversation-dr-zara-ahmed/

09.10.2020

Commentary

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Covid-19 and abortion

Dr. Zara Ahmed

Global Gag Rule

Guttmacher Institute

sexual and reproductive health services

unintended pregnancy

unmet need for contraception

Blood, sweat and tears of unsafe abortions and the better way out

by NJERI MBUGUA

09 October
2020

We are sitting in her studio apartment, and during the duration of our
conversation, she carefully tucks herself at the corner of her bed.

She had requested me to sit at her study table, just next to the bed on a
wooden chair facing her. Her eyes were swollen and she told me she was yet to
change the sheets in her bed.

Continued: https://www.the-star.co.ke/sasa/lifestyle/2020-10-09-blood-sweat-and-tears-of-unsafe-abortions-and-the-better-way-out/

Bhutan – Demand for abortion pills rise in Thimphu

October 8, 2020
Yeshey Lhadon

Recently, a 25-year-old unmarried woman in Thimphu went to her friend. She was desperately looking for abortion pills. She could not find them in medical stores in Thimphu.

Staff at
one of the medical stores said that both men and women visited the drugstores
looking for misoprostol, a drug that’s used to abort pregnancy during the early
days.

Continued: https://kuenselonline.com/demand-for-abortion-pills-rise-in-thimphu/

08.10.2020