Cindy Erazo was accused of aggravated homicide after an obstetric emergency
A woman sentenced to 30 years in jail after a stillbirth that was judged to be her fault has been released from jail in El Salvador.
Cindy Erazo, 29, from San Salvador, was granted conditional freedom on Wednesday after six years in jail.
Continue reading...Susan Collins of Maine is among vulnerable Republican senators as polls indicate voters trust Biden more on justice picks
On the question of supreme court nominees, the Republican senator Susan Collins has repeatedly threaded the same political needle. It is one with a shrinking eye.
Related: Ruth Bader Ginsburg changed America long before she joined the supreme court | Moira Donegan
Continue reading...New study shows preference for a son is highest in north of country with Uttar Pradesh having highest deficit in female births
An estimated 6.8 million fewer female births will be recorded across India by 2030 because of the persistent use of selective abortions, researchers estimate.
Academics from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia projected the sex ratio at birth in 29 Indian states and union territories, covering almost the entire population, taking into account each state’s desired sex ratio at birth and the population’s fertility rates.
Continue reading...Mexican women’s groups have expressed deep disappointment after the supreme court dodged a ruling on a proposal which could have opened a legal path towards decriminalizing abortion.
In a 4-1 decision, the court voted on Wednesday against the proposal for technical reasons – without addressing arguments that restrictions on abortion violated women’s rights and contravened international treaties to which Mexico is a signatory.
Continue reading...Critics of the Helms amendment, which currently prevents the use of aid to fund abortion services abroad, say it is ‘deeply rooted in racism’
The first bill to repeal a US law preventing aid from funding abortion services overseas was introduced to congress on Wednesday.
Democratic congressswoman Jan Schakowsky said the Helms amendment, a policy introduced in 1973, was “deeply rooted in racism” and must be replaced to allow US money to be used to support safe abortion services worldwide.
Continue reading...Instrumental in decriminalising abortion in France, Halimi spent her life fighting for women’s rights
The Tunisian-born French feminist MP and lawyer Gisèle Halimi, described as a “trailblazer” and a “rebel”, has died one day after her 93rd birthday.
Halimi was instrumental in the decriminalisation of abortion in France and spent her life fighting for women’s rights. “Injustice is physically intolerable to me. All my life can be summed up with that,” she once said.
Continue reading...The ruling could set a precedent; in states that have restrictive regulations, injunctions could be granted to allow the procedure
Activists on both sides of Mexico’s abortion debate are bracing for a potentially historic supreme court hearing on Wednesday, which could lead to decriminalisation across the country.
The case before the five judges of the high court’s first bench involves an injunction granted in the eastern state of Veracruz, which ordered the local legislature to remove articles from its criminal code pertaining to abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Continue reading...Unplanned pregnancy rates have fallen globally, report finds, but coronavirus could endanger access to services
Rates of unplanned pregnancies have fallen around the world, according to new data published by health research organisation the Guttmacher Institute and the UN Human Reproduction Programme (HRP) on Wednesday.
Global rates of unintended pregnancies have fallen from 79 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 49 in 1990 to 64 in 2019, thanks in part to a concerted effort to increase access to contraceptives, but there are concerns that decades of progress in reducing the numbers risk being undone by Covid-19, as lockdown restrictions hamper health services.
Continue reading...A dearth of political leadership means abortion drugs remain inaccessible, unsafe and unaffordable for many women
It has been 24 years since the federal government chose the partial privatisation of Telstra over the rights of Australian women to safely terminate a pregnancy with abortion drugs. In 1996, anti-abortion independent Brian Harradine, who held the balance of power in the Senate, agreed to support John Howard’s one-third float of the telecommunications company if the government amended legislation to give the health minister veto to prohibit the import, manufacture or use of abortion drug RU486 (mifepristone).
A perpetual dearth of political leadership in the subsequent quarter century has meant the drugs remain inaccessible, unaffordable and at times unsafe for many women in Australia outside of a certain income or major city.
Continue reading...Patients forced to buy pills online or go overseas for terminations
Women seeking abortions in Northern Ireland are still struggling to access services. Although abortion was legalised more than two months ago, claims persist that healthcare professionals are refusing to treat patients.
A leading reproductive rights group and a doctors’ organisation say that GPs are refusing to refer pregnant women to hospital services so they can access the tablets needed to undergo a medical abortion. They are also aware of midwives and nurses refusing to care for patients before and after the procedure.
Continue reading...Cross-party group proposes ending UK abortions after 24 weeks for minor disabilities
Abortion laws in Britain could be changed under cross-party proposals to ban late terminations on the grounds of minor physical abnormalities.
The abortion (cleft lip, cleft palate and club foot) bill, led by the Conservative MP Fiona Bruce and supported by 13 MPs, will be presented in parliament on 3 June.
Continue reading...Activists seemed on the brink of victory when they were stalled by the pandemic and a historic bill wasn’t formally introduced
Feminists in Argentina like to say: “la lucha está en la calle” — the battle is in the streets. But with the country under a strict coronavirus lockdown, the women’s movement can no longer flood the streets.
So on Thursday, activists have planned a series of virtual events to mark 15 years of their campaign to legalize abortion – and inject new momentum into a campaign which was stalled by the pandemic, just as it seemed on the brink of victory.
Continue reading...Activists welcome pardons, but call for relaxation of abortion laws and an end to punitive measures such as life sentences
Rwanda is to release 50 women who were jailed for having abortions after a personal pardon was issued by the country’s president, Paul Kagame.
Human rights activists welcomed the pending release of the women, six of whom had been given life sentences – the highest penalty available to the courts – two serving 25 years and the others terms ranging from 12 months to 20 years.
Continue reading...US state’s move was part of a temporary ban on non-essential medical procedures
A federal judge has barred the state of Tennessee from preventing abortions during a temporary ban on non-essential medical procedures to slow the spread of Covid-19.
US district judge, Bernard Friedman, said the defendants didn’t show that any appreciable amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) would be saved if the ban was applied to abortions.
Continue reading...Proposal would ban terminations even on grounds of serious foetal abnormalities
Poland’s parliament has deferred a final decision on a bill that seeks to tighten the country’s already strict abortion legislation.
The bill would outlaw abortion on the grounds of serious foetal abnormalities, one of a small number of exceptions to a near-total ban on abortion currently in place in the country. It has been sent back to a parliamentary committee for further work.
Continue reading...With street protests now an impossibility, human rights groups fear that Poland’s conservative government will push through ‘dangerous legislation’
Poland’s parliament will this week discuss a controversial proposal to tighten abortion laws in the country, as opposition politicians and women’s rights groups warn that the country’s conservative government may use the distraction of the coronavirus pandemic to push through the legislation.
Poland already has some of the strictest legislation in Europe on abortion, and previous attempts to tighten the laws further were abandoned after mass protests in 2016. The proposal comes from a citizen initiative, and it is unclear if the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party will support it, but president Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, has said he would sign the law if it reaches his desk.
Continue reading...Charities press World Health Organization to ensure women can get contraception and safe abortions during crisis
The World Health Organization is being urged to declare abortion an essential health service during the coronavirus pandemic.
In guidance notes issued last week, the WHO advised all governments to identify and prioritise the health services each believed essential, listing reproductive health services as an example.
Continue reading...Seeking an abortion was a crime until now, but new legislation has removed the stigma and given women a choice
New Zealand’s current abortion laws are more than 40 years old and were enacted when there were more MPs in Parliament named Bill than MPs who were female. This week we brought the laws into the 21st century.
Up to now, women seeking an abortion in New Zealand were committing a crime under our main criminal statute but had a defence if they followed the requirements of the abortion legislation. These requirements included the woman being referred by their doctor to two specialists who each had to certify she faces a serious danger to her life or physical or mental health. Other conditions also applied, such as whether the pregnancy was a result of incest or the woman lacked capacity to consent. For abortions after 20 weeks, conditions were more stringent.
Continue reading...Campaigners hail move that will reclassify abortion as a health issue rather than a crime
New Zealand has passed a landmark bill to decriminalise abortion after decades of campaigning.
Andrew Little, the justice minister, said it was long overdue that the procedure would become classified as a health matter and not a criminal one.
Continue reading...MP Esther Passaris says lives are being put at risk in a country where 40% of pregnancies are unplanned
The pills arrived with no instructions. Delivered on a Sunday to Joy’s home in Kayole, an informal settlement in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, by someone she didn’t know.
She had ordered them because she was pregnant, and didn’t want to be. At 19, she said, she couldn’t support a baby, and the father had stopped answering his phone after she told him. Desperate, she had asked an older friend, who said she knew someone who could help.
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