The actor Alyssa Milano ignited a social media storm with a call for women to join her in a sex strike, to protest against strict abortion laws passed by Republican-controlled state legislatures.
Related: Abortion: judge strikes down Kentucky restriction but governor to appeal
Continue reading...Federal judge says 2018 law would create ‘substantial obstacle’ to abortion rights
After a federal judge struck down a Kentucky abortion law that would halt a common second-trimester procedure to end pregnancies, the state’s anti-abortion Republican governor immediately vowed to appeal.
Related: All the president’s judges: how Trump can flip courts at a record-setting pace
Continue reading...Daughter of the late senator has made herself the authority on antisemitism. Did we mention she’s John McCain’s daughter?
Meghan McCain seems to have appointed herself the leading authority on antisemitism in America. She may not be Jewish herself but some of her best friends are Jewish, you know? And of course, she’s also the daughter of the late senator John McCain, something she is not shy about pointing out, which automatically qualifies her as an expert on everything.
Continue reading...Historic decision sparks celebrations in Seoul following decades of campaigning
A court in South Korea has ruled that the country’s decades-old ban on abortion must be lifted, in a historic decision that sparked celebrations in Seoul.
Thursday’s decision by the constitutional court marks a major victory for pro-choice campaigners, 66 years after the country banned abortions in all but a few cases.
Continue reading...Development secretary vows government will ‘hold a strong line’, after attempts by Trump administration to weaken commitments
Britain’s international development secretary has promised to stand firm in her support for abortion rights in the face of growing opposition.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Canadian embassy on Monday, Penny Mordaunt said: “Leadership means not shying away from issues like safe abortion when the evidence shows us these services will save women’s lives.”
Continue reading...Clinic staff say protesters are calling women ‘murderers’ and giving out misleading leaflets
Anti-abortion protesters are harassing vulnerable women at UK clinics as they ramp up demonstrations for Lent and are giving out leaflets suggesting that having a termination is harder to deal with than being raped, it has been claimed.
Hardline religious activists, some of whom are part of a so-called “40 Days for Life” campaign, have been targeting women in increasing numbers at 10 clinics across the country in the run-up to Easter, the Guardian has been told.
Continue reading...Women’s rights activists welcome presidential pardon of 367 female prisoners as evidence of progress
Rwanda’s president has pardoned hundreds of girls and women jailed for abortion.
The women are expected to be released immediately under the presidential prerogative.
Continue reading...Opponents says League-backed event symptomatic of politics of extremism going national
Antonio Gardoni had petrol thrown in his face when he opened the door of the home he shares in Verona with his husband after being woken up in the middle of the night by noise from outside. The assailants slashed the tyres of the couple’s car and daubed a swastika on the wall alongside the message: “We’ll put you all in the gas chambers”.
Gardoni escaped serious injury but is looking on with trepidation as Verona, better known around the world as the “city of love”, plays host to a lineup of anti-LGBT, anti-feminist and anti-abortion activists whose self-declared goal is to restore the “natural family order”.
Continue reading...Policy bans aid going to foreign groups that support abortion rights as secretary of state Pompeo says: ‘This is decent and right’
The Trump administration has expanded its ban on funding for groups that conduct abortions or advocate abortion rights, known as the global gag rule, and has also cut funding to the Organisation of American States for that reason.
Related: How Trump signed a global death warrant for women | Sarah Boseley
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South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg is the latest Democratic presidential hopeful to go on a hiring spree.
The 2020 Democratic candidate has nearly twenty jobs available on his website in five states for aspiring operatives.
In a sign that he may be leaning towards a presidential bid, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has Iowa in the NCAA championship game, even though the team is a #10 seed. The state has the first in the nation caucuses.
Hogan has his home state Maryland Terps winning it all.
Never say never. pic.twitter.com/MjcIL7d8mE
Continue reading...Health minister calls protest about lack of medical insurance ‘taking women hostage’
A French gynaecologists’ union has threatened to halt pregnancy terminations in an attempt to force the country’s health minister to meet disgruntled doctors.
The Syngof union wrote to its 1,600 members calling them to be prepared to stop carrying out abortions to “make ourselves heard” and force the government’s hand.
Continue reading...Supreme Court commutes 30-year sentences of trio who have each served 10 years in prison
El Salvador’s Supreme Court has commuted the 30-year sentences of three women imprisoned for abortion convictions, lessening their punishment to time served and ordering them to be released immediately.
The three women had spent about 10 years in prison on aggravated homicide charges for allegedly having abortions. All claimed that they had miscarriages. The court found that the women were victims of social and economic circumstances and ruled that the original sentences were unreasonable.
Continue reading...The opposition’s plan to allow open up sexual health services to more women raises key questions about access, cost and state laws
Labor has announced a national sexual and reproductive health strategy to improve access to contraception and abortion. A major plank of this policy is to “support all women to access termination services in public hospitals”, raising a number of crucial questions:
Continue reading...Anti-choice doctors and health officials accused of obstructing legal terminations after 11-year-old girl gave birth to rapist’s child
The lives of thousands of girls in Argentina are being put at risk as legal abortions are delayed and obstructed by doctors trying to force pregnancies to full term.
The issue of anti-choice doctors, medical institutions and government officials deliberately trying to hold up legally sanctioned terminations was brought into sharp focus last week when it emerged that an 11-year-old girl’s baby was born alive because health officials delayed her request for an abortion. The girl had fallen pregnant after being raped by her grandmother’s boyfriend.
Continue reading...Campaigners condemn authorities who ignored girl’s plea ‘to remove what the old man put inside me’
An 11-year old girl who became pregnant after being raped was forced to give birth after Argentine authorities refused to allow her the abortion to which she was entitled.
The authorities ignored repeated requests for an abortion from the child, called “Lucía” to protect her identity, as well as her mother and a number of Argentine women’s right activists. After 23 weeks of pregnancy, she had to undergo a caesarean section on Tuesday. The baby is unlikely to survive.
Continue reading...The Trump administration issued a rule barring organizations that provide abortions from federal money, but several states are already trying to protect the right
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Continue reading...The supreme court blocked a Louisiana Trap law but Trump’s controversial pick showed Roe v Wade is not safe in his hands
Sign up for the Week in Patriarchy, a newsletter on feminism and sexism sent every Saturday.
Continue reading...Study reveals failure of legal protections to ensure women’s access to terminations
Victorian doctors who conscientiously object to abortion are breaking the law by failing to refer women on to practitioners who will perform the procedure, leading to some women having abortions later than necessary or having the baby despite wanting a termination.
This was the finding from a study led by associate professor Louise Keogh at the University of Melbourne, who examined whether mandatory referral, introduced in Victoria during abortion law reforms in 2008, was making healthcare more accessible to women.
Continue reading...If you live in Ireland, tell us about the assembly and its findings – did it help resolve a complex issue, might it help with Brexit?
In 2018, Ireland voted in a referendum to legalise abortion. Irish politics had been debating this divisive and emotive issue for decades, however the Irish citizens’ assembly, which deliberated on the matter prior to the referendum, was cited as a successful process in helping people understand the complex issues.
The citizens’ assembly was established in 2016 by parliament and its purpose was to deliberate on a number of issues, including the eighth amendment that outlawed abortion. The 99 citizen members of the assembly were selected to be electorally representative and included those in favour of the change, those against and those undecideds. Over the course of five weekends, between the end of 2016 and early 2017, the assembly listened to people on all sides of the abortion debate, including experts and those sharing their personal experiences.
Continue reading...The shocking case of Imelda Cortez has put El Salvador’s strict abortion laws in the spotlight. Human rights lawyer Paula Avila-Guillen and reporter Nina Lakhani describe how a surprise verdict has given fresh hope to women in El Salvador. Plus, in opinion, Randeep Ramesh on the Guardian’s call for a citizens’ assembly to break the Brexit deadlock
El Salvador is one of 26 countries with a total ban on abortion, and the law is applied brutally. It’s not uncommon for women who have a miscarriage or a stillbirth to be charged with murder or, in the shocking case of Imelda Cortez, attempted murder.
Her case, and the ultimate acquittal of all charges against her, has given hope to women in El Salvador. Reporter Nina Lakhani and human rights lawyer Paula Avila-Guillen describe how Imelda Cortez came to be charged with the attempted murder of her child.
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