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Tag: Abortion

  • U.S. Supreme Court moves to overturn landmark abortion ruling as protesters storm streets

    U.S. Supreme Court moves to overturn landmark abortion ruling as protesters storm streets

    Anti-abortion activists and pro-abortion rights supporters took to the streets of Washington on Tuesday after news that the U.S. Supreme Court may overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling which legalized abortion nationwide.

    A leaked initial draft majority opinion suggests the court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, Politico reported on Monday.

    Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the authenticity of the draft opinion.

    The Supreme Court and the White House declined to comment.

    Within hours of the news, anti-abortion activists chanting “hey, hey, ho, ho, Roe v. Wade has got to go” and abortion rights supporters shouting “abortion is healthcare” were facing off outside the court.

    Abortion is one of the most divisive issues in U.S. politics and has been for nearly a half century.

    A 2021 poll by the Pew Research Center found that 59 per cent of U.S. adults believed it should be legal in all or most cases, while 39 per cent thought it should be illegal in most or all cases.

    “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the draft opinion which is dated Feb. 10, according to Politico, which posted a copy online.

    Based on Alito’s opinion, the court would find that the Roe v. Wade decision that allowed abortions performed before a fetus would be viable outside the womb – between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy – was wrongly decided because the U.S. Constitution makes no specific mention of abortion rights.

    “Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each state from regulating or prohibiting abortion,” Alito said, according to the leaked document.

    The unprecedented leak sent shock waves through the U.S., not least because the court prides itself on keeping its internal deliberations secret and leaks are extremely uncommon.

    The news stunned abortion providers.

    On Monday night, Andrea Gallegos, executive administrator at Tulsa Women’s Clinic in Oklahoma, had just finished calling some 25 patients scheduled for abortions on Tuesday to tell them that their appointments would need to be canceled because of a soon to be enacted Oklahoma law modeled on a highly restrictive Texas abortion ban.

    “I can’t say that I’m surprised.

    “Now all these other conservative states like Oklahoma are passing the exact same legislation that Texas did.

    “I have to say I became less optimistic and way more scared for what the future of Roe looks like,” she said.

    The ruling would be the court’s most sweeping since former President Donald Trump succeeded in naming three justices to the court, cementing a 6-3 conservative majority.

    “The Republican-appointed Justices’ reported votes to overturn Roe v. Wade would go down as an abomination, one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history,” said U.S. House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer – both Democrats.

    The news broke a little more than six months before the midterm elections that will determine if Democrats hold their razor-thin majorities in the U.S. Congress for the next two years of President Joe Biden’s term in office.

    The decision appeared based on an oral argument in December on Mississippi’s bid to revive its ban on abortion starting at 15 weeks of pregnancy, a law blocked by lower courts.

    The report said a court majority was inclined to uphold Mississippi’s abortion ban and that there could be five votes to overturn Roe.

    An official ruling is expected sometime before the end of June.

    Four of the other Republican-appointed justices – Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett – voted with Alito in the conference held among the justices, the report added.

    After an initial vote among the justices following an oral argument, one is assigned the majority opinion and writes a draft. It is then circulated among the justices.

    At times, in between the initial vote and the ruling being released, the vote alignment can change.

    A ruling is only final when it is published by the court.

    The Roe v. Wade decision recognised that the right to personal privacy under the U.S. Constitution protects a woman’s ability to terminate her pregnancy.

    Christian conservatives and many Republican officeholders have long sought to overturn it.

    If Roe is overturned, abortion is likely to remain legal in liberal states.

    More than a dozen states currently have laws protecting abortion rights.

    Numerous Republican-led states have passed various abortion restrictions in defiance of the Roe precedent in recent years.

    Republicans could try to enact a nationwide abortion ban, while Democrats could also seek to protect abortion rights at the national level.

    Democrats said the draft opinion underscores the importance of this year’s elections, in which they are seeking to maintain control of the House and Senate.

    Republican lawmakers criticised the leak, suggesting it was an attempt to inappropriately pressure the court into changing course.

    The anti-abortion group the Susan B. Anthony List welcomed the news.

    “If Roe is indeed overturned, our job will be to build consensus for the strongest protections possible for unborn children and women in every legislature,” said its president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, in a statement.

  • How my father impregnated me, aborted pregnancy – 20-year-old narrates

    How my father impregnated me, aborted pregnancy – 20-year-old narrates

    A 20-year-old girl (name withheld) on Thursday told an Ikeja Special Offences Court how her biological father, Akin Isaac, allegedly impregnated her and aborted the pregnancy.

    The survivor said, while being led in evidence by State Prosecutor, Mr Y. A. Alebiosu, that prior to living with her father, she was staying with her grandmother.

    The survivor said her father defiled her at age 17 during the COVID 19 lockdown in year 2020 at their residence in Alapere, Lagos.

    She narrated that her father had asked her to come and live with him in 2019 so she could go to secondary school and to enable him take proper care of her.

    The witness said her father who had two wives, began touching her body in a suggestive manner.

    “I was scared, so I begged him to leave me but he went to buy a cane, put it on the table and later beat me with it in order to have sex with me.

    “He threatened to kill me if she I tell anyone. I was 17 years old at that time. I was in JSS 3 and I am a kind of person that used to sing but I changed suddenly.

    “I begged him one morning that I do not want my life to spoil but he ignored my plea and had sex with me again. When he did it again, I did not go out,” she said.

    The survivor further told the court that her father stopped her from attending her church.

    “I used to go to C&S church. He stopped me from going to the church but pastor came to beg him to let me attend church.

    “The second Sunday, I went to church but he stopped me again and said I should be attending Redeem church and I told him I do not want to go to there.

    “My father seized my phone, broke the SIM so that I could no longer communicate with my 27-year old half-brother whom I usually confided in.

    “He also used Gotv iron to beat me and some neighbours even said I should come and live with them while others are afraid of him because he is an OPC man,” the survivor said.

    She told the court that after she missed her period and found out she was pregnant, her father tried to abort the pregnancy by giving her drugs and injections but to no avail.

    “I received 15 injections for abortion. He bought a medicine, the drug was not working. A nurse asked me who got me pregnant but I could not tell her it was my father.

    “He later took me to a place where there was no light and the pregnancy was terminated,” she said.

    The witness further told the court that her father also tried to have sex with her again while she was sleeping in July, 2020, after the abortion but she objected, leading to the intervention of the neighbours.

    “That night, he came and started beating me and when neighbours intervened he told them that I am his daughter and he can choose to do whatever he likes with me, even saying that if he wishes he could kill me because I am his daughter,” she said.

    Another prosecution witness, Mrs. Modupe Aladelusi, a social worker with the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, who handles cases related to violence, abuse and neglect of children, told the court that she received a call on June 17, 2020 on the agency’s hotline.

    She said she received a call from a man who said, the girl said she would commit suicide, that she did not have anywhere to go to.

    The social worker said she went to a police station and a police woman accompanied her to the girl’s house.

    She added that the survivor was later taken to the police station where her statement was taken, and while at the station, her father came and he was arrested.

    “When we got to the office, she said her father has once impregnated her and took her somewhere to abort it,” the social work told the court.

    Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo adjourned the case until April 13 for continuation of trial.

  • WHO issues new guidelines on safe abortion

    WHO issues new guidelines on safe abortion

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released new guidelines on abortion care in a bid to protect the health of women and girls across the world.

    The global health body said in a statement on Wednesday that the new guidelines would also help prevent over 25 million unsafe abortions that currently occur each year.

    According to WHO, based on the latest scientific evidence, these consolidated guidelines bring together over 50 recommendations spanning clinical practice, health service delivery, and legal and policy interventions to support quality abortion care.

    Craig Lissner, Acting Director for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research at WHO, said: “Nearly every death and injury that results from unsafe abortion is entirely preventable.

    “That’s why we recommend women and girls can access abortion and family planning services when they need them’’

    WHO said that when abortion is carried out using a method recommended by WHO, appropriate to the duration of the pregnancy and assisted by someone with the necessary information or skills, it is a simple and extremely safe procedure.

    However, it noted that only around half of all abortions take place under such conditions, with unsafe abortions causing around 39,000 deaths every year and resulting in millions more women hospitalized with complications.

    “Most of these deaths are concentrated in lower-income countries – with over 60 per cent in Africa and 30 per cent in Asia – and among those living in the most vulnerable situations.

    “The guideline includes recommendations on many simple primary care level interventions that improve the quality of abortion care provided to women and girls.

    “These include task sharing by a wider range of health workers; ensuring access to medical abortion pills, which mean more women can obtain safe abortion services, and making sure that accurate information on care is available to all those who need it,” WHO said.

    For the first time, the guidelines also include recommendations for use where appropriate of telemedicine, which helped support access to abortion and family planning services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The guidelines also highlighted the need to remove unnecessary policy barriers that facilitate access to safe abortion.

    “Alongside the clinical and service delivery recommendations, the guidelines recommend removing medically unnecessary policy barriers to safe abortion.

    “Such as criminalisation, mandatory waiting times, the requirement that approval must be given by other people (e.g., partners or family members) or institutions, and limits on when during pregnancy an abortion can take place.

    “Such barriers can lead to critical delays in accessing treatment and put women and girls at greater risk of unsafe abortion, stigmatisation, and health complications.

    “It can also increase disruptions to education and their ability to work,’’ the WHO said.

    The statement quoted Dr Bela Ganatra, Head of WHO’s Prevention of Unsafe Abortion Unit, as saying, “It’s vital that an abortion is safe in medical terms.

    “But that’s not enough on its own.

    “As with any other health services, abortion care needs to respect the decisions and needs of women and girls, ensuring that they are treated with dignity and without stigma or judgment.

    “No one should be exposed to abuse or harms like being reported to the police or put in jail because they have sought or provided abortion care.

    “The evidence is clear – if you want to prevent unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions, you need to provide women and girls with a comprehensive package of sexuality education, accurate family planning information and services, and access to quality abortion care.’’

    WHO said it would support countries to implement these new guidelines and strengthen national policies and programmes related to contraception, family planning and abortion services, helping them provide the highest standard of care for women and girls.

  • My husband forced me to have 15 abortions after three kids, wife tells court

    My husband forced me to have 15 abortions after three kids, wife tells court

    A nurse, Shukurat Adewumi, on Monday sought the dissolution of her 17-year-old marraige to husband, Adewale, in a Customary Court sitting at Mapo in Ibadan on grounds that he forced to have 15 abortions.

    Shukurat, a mother of three, made the claim in her counter argument before Chief Ademola Odunade, the court’s President .

    ”He forced me to have abortion 15 times, putting my life at risk.

    ”He denied patanity of my three children.

    “Some years ago when he left me to live with his concubine, Adewale returned home well ill and I took care of him.

    “For the past two years, he declined paternity of our last child and recently came home to steak the only gas cooker we have.

    “Adewale smashed the cylinder on my forehead because I tried to prevent him from taking it away.

    “I fainted and was hospitalized, his parents and relatives are all aware of his evil against me.

    “Adewale has married two wives elsewhere,” Shukurat said.

    In his earlier account, Adewale, a factory worker said that he filed the suit due to his wife’s constant threat on his life.

    “Never did I know that she was a hooligan and street fighter when I got married to her.

    “She has caused me so much embarrassement and I can no longer withstand it.

    “I want custody of my children if she remarries,” Adewale stated.

    Delivering judgment, Odunade who was represented by Alhaji Suleiman Apanpa dissolved the marriage in the interest of peace.

    He awarded custody of the three children to the respondent and ordered the petitioner to pay N15,000 as their monthly feeding allowance.

    He also directed Adewale to be responsible for their education and other welfare.

  • Woman stabs lover to death over abortion disagreement in Anambra

    Woman stabs lover to death over abortion disagreement in Anambra

    A 25-year-old woman, Onyinye Chime, reportedly killed her lover, Eleyi Azubuike, in Anambra State, for asking her to abort her pregnancy.

    The incident happened on Ochiagha Street, Nkpor, near Onitsha, in the Idemili Local Government Area of the state.

    According to reports, the deceased had advised Chime to abort the pregnancy, which she objected to.

    A source told our newsmen that 29-year-old Azubuike also declined to give her money for upkeep.

    “Onyinye was not comfortable with all these. So, she complained to people about it; but we didn’t know she would act this way. She went to the extreme,” the source added.

    The state Police Public Relations Officer, Haruna Mohammed, confirmed the incident.

    He said, “There was a report of alleged murder of one Eleyi Azubuike, 29, of Ochiagha Street, Nkpor, in the Idemili North LGA of Anambra State by his girlfriend one Onyinye, 25, of same Ochiagha Street, Nkpor, inside his room.

    “Police detectives attached to Ogidi division visited the scene and rushed the victim, who was found in a pool of blood, to Iyi Enu Mission Hospital, Ogidi, for medical attention, where he was certified dead by a medical doctor. The corpse was deposited at the hospital’s mortuary for an autopsy.

    “A careful observation of the deceased’s body revealed stab wounds on his chest, while a bloodstained kitchen knife was recovered as an exhibit at the scene.

    “Preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased allegedly impregnated the suspect and wanted an abortion, which she declined and demanded some money for her upkeep, which the deceased refused to oblige.

    “That eventually led to a scuffle which resulted in the man being stabbed to death.”

    The PPRO said the case was under investigation to unravel other circumstances surrounding the incident.

  • Millions of women lose access to abortion services during pandemic

    Millions of women lose access to abortion services during pandemic

    Reproductive Health Charity Mary Stopes International (MSI) on Wednesday said 1.9 million women across the world had lost access to its contraception and safe abortion services in the first half of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “The impact of the crisis was particularly harsh in India where an estimated 1.3 million women lost access to such services due to strict lockdown measures.

    “With 920,000 fewer safe abortion and post-abortion care services being delivered, 90 per cent less than predicted,” MSI said in a press release.
    MSI’s findings, based on data collected from January to June across the 37 countries where the charity operates, confirmed fears that the lockdowns could have a devastating impact on reproductive health of women.

    A UN Population Fund analysis published in April had predicted that significant levels of lockdown-related disruptions over six months could leave 47 million women in low- and middle-income countries without access to modern contraceptives, leading to a projected 7 million additional unintended pregnancies.

    MSI estimated that the lack of access to its services between January and June lead to 900,000 additional unintended pregnancies, 1.5 million unsafe abortions and 3,100 additional pregnancy-related deaths.

    In India alone, the lack of its services lead to an estimated additional 1 million unsafe abortions and an additional 650,000 unintended pregnancies and 2,600 maternal deaths.

    India has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world and no less than 50 per cent is estimated to be due to sepsis and illegally induced abortions.

  • My mother tried to abort me- Mercy Eke

    My mother tried to abort me- Mercy Eke

    Winner of the 2019 edition of BBNaija, Mercy Eke has averred that her mother once said she tried aborting her due to pressure from relatives.

    Eke made this known during the premiere of a joint reality TV show with Ike, her partner, who is also a former BBNaija housemate.

    She said her mother had once thrown herself down from a tree to see if she could get rid of her foetus after her husband’s cousin had questioned why she was up for another child.

    “My mom told me that, when she was carrying me, there was this aunt of mine, my dad’s cousin, who came and asked her, ‘Are you still pregnant after all these kids you have?,” Mercy said.

    “That really got my mom trying to abort me. My mum told that what she did was when she goes to the farm, she would climb a tree and intentionally fall from there to see if she could get rid of me.

    “When she told me that, I had told myself that I had to make it, whatever it took to be somebody. I had to make her proud somehow for what she did for me.”

     

    TheNewsGuru recalls that back in October, Mercy emerged the fourth winner of BBNaija, toppling Mike and Seyi at the grand finale of the ‘Pepper Dem’ house.

    She also featured in the visuals for Paul Okoye’s song ‘Take It‘, while clinching the ‘Best Dressed Female’ special category award at the 2020 African Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA).

     

  • ‘Nigeria has 2.8m abortions annually‘

    Nigeria has a reported case of 2.8 million abortions and 760,000 self-induced abortions annually. This was disclosed by a reproductive health expert, who is also the Executive Director Women, Law and Development Initiative, Mrs. Hauwa Shekarau.

    Shekarau was delivering a lecture in Owerri at a media capacity building workshop on Women’s Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (WSRHR) for journalists drawn from Abia, Imo and Anambra states.

    Shekarau, in her paper on Values Clarification and Attitude Transformation (VCAT), a reproductive health expert, said the existing statistics had become obsolete and incapable of addressing the reproductive health challenges.

    She argued that the law should be made more effective to check the rising death of girls through unsafe abortion.

    According to her, “With over 2.8 million cases of abortion reported annually in Nigeria and the societal general conception, there is need for increased efforts at reviewing the WSRHR laws.”

    She said, “The religious and societal bias against abortion has encouraged our girls and women to undertake wrong choices which include unsafe abortion, resulting in high maternal mortality.

    “We have to respect the choice of our girls when they are faced with sexual violence.

    “With over 760,000 self-induced abortions annually in Nigeria and more than 140,000 women hospitalized annually for abortion complications, our society must rise and take the right actions.”

    Another resource person, Emma Ugorji said the training was aimed at building the capacity of journalists on women sexual reproductive health and rights for accurate and unbiased reportage.

    He said, “The media is key in determining public opinion on trivial issues affecting the people, hence the essence of the training for journalists.

    “We want to transform the attitude of the media towards the subject matter and build a network of journalists that will be strong advocates of WSRHR in the participating states.

    “We are looking at getting the commitment of media practitioners to sensitize the public on WSRHR with a view to changing the existing narrative,” he stated.

    At the same programme, an international non-governmental organization, IPAS called for the review of existing laws on Women’s Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (WSRHR) to meet present day realities.

    It noted that reviewing the laws has become necessary in order to reduce the negative indices on sexual reproductive health system in the society

  • U.S. announces new restrictions on foreign aid for abortions

    The U.S. will further clamp down on the use of foreign aid for non-governmental organisations that support abortions or work with groups that help women access the medical service, an official said.

    The U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, on Tuesday said this as he announced new limitations on the use of federal government funds in Washington.

    “We can continue to meet our critical global health goals… while refusing to subsidize the killing of unborn babies,” Pompeo said.

    He said the new measures would include “strict prohibition on back door schemes” meant to help funnel money to organisations working on women’s health and that support abortions.

    Pompeo is a Christian conservative and has been facing lobbying by right-wing groups on the abortion issue in Latin America.

    U.S. President Donald Trump, upon taking office, reversed regulations that were in place during the Obama administration to reimpose the so-called Mexico City Policy, which prohibits organisations receiving U.S. money from even using non-U.S. funding for abortions.

    Critics call the policy the “global gag rule’’ as it not only limits what organisations can do with their own money, but also places restrictions on the types of conversations health care providers can have with patients.

    Human Rights Watch, a lobby group, warned already in 2018 that Trump was applying the rule not only to the tens of millions of dollars the U.S. gives to family planning programmes but to the more than 8 billion dollars the U.S. donates to global health issues.

    Trump has further been criticised at the UN for supporting conservative, non-democratic states, who oppose using the international organisation for gay rights and key women’s health issues.

  • 240,000 Indian girls killed through sex-specific abortions annually – Study

    240,000 Indian girls killed through sex-specific abortions annually – Study

    Almost a quarter-of-a-million girls younger than five die in India every year due to neglect resulting from society’s preference for sons, a gender discrimination study found on Tuesday.

    This was over and above those aborted simply for being female, researchers wrote in The Lancet medical journal.

    “Gender-based discrimination towards girls doesn’t simply prevent them from being born, it may also precipitate the death of those who are born,” said study co-author Christophe Guilmoto of the Paris Descartes University.

    “Gender equity is not only about rights to education, employment or political representation, it is also about care, vaccination, and nutrition of girls, and ultimately survival.”

    Guilmoto and a team used population data from 46 countries to calculate how many infant girls would have died in a society where there was no discrimination impact, and how many died in reality. The difference, about 19 deaths out of every 1,000 girls born between 2000 and 2005, was ascribed to the effects of gender bias.

    This amounted to about 239,000 deaths per year, or 2.4 million over a decade.

    “Around 22 percent of the overall mortality burden of females under five (in India) is therefore due to gender bias,” the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) a research institute based in Austria, said in a statement.

    The problem was most pronounced in northern India, the researchers found, with states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, accounting for two-thirds of the excess deaths.

    Hardest hit were poor, rural, farming regions with low education levels, high population densities, and high birth rates.

    “As the regional estimates of excess deaths of girls demonstrate, any intervention to reduce the discrimination against girls in food and healthcare allocation should, therefore, target in priority regions, where poverty, low social development, and patriarchal institutions persist and investments (in) girls are limited,” said co-author Nandita Saikia of IIASA.

    AFP