The shortage of trained providers and lack of facilities offering safe abortion services are two of the key contributors to unsafe abortion in India. Unfortunately, the one policy action that could address this acute public health crisis is yet to be taken – making the necessary legal and policy changes to permit nurses and non-allopathic doctors to offer early abortion services, after suitable training.
In 2011, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) issued a groundbreaking decision in the case of Alyne da Silva Pimentel Teixeira versus Brazil involving the maternal death of a young Afro‐Brazilian woman.
In a ruling that marks a significant step forward for women’s rights in the region, Bolivia’s highest court, the Plurinational Constitutional Court, issued a decision ending the requirement for judicial authorization for women seeking legal abortion in Bolivia.
President Donald Trump reinstated the global gag rule in the first days of his presidency and expanded the restriction to all recipients of U.S. global health funds. Under the global gag rule, recipients of U.S. funds cannot provide abortion services, information, or referrals and are not allowed to advocate for abortion law reform. The impact of Trump’s uniquely restrictive global gag rule on women’s health and rights will be greater than the gag rule in the past.
The growing body of research on emotions and psychology is pointing to the importance of disgust as a primary emotion that can guide us in our messaging, our legal tactics and our work to reduce abortion stigma. It’s a chance to expand women’s access to safe, legal abortion.
