Page 3 - Abortion

Poland's parliament considers liberalising country's abortion laws

Poland's parliament is finally holding a long-awaited debate on liberalising the country's strict abortion law. The traditionally Catholic nation has one of the most restrictive laws in Europe but the reality is that many women terminate pregnancies at home with pills mailed from abroad. Lawmakers in the lower house of parliament will consider four different proposals on Thursday. Currently abortion is regulated by a 1993 law, which was heavily influenced by the Catholic church, and further restricted following a 2020 constitutional court ruling preventing abortion in case of fetal abnormalities. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who came to power in December after eight years of a conservative government, has vowed to legalise abortion until the 12th week of pregnancy. He has said the decision is a woman's to make, not that of a priest, a prosecutor or a party official. Many Tusk voters hoped lawmakers would have taken up the matter sooner. But conservatives in Tusk's three-party ...

US Presidential polls: Trump to declare his position on abortion today

Former President Donald Trump says he will finally announce Monday when he believes abortions should be banned, after months of refusing to stake a position on an issue that could decide the outcome of November's presidential election. The presumptive Republican nominee wrote on his social media site Sunday night that he plans to issue a statement on abortion and abortion rights." He told reporters last week he would make a statement soon after being asked about Florida's six-week abortion ban going into effect. Trump for more than a year now has declined to say when in a pregnancy he would try to draw the line, even as Republican-led states have ushered in a wave of new restrictions following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. His announcement will be closely watched both by Democrats who believe the fight over abortion rights helps them at the polls and Republicans who failed to push Trump to endorse a national abortion ban during the GOP primary. Great love and compassion

Ohio law banning nearly all abortions now invalid post referendum: Official

A 2019 law banning most abortions in Ohio is unconstitutional following an abortion referendum last year, the state's Republican attorney general has said in a court filing. Monday's filing comes after abortion clinics asked a Hamilton County judge to throw out the law since Ohio voters decided to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution last November. They argue that under the new constitutional amendment, the law, which bans most abortions once fetal cardiac activity can be detected, is invalid. Attorney General Dave Yost, for the most part, agreed. However, the attorney general asked the court to only strike down the core prohibition of the law banning abortions after six weeks and let other portions remain. These include requiring a doctor to check for a heartbeat and inform a patient, as well as documenting the reason someone is having an abortion. Yost said in the filing that the plaintiffs have not demonstrated how such provisions violate the constitutional ...

US top court likely to preserve access to abortion medication mifepristone

The Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed likely to preserve access to a medication that was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the US last year, in the court's first abortion case since conservative justices overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. In nearly 90 minutes of arguments, a consensus appeared to emerge that the abortion opponents who challenged the FDA's approval of the medication, mifepristone, and subsequent actions to ease access to it, lack the legal right or standing to sue. Such a decision would leave in place the current rules that allow patients to receive the drug through the mail, without any need for an in-person visit with a doctor, and to take the medication to induce an abortion through 10 weeks of pregnancy. Should the court take the no-standing route, it would avoid the more politically sensitive aspects of the case. The high court's return to the abortion thicket is taking place in a political and regulatory landscape that was reshaped by its abortion

Nearly 8 in 10 AAPI adults in US think abortion should be legal: Poll

With abortion rights poised to be one of the major issues in the 2024 election, a new poll shows that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the United States are highly supportive of legal abortion, even in situations where the pregnant person wants an abortion for any reason. The poll from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research finds that nearly 8 in 10 Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. They're also supportive of federal government action to preserve abortion rights: Three-quarters of AAPI adults say Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortions nationwide. By comparison, an AP-NORC poll conducted last June found that 64 per cent of US adults think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 6 in 10 US adults overall say Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access. AAPI adults are more likely than Americans overall to ...

Will support national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy: Trump

Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that he'd support a national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy, voicing for the first time support for a specific limit on the procedure. The Republican former president has taken credit for striking down a federally guaranteed right to abortion by appointing three US Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. As he seeks the White House a third time, Trump has refrained from embracing any specific limit on the procedure, warning it could backfire politically and instead suggesting he would negotiate a policy on abortion that would include exceptions for cases of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother. But in a radio interview Tuesday, Trump criticised Democrats for not endorsing a ban that would limit abortions in states that still allow the procedure. We're going to come up with a time and maybe we could bring the country together on that issue," Trump said while calling into the Sid and Friends in the Morn

Women's Day: France inscribes the right to abortion in its constitution

France inscribed the guaranteed right to abortion in its constitution Friday, a powerful message of support for women's rights on International Women's Day. Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti used a 19th-century printing press to seal the amendment in France's constitution at a special public ceremony. Applause filled the Place Vendome. The measure was overwhelmingly approved by French lawmakers earlier this week, and Friday's ceremony means it can now enter into force.

As France ensures right to abortion, other countries look to expand access

As France becomes the only country to explicitly guarantee the right to abortion in its constitution, other Europeans look at the US rollback of abortion access and wonder: Could that happen here? Abortion is broadly legal across Europe, and governments have been gradually expanding abortion rights, with some exceptions. Women can access abortion in more than 40 European nations from Portugal to Russia, with varying rules on how late in a pregnancy it is allowed. Abortion is banned or tightly restricted in Poland and a handful of tiny countries. "It may not be an issue today in France, where a majority of people support abortion. But those same people may one day vote for a far-right government, and what happened in the US can happen in Europe," said Mathilde Philip-Gay, a law professor and specialist in French and American constitutional law. The inscription into France's constitution will "make it harder for abortion opponents of the future to challenge these rights." Here is a lo

Republicans push back on Biden plan to axe funds for anti-abortion centers

In a new twist to the fight over abortion access, congressional Republicans are trying to block a Biden administration spending rule that they say will cut off millions of dollars to anti-abortion counseling centers. The rule would prohibit states from sending federal funds earmarked for needy Americans to so-called crisis pregnancy centers, which counsel against abortions. At stake are millions of dollars in federal funds that currently flow to the organizations through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, a block grant program created in 1996 to give cash assistance to poor children and prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies. Programs that only or primarily provide pregnancy counseling to women only after they become pregnant likely do not meet the ... standard, the Health and Human Services agency said in its rule proposal released late last year. More than 7,000 comments have been submitted on the proposed rule, which includes a series of restrictions on how .

HC allows widow suffering from mental trauma to terminate 27-week pregnancy

'The widow should be permitted to terminate her pregnancy because allowing her to continue with the pregnancy can impair her mental stability,' said the Delhi High Court

Global abortion pill provider buys from Indian firm with bad quality record

More than 30 samples of drugs made by Delhi-based Synokem Pharmaceuticals Ltd have failed quality tests conducted by Indian regulators

US govt has 'vital role' in opposing abortion, says Former President Trump

Former President Donald Trump said the federal government should play a vital role opposing abortion but again failed to provide specifics on what national restrictions he would support if elected to the White House again. Trump's remarks to a group of influential evangelicals Saturday on the anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning the national right to an abortion stood in contrast to that of his former vice president and 2024 rival Mike Pence. Pence, speaking at the same conference a day earlier, challenged every GOP presidential candidate to support the passage of a national ban on abortions at least as early as 15 weeks of pregnancy. Trump, the GOP front-runner, has been reluctant to endorse a national ban and has suggested restrictions should be left to the states. He has even suggested that pushing for increased abortion restrictions would be a political liability for Republicans, despite his three Supreme Court nominees making up the majority of justices who voted to ...

Gujarat HC judge sites Manusmriti in rape survivor's abortion plea hearing

It was once normal for girls to marry at a young age and deliver a child before they turned 17, a judge of the Gujarat High Court has remarked while hearing a minor rape survivor's plea for permission to terminate her pregnancy. While indicating that he might not allow the petition if both the girl and foetus were healthy, Justice Samir Dave of the high court also referred to the Manusmriti during the hearing on Wednesday. The rape survivor is 16 years and 11 months old and carrying a seven-month-old foetus. Her father moved the HC seeking permission for abortion as the pregnancy had crossed the 24-week threshold up to which abortion can be performed without a court's leave. On Wednesday, his lawyer sought an early hearing, saying the family was concerned because of the girl's age. Justice Dave said there was anxiety because "we are living in the 21st century". "Ask your mother or great-grandmother. Fourteen-fifteen was the maximum age (for marriage), and girls used to give birth

Abortion based on sex-determination fuels gender inequalities: Delhi HC

Abortion based on sex-determination is a powerful method of perpetuating gender inequalities, the Delhi High Court has said, emphasising the law must have teeth to sternly deal with such situations till attitudinal changes at family level are achieved. The restriction of access to foetal sex information is directly related to the problem of misogyny which affects women of all socioeconomic backgrounds not only in this country but globally as well, the court said. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma made the observations while passing a slew of directions to the authorities for a strict implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 (PCPNDT Act). The high court's order came while refusing to quash an FIR against a doctor who was booked under several sections of the PCPNDT Act after a raid was conducted at a hospital here on information regarding illegal sex determination. It, however, set aside as bad in law the cognisance taken by the trial court in the

30 years on, Japan okays nation's first abortion pill, says report

t would provide an alternative to a surgical procedure amid calls for progress in women's reproductive rights and gender equality

Lack of awareness about contraception among reasons for spike in population

As India is on the brink of surpassing China to become the most populous country in the world, experts cite lack of literacy, awareness regarding contraception and abortions and economic factors among reasons for the spike in the population. According to data from the National Family Health Survey, more abortions take place in urban areas, which is 4 per cent, compared to 2.5 per cent in rural areas. The data stated that 1.9 per cent women with no schooling background went for abortions while 3.5 per women with 10-11 years of education opted for it. The plans of making her daughter a doctor changed for Chaaya Devi after she had two more children. "Children are god's gift but what if you don't have money to raise them and it leaves your other children suffering too," said the 25-year-old, a mother of three children. Devi, who is expecting her fourth child, works as a domestic help in Noida. She now worries about how to ensure a good life for her children. "I consulted a government

US FDA finalises rule allowing women to get abortion pills via mail-order

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday finalised a rule change that allows women seeking abortion pills to get them through the mail, replacing a long-standing requirement that they pick up the medicine in person. The Biden administration implemented the change last year, announcing it would no longer enforce the dispensing rule. Tuesday's action formally updates the drug's labelling to allow women to get a prescription via telehealth consultation with a health professional, and then receive the pills through the mail, where permitted by law. Still, the rule change's impact has been blunted by numerous state laws limiting abortion broadly and the pills specifically. Legal experts foresee years of court battles over access to the pills, as abortion-rights proponents bring test cases to challenge state restrictions. For more than 20 years, the FDA labelling had limited dispensing to doctor's offices and clinics, due to safety concerns. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA ...

Meta bars employees from discussing abortion, vaccine efficacy at work

Meta (formerly Facebook) has reportedly told its employees not to discuss sensitive issues like abortion, gun control, pending legislation and vaccine efficacy at workplace

Biden administration's efforts to protect abortion access hit roadblocks

The Biden administration is still actively searching for ways to safeguard abortion access for millions of women, even as it bumps up against a complex web of strict new state laws enacted in the months after the Supreme Court stripped the constitutional right. Looking to seize on momentum following a midterm election where voters widely rebuked tougher abortion restrictions, there's a renewed push at the White House to find ways to help women in states that have virtually outlawed or limited the treatment, and to keep the issue top of mind for voters. In reality, though, the administration is shackled by a ban on federal funding for most abortions, a conservative-leaning Supreme Court inclined to rule against abortion rights and a split Congress unwilling to pass legislation on the matter. Meanwhile, frustration on the ground in the most abortion-restricted states is mounting. This is not going away anytime soon," said Jen Klein of the Biden administration's Gender Policy Council.

Democrats still lack votes needed to codify abortion rights: Joe Biden

US President Joe Biden said Monday that Democrats still lack the votes needed to codify abortion rights into law despite his party's stronger-than-expected performance in the midterm elections. He said Republicans were likely to take control of the House, putting them in position to block any such legislation. Although Democrats will maintain, or even expand, their narrow majority in the Senate, some members of his party are unwilling to sidestep filibuster rules to pass an abortion law. I don't think they can expect much of anything, Biden said at a press conference during the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia when asked what voters might see on abortion. The US Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion earlier this year.