TAG: reproductive rights

Life and Death in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a dangerous place to be pregnant. It has one of the highest rates of maternal death in the world, second only to Afghanistan in the Asia Pacific region. Only slightly more than 50 percent of women give birth in a facility or with the help of a skilled birth attendant, […]

Right to sexual and reproductive health indivisible from other human rights – UN experts

GENEVA (8 March 2016) – The right to sexual and reproductive health is not only an integral part of the general right to health but fundamentally linked to the enjoyment of many other human rights, including the rights to education, work and equality, as well as the rights to life, privacy and freedom from torture, and individual autonomy, UN experts have said in an authoritative new legal commentary.

The sexual politics in February 2016

In February, there were good news to report from both Haiti and Europe. In the case of Haiti, the Penal Code reform is underway and the draft document approved by a committee of juridical experts includes a provision that legalizes abortion on the basis of public health concerns and freedom of women. Although this is […]

Thailand: Doctors must heed abortion needs

Read the article by Piyapa Praditpan and Kamheang Chaturachinda examining the situation of Thai women who, despite abortion being legal since the 1950s, continue to die from unsafe abortion.

The Incidence of Abortion in Nigeria

Because of Nigeria’s low contraceptive prevalence, a substantial number of women have unintended pregnancies, many of which are resolved through clandestine abortion, despite the country’s restrictive abortion law. Up-to-date estimates of abortion incidence are needed.

Confronting a new epidemic: consequences of the Zika virus for public health and reproductive rights

WHO predicts up to four million cases of the mosquito-borne Zika infection just this year. In the past few weeks, there has been a storm of news articles and statements in the world press about the Zika virus. Among those written by abortion rights activists are calls for governments with restrictive abortion laws to legalise […]

Pope and Patriarch Misrepresent the True Meaning of Secularism and Seek to Impose their Beliefs on Others

Catholics for Choice On his way to Mexico, Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic church, met with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill for the first time since the schism of the two religions in the 11th century. They signed an interreligious joint declaration that was supposed to solidify their shared Christian values, but instead the […]

The Lancet’s Zika Virus Resource Centre

The Lancet Zika virus resource centre brings together the best evidence from across The Lancet family of journals—offered with free access—to assist researchers, policy makers, and health workers, in understanding the effects of the outbreak and how best to respond. Click here to access it.

Call for Papers RHM 48 opens March 15 – Sexuality, sexual and reproductive health in later life

With a growing number of older people in the world, it is time for Reproductive Health Matters to look more closely at the sexual and reproductive health of people in this different stage of life.

Government Recommendations on Zika Virus Not Grounded in Reality, Say El Salvador Locals

The country’s Ministry of Health recommended last week that women should avoid becoming pregnant until 2018. But local feminist groups say this guidance doesn’t reflect the needs of Salvadoran women, especially where reproductive health is concerned.

Sexual Politics in January 2016

The global epidemics fueled by the mosquito-born Zika virus, its potential correlation with microcephaly and the connection with abortion rights is one main headline in the sexual politics scenario of January 2016. And Brazil is at center of this crisis. To delve in the subject read Sonia Corrêa’s article. Then good news in relation to […]

Zika and abortion rights: Brazil in the eye of the storm

If things had gone well, 2014 would have been the perfect year to commemorate the positive developments of sexual and reproductive health and rights in Brazil.