February 2019 News Review

For the online version with images, click here.

In these times when access to contraception and safe abortion services seems under threat all over the world, promoting reproductive rights comes in many forms.

Government policy and investment, backed by international organizations, is the most public manifestation of support, or can be the greatest inhibitor (see below: US policy). The Egyptian government’s aggressive “Two is Enough” campaign to deal with its booming population is spreading across the country. While Namibia’s health ministry calls for more family planning funding, the Ministry of Gender Equality supports a measure to legalize “baby dumping”, but not decriminalize the 10-thousand or so abortions that take place every year. DRC is moving to create understanding about abortion as it implements the Maputo Protocol. A series written by IPPF examines the advances being made in Togo in contraceptive use, and even vasectomy.

Religious institutions have a role. In Ghana Muslim leaders urged the government to pay more attention to the work of the Population Council (at the same time former president Rawlings “blasts” the current president on the same issue.) In a similar vein, a bill decriminalizing abortion in some instances in Malawi “got a nod” from religious leaders, and female religious leaders in Niger called for greater access to contraception.

Sometimes a traumatic event can spur action. In Kenya, where an estimated 2,600 women die from unsafe abortion annually, a national debate about unsafe abortion followed the death of prominent human rights activist Caroline Mwatha. A report showed that Kenya’s “stringent laws limited access”; one newspaper columnist proffered that “the power to terminate pregnancy is the key to a woman’s right to health”; and the government reinstated its post-abortion care guidelines. In Argentina, the C-section delivery by an 11-year-old rape victim rekindled the abortion debate.

A simple lack of commodities becomes a reproductive restriction. Dueling headlines in Tanzania: “Shortage of condoms” and “Pupil pregnancy concern.” In Zimbabwe, condom distributors are asking for VAT not to be charged to increase availability. Nigerian community pharmacists have called for a role for themselves in the family planning supply chain. Also in Nigeria, a Marie Stopes International funded initiative supports women going to door-to-door with family planning advice and products.

Reducing stigma about family planning and abortion can help in every phase of the reproductive health – at London Fashion Week, in sports venues, on a young Nigerien’s blog, in the offices of US OBGYNs, at an Ethiopian college, on TV cartoons across francophone African countries, even on the BBC, which decided to give abortion information on its website after an episode of “Call the Midwife” spurred controversy.

The big story, sadly, is the US government’s current stance, supposedly a “culture that cherishes innocent life”, which works against reproductive freedom in all of its forms, hitting the most vulnerable, even undermining Ivanka Trump’s stated plan to empower women. The Global Gag Rule continues to disrupt healthcare around the world, like in Nigeria where the policies “bite hard,” as UNFPA Nigeria lost 60% of its family planning funds in one year. Or South Africa, where a photo essay in Mother Jones demonstrates the impact on real women who seek illegal abortion in a climate of “total confusion.” The administration is moving to impose a similar Domestic Gag Rule, which creates a “bleak outlook for reproductive health”, and may have the additional consequence of denying women access to highly effective HIV treatments.

The world will have a chance to look at all of these issues, in Nairobi in November, as the UNFPA announced the 25^th anniversary gathering of the International Conference on Population and Development.

Benin

Les adolescentes face à la contraception : La nécessité d’un choix judicieux, Benin 24 TV, 20 Feb 2019

Cameroon

Abortions From Rapes on Rise in Cameroon’s Conflict Zones, VOA, 20 Feb 2019

DRC

La sexualité dans le milieu scolaire constitue un problème pour la santé de la jeune fille, ACP, 26 Feb 2019

Santé Sexuelle Et Reproductive : Les Experts Partagent L’expérience Sur Les Soins Complets D’avortement, Le Potentiel, 21 Feb 2019

Everyday politics and practices of family planning in eastern DRC, the case of South Kivu, ReliefWeb/Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium, February 2019

Egypt

‘Two is enough,’ Egypt tells poor families as population booms, Reuters, 20 Feb 2019

Egypt is having a baby boom — and wants to stop it, Ozy, 13 Feb 2019

Egypt attempts to rein in population boom, Financial Times, 7 Feb 2019