"[My hero] is the woman, any woman, who has very little support and recognition for what they’re doing…and they’re doing it anyway."
— Gloria Steinem
A groundbreaking new report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Anand Grover, was released yesterday. And it is big!!
In the new report, Grover calls for the immediate removal of all impeding restrictions to abortion, full access to modern contraceptive methods, and complete and accurate information on sexual and reproductive health.
As the International Planned Parenthood Federation explains, “the report examines the disproportionate impact these laws and policies have on those who already suffer human rights violations and the denial of adequate heath care (e.g., women, impoverished peoples) and emphasizes individuals’ right to dignity and autonomy in health-related decision making.”
Having someone this high up basically say that all UN members states should provide safe abortion and contraception is a big deal, and many women’s health orgs are already hailing this as a huge victory for global sexual and reproductive rights and health.
For more, check out AWID’s analysis of the report (also available in Spanish and French).
RH Reality Check is also running a series looking at the issues in the report from different angles, including US policy.
Keep Your Promise’: Youth Leaders in Ireland Demand Action on Reproductive Health
This video is part of ASK’s Keep Your Promise campaign which aims to raise awareness of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) among young people in Ireland. The 8 MDGs represent an unprecedented global effort to meet the needs of the world’s poorest by 2015.
The ASK campaign turns the spotlight on MDG 5 − improving maternal health and achieving universal access to reproductive health. The campaign video features messages from Irish youth leaders highlighting why this Goal is of particular importance to young people.
Key facts outlined in the video:
· Pregnancy and childbirth related deaths are the number one killers of girls aged 15 — 19 in low-income countries
· Young people under the age of 25 have the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections and account for more than half of all new HIV infections.
· Worldwide, more than 50 million adolescent girls aged 15-19 are married, some with little understanding of sex or reproduction
To take action go to: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/ASK-Campaign/142094205826964
(Source: fuckyeahfeminists)
In a decisive and resounding victory in one of the most conservative states in the country, Mississippi voters defeated—by a margin of 57 percent to 43 percent as of this writing—the dangerous Initiative 26, which would have defined a fertilized egg as a person with full human rights. Had it passed, Initiative 26 would have outlawed all forms of abortion and many forms of birth control. The law would have made illegal many forms of fertility treatment and would potentially have criminalized miscarriage. It would also have endangered pregnant women by making their rights to health, to health care and to bodily integrity subservient to blastocysts, embryos, and fetuses no matter how dire the woman’s condition might be or what her situation.
See all our coverage of this issue here.
At the same time, however, the outcome of 26 is bittersweet, given that as of this writing Mississippi voters also appear to have passed Initiative 27, a voter ID law that will disenfranchise many of the minority voters who already suffer discrimination in a state with a history of denying African Americans their right to vote.
(Source: zeleslash)
