Roundup: Around the World In 20 Minutes

by Robin Marty, RH Reality Check

December 9, 2009 - 9:21am (Print)

It's Wednesday, the Nelson-Hatch amendment to roadblock women from necessary reproductive care has been tabled, and, until we hit a point of reconciliation where Stupak-Pitts will once again rear its ugly head, it is time to move on in the world. Literally.

Is an abortion ban a violation of human rights? Ireland is about to find out as its very strict rules against abortion are being challenged in court.

The legal action has been brought by three Irish women who say the effective ban on abortion in Ireland violates the European Convention on Human Rights. All three have traveled to Britain to have abortions....They argue that being forced to travel abroad for abortions endangered their "health and well-being" as safeguarded by the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lawyers defending the law will argue that the European Convention does not have the right to supersede domestic law.

Colombia's Inspector General is demanding that the morning after pill be removed from market in the country, stating that it is actually an abortifacient and violates the country's abortion laws.

[Inspector General] Ordoñez is a devoted Catholic and a vociferous opponent of abortion. Colombia's constitution allows abortion only in the case of rape, life-threatening complications for the mother, or the serious deformation of the unborn baby.
The Inspector General made the demand after a proposal was made to the government to make the drug available free for minors, in order to decrease the high number of teenage pregnancies in Colombia.

In Britain, numbers have been released stating that there were over 20,000 repeat abortions in 2008 on women younger than 25, with 5,000 of those procedures being performed on teenagers. British Right to Life responds by saying that means youth need less access to contraception.

Finally, a recent Guttnmacher report states that one key way to drastically reduce maternal and newborn death is to increase investment in family planning and pregnancy care.

Doubling the amount of money that nations invest in family planning and pregnancy care initiatives in developing countries could reduce the rate of maternal deaths by as much as 70% and cut newborn deaths by nearly 50%, according to a report released by the United Nations Population Fund and the Guttmacher Institute, Reuters reports. The report said that doubling current spending to $24.6 billion could achieve a number of "dramatic" results.

Mini roundup: Don't like getting pushed around by Bishops? Think the church might be cheating? Become inspired by a nun.

12/9

US bishops urge opposition to Senate health bill with defeat of pro-life amendment Catholic Culture

Ireland's abortion law challenged in European court BBC News

From Rightwing to Prochoice: The Shifting Goalposts of 'Abortion Neutrality' Religion Dispatches

Lives crushed as adoption program halted ABC Online

Health care: The culture war intervenes Dallas Morning News

Privacy comes before someone else's faith Sioux Falls Argus Leader

12/8

What My Amendment Won't Do New York Times

On health care, the bishops have lost their way Politico

High Court's abortion decision is the right one Belfast Telegraph