GIWYN September 28 2017: Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion Consequences of Global Gag Rule on Grassroots Women in Nigeria
Access to Safe Abortion is necessary to save the lives of women and for women to exercise their human rights. But abortion in Nigeria continue to remain restricted, clandestine, stigmatized and unsafe for thousands of women. In spite the international laws and treaties signed including the 2030 global Sustainable Development Goals agreed by the world’s governments at the United Nations in September 2015, which include a target of universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare. But the abortion restriction by law still persists. A major force that will heighten challenge now that affects women adversely is the global gag rule. The global gag rule has resulted in the withdrawal of financial support by the United States to Non – governmental Organizations (NGOs). Some of these organizations, directly or indirectly work on abortion related issues. The global fund for decades have been covering health-related activities in Nigeria , including programs on HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, malaria, nutrition and othersi. With this global challenge on abortion, the organizations who provide these services and information on contraceptives and maternal lifesaving products with the global fund will be faced with untenable choice to give up the ability to provide legal and life-saving products for abortion services, including counseling and referrals, or face potentially drastic funding cuts. With this shrinking effect, these organizations will not be able to maintain their principle commitment to offering comprehensive reproductive health care. When the affected providers and organizations start closing up as a result of lack of fund, the lives of women will be at risk. In reality, the effect of global gag rule threatens the lives of the poor and rural women and girls. As a result, there will be increased rate of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortion leading to more health complications or death of women and girls. This will also cause a multi facet health problems that are intertwined with poverty, pregnant girls dropping out of school, abandonment of babies, high cost of health services and increase HIV prevalence. In order to progress ii we must mobilize to resist and end inequality because access to women’s reproductive health including safe and legal abortion is a human right .Human rights belong to women simply because they are human beings. The reproductive and sexual health rights of women are grounded in the twelve cores International Human Rights’ Instruments which include: the right to participation, right to health, right to choice, right to life, right to freedom of thought , right to privacy, right to information and education, right to choose whether or not to marry and to found and plan a family , right to decide whether or when to have children, right to health care and health protection, right to the basic scientific progress , right to freedom of assembly, right to be free from torture and ill treatment and right to equality and to be free from all forms of discrimination. Any violation of these
rights is infringing on the Fundamental Human Rights of Women thereby encouraging and tolerating violence and discrimination. When we resist, We persist 28th September –The International Day of Access to Safe and Legal Abortion JOIN THE CAMPAIGN. MAKE AN IMPACTiii
#IResistWePersist. #SEPT28 # LeavingNoOneBehind
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Sneha Barot, Guttmacher Institute First published online: June 8, 2017
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Generation Initiative For Women and Youth Network (GIWYN) joins the International partners and funders to work to reduce this unacceptable and completely preventable suffering of women due to restrictive abortion laws. We believe women need more access to broad Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights information and services .Death due to unsafe abortion could be reduced if women have access to information about their reproductive health. The advocates work to revise the country’s reproductive health policies beyond the reproductive health care and maternal health, they are capacitated with skills to protect human rights, monitor progress and gaps, report and send recommendation to policy makers iii
Women can resist and persist by calling Ms Rosy hotline.” It provides reliable information on women’s reproductive health. All the information given by Ms Rosy is based on research by the World Health Organization, and intended for women of reproductive age. Call Ms Rosy free Hotline –(+1( 855) 553-1550 ) Safe Reliable Information to Safe Women’s Lives.