Reproductive freedom news最新文献

According to international press reports, a law that would have allowed Portuguese women abortions through the 10th week of pregnancy and into the 16th week if their physical or mental health was at risk has been rescinded after a referendum to determine the statute's future was voided because of low voter turnout. Passed in February, the law was a liberalization of Portugal's strict anti-abortion laws, which ban all abortions except for narrowly defined medical reasons or in the case of rape (and those are permitted only until the 12th week of pregnancy). Because the issue is such a controversial one, politicians had turned to a national referendum asking Portuguese voters to overturn or ratify the new law. The referendum was the first in the country since the end of its right-wing dictatorship in 1974, and 50% participation was required. Only 31.5% of the country's 8.5 million eligible voters went to the polls on June 28. Of those voting, 50.9% voted against the liberalized new legislation. Sunny weather and World Cup soccer matches were both pointed to as reasons for the low turnout. Officials estimate there are some 20,000 illegal abortions annually in Portugal. Abortion-rights activists in the mostly Roman-Catholic country say hospitals see roughly 10,000 women a year suffering from complications from illegal abortions, and that at least 800 women die each year from the procedure. In the next day's Diario de Noticias, a daily paper in Portugal, the entire front page was filled with a giant question mark. "What now, lawmakers?" the headline read.

Most doctors who graduate from family practice programs in the US receive little or no clinical training in reproductive health care, according to a study published in the September/October issue of Family Planning Perspectives. Researchers report that the majority of respondents to a 1995 survey of program directors and chief residents at 244 family medicine residency programs in the US reported they had no clinical experience in cervical cap fitting, diaphragm fitting, or IUD insertion and removal. What's more, only 15% of chief residents had gained clinical experience providing first-trimester abortions before graduating, despite the fact that 29% of programs included the training as either optional or routine. Only 5% of residents surveyed answered "yes" when asked whether they would "certainly" or "probably" provide abortions in their future practices. 65% responded that they "certainly would not" provide abortions. The study also found that residents who attended a program in which abortion training was offered were more likely to have a favorable attitude toward abortion training and services.

The Associated Press reports that on October 2 Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral initiated a program to give 500 rupees ($14 U.S. +/-) to very poor families after the birth of a daughter. The Prime Minister's intent is to counteract the cultural factors that he says compel some Indian families to discriminate against, and in some cases even murder, their female infants. How the government will identify families that qualify for the cash, and then distribute it, has yet to be determined.

According to international news sources, Cambodia's parliament approved a law limiting the circumstances under which abortions can be performed on October 6 [1997]. Members of parliament say the new law, the first ever passed regulating abortion in Cambodia, is intended to reduce maternal morality rates from abortions performed by unlicensed health practitioners under unsanitary conditions. Local news outlets report that the Cambodian Health Ministry estimates the maternal mortality at 4.7 deaths per 1000 live births. The rate in the US is 0.12 deaths per 1000 live births. The law requires that abortions be performed by licensed health professionals in hospitals and certified clinics within the first trimester of pregnancy, and that women under the age of 18 must obtain parental consent. The new law also sets harsh penalties for those who harm women during illegal procedures--up to 5 years in prison if a woman is injured and up to 10 years if she dies. Opponents of the law say they fear that the new restrictions will push abortion even further underground, as the hospital system cannot handle the current demand for abortion.