FOUR REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD ORGANIZE FOR 28 SEPTEMBER:1) Tell the United Nations that people all over the world support making International Safe Abortion Day an official UN Day = #Sept28UNDay !
2) Show women and girls everywhere that there is support for safe abortion. So if they ever need help to have a safe abortion, they know they are not alone = Universal Access to #SafeAbortion !
3) Convince governments that safe abortion is a public health imperative, not a crime = #NotACriminal #NoMoreProsecutions !
4) Ask the world to = #TrustWomen !
Abortion is in the criminal law in almost every country in the world. There are some exceptions, but not many. Women and abortion providers can still be prosecuted or threatened with prosecution even if it hasn’t happened for years.
In recent years, prosecutions have taken place in: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Dubai, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Nepal, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, Spain, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and USA.
Most often, the women are young and poor and presented to a hospital for complications of unsafe abortion, miscarriage or stillbirth. Few of them have had any access to knowledgeable legal counsel to help them fight their case. Those who have used medical abortion pills on their own are also being treated like criminals in a number of countries. #NotACriminal!
Removing abortion from the criminal law, one ground at a time or all at once, will take time. But we are calling for a moratorium now on prosecutions of women and safe abortion providers. Surveys in a number of countries, e.g. Brazil, have shown that very few people, even those who feel ambivalent about abortion, want to see anyone go to prison for it. #NoMoreProsecutions!
Up to one in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime. #NotACriminal!
In Rwanda, 25% of women prisoners were in jail for abortion. Many were prosecuted as adolescents who got pregnant following sexual abuse and rape. In El Salvador, the campaign to release “Las 17” is finally succeeding in releasing women jailed for homicide when they had had miscarriages and stillbirths. Their human rights were grossly violated. Release All Prisoners!
Those among us who provide safe abortions and information on safe abortion understand the seriousness of unwanted pregnancy and act to protect women’s health and lives.
Every woman with an unwanted pregnancy should have the right to a safe abortion, without discrimination, barriers or restrictions. In 1994, the International Conference on Population & Development agreed that unsafe abortion was a serious public health problem. Yet half of all abortions, most of them in the global South, are still unsafe. ~1 million women have died from complications of unsafe abortion since 1994. It’s time for the countries who signed the Programme of Action to make good on their commitment and act now to make all abortions safe. #SafeAbortion #TrustWomen!
SUGGESTIONS FOR ACTIVITIES
Form a national coalition… Participate in your regional network… Campaign to free any women and safe abortion providers from prison… Start a safe abortion information hotline… Hold a public meeting… Form an expert committee to draft a safe abortion bill… Circulate a petition… Call for government approval of medical abortion pills… Collect and publicise women’s experiences of abortion… Make a video… Organise a festival for choice with films, talks, music, theatre… Organise a demonstration, rally or flash mob… Join the international tweetathon… Post photos on social media… Make a poster… Create informational materials… Give talks in schools… Organise local women’s meetings… Involve supportive parliamentarians, health professionals, legal experts, and popular figures such as singers… Talk to the media!!!
USE THE CAMPAIGN’S WEBSITE
It has sections on SAFE ABORTION… getting help… methods… information hotlines in 21 countries… education and training… abortion funds… TAKING ACTION… Campaigning… suggested activities… asking for solidarity… doing research… opposing trials and imprisonment… making public statements… 28 SEPTEMBER… themes for 2016 and reports of activities from 2012-2015… NEWS from around the world three times a week… and RESOURCES produced by our members… publications… posters and graphics… videos and webinars… presentations.
Check it out for ideas… www.safeabortionwomensright.org
ENGAGE WITH US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU’RE ORGANISING
