We continue to mourn the loss of our friend and colleague, Dr. George Tiller. Dr. Tiller was a dedicated physician who provided quality abortion care to women, at great personal sacrifice and risk. He is truly a hero to his fellow abortion providers and his patients. Dr. Tiller’s office is filled with letters from women, thanking him for the excellent, compassionate care he provided. Many of these women say Dr. Tiller saved their lives.
Since his tragic death, we have received messages from some of his patients and from people around the world who are saddened and outraged. We feel it is important to share these words and tributes to our beloved colleague and friend. For the first time, we will enable comments on our blog so that all of you can share your condolences or offer memories of Dr. Tiller. We invite you to join us in honoring a true American hero, Dr. George Tiller.
Today, women’s health advocates in Europe participated in an International Mourning Day as a tribute to NAF member Dr. George Tiller and a denunciation of his murder. Abortion clinics in Spain closed for the day, and health care professionals in Italy, Belgium, and France wore black armbands in a show of solidarity.
Currently, access to Plan B varies greatly by region. Some areas of Spain make it available free of charge in government health clinics, while other areas have more restrictive policies. Women in these areas are sometimes forced to visit several doctors before finding one who will prescribe Plan B. The new measure will require all regions to dispense emergency contraception without a prescription.
Spearheaded by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Spanish government is drafting legislation to ease the country’s restrictive abortion law and legalize abortion during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. Under current Spanish law, abortion is only permitted in limited cases of rape, congenital disorders, or to preserve a woman’s health or life.
Access to safe, legal abortion care is essential to women’s health. When abortion is illegal or highly restricted, many women resort to dangerous self-induced or back-alley procedures in order to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. In the United States and other countries, there has been a dramatic decrease in pregnancy-related mortality and morbidity rates since the legalization of abortion.
Today, April 7th, has been designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as World Health Day. Each year, WHO uses this day as a worldwide opportunity to focus on key public health issues that affect the international community. So it’s very appropriate that independent filmmaker Lisa Russell chose today to premiere her film Not Yet Rain. Produced in association with Ipas, the film follows four Ethiopian women who illustrate the importance of ensuring that women have access to the abortion care they need to protect their health and well-being.
Unsafe abortion is a worldwide public health crisis. In countries where abortion is still provided under unsafe conditions, maternal death and complications rates are high. Each year, 68,000 women—almost entirely poor women from developing countries—die from unsafe abortions and millions more are injured, many permanently.
For more information on this issue, or to order the DVD, visit: www.NotYetRain.org.
Abortion Far More Prevalent in Mexico Than in U.S., Study Shows
Despite the fact that abortion is largely illegal in Mexico, the abortion rate increased by one-third between 1990 and 2006, according to a recent national survey. The 2006 abortion rate in Mexico was more than 40% higher than the U.S. rate, where abortion is broadly legal and accessible.
In 2007, abortion was legalized in Mexico City within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy; however, abortion remains illegal in other Mexican states.
“These findings confirm research from other parts of the world – that making abortion illegal does not significantly decrease its frequency, it just makes it unsafe and puts women’s lives at risk,” said Fatima Juarez, lead author of the study.
I never got to meet George in person but spoke with him on the phone and referred patients to him on a routine basis. The man who murdered George will have to answer to God for his horrible act of violence. I and many others will miss George, his work and his compassion for women. I will remember his wife, his four children and his 10 grand children forever. I am so very sorry for your loss, for the whole worlds' loss!!! Sincerely, "A Soldier For George"
Last August, I found out I had gotten pregnant by my ex-boyfriend. I was on Seasonique, so was supposed to only have a period every 3 months, so when my period never came I didn't think twice. Until the pregnancy symptoms started. I was 15 weeks by the time I found out and had an abortion, and I very well could have been farther along and needed someone like Dr. Tiller's services. I feel no need to justify my abortion; it was simply what I had to do, and I do not ever regret it. I regret getting into the situation in the first place, of course, but I was able to talk to my parents (both liberal physicians) about it and have my mother at the clinic with me to hold my hand when I needed it. I would like for any woman reading this who will have or has had an abortion to know that I am holding your hand now. I work at an abortion clinic currently, and I constantly give my patients as much love, compassion, and empathy as I can. Thank you, Dr. Tiller, for doing the same, without bias or judgement, and thank you, everyone posting and reading, for being on this journey of choice with me.
Obama Administration to Consider Lifting Global Gag Rule
Advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have authored a list of 200 Bush administration actions that could quickly be undone to promote change, a Washington Post article reports. Among the policies being considered for quick reversal is the Bush administration’s Global Gag Rule.
Originally authored during the Reagan Administration, the Global Gag Rule prohibits international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive U.S. government funds from using their own private funds to provide abortions. The policy also prevents NGOs from lobbying their own government for a change in abortion laws, conducting public education campaigns about abortion, referring women to safe abortion providers, or even providing medically accurate counseling about abortion to their clients. The policy was rescinded by President Clinton in 1993, and then re-implemented by President G.W. Bush on his first day in office in 2001.
In many rural areas worldwide, foreign NGOs are the only healthcare providers. The Global Gag Rule endangers already vulnerable women by further curtailing their access to safe and accurate reproductive health care.
In Latin America, major change occurred in Columbia, whose constitutional court struck down its blanket prohibition of abortion in 2006, and in Mexico City, whose government recently revised its laws to allow unrestricted access to abortion care up to 12 weeks’ gestation. In 2002, abortion access laws in Nepal were amended to allow abortion care up to 12 weeks’ gestation, as well as in cases of rape, incest, fetal impairment or risk to the mother. In 2003, the African Union ratified a protocol guaranteeing a woman the right to an abortion in cases of rape, incest, sexual assault or threat to the mother’s mental or physical health. This trend reflects international recognition of the negative effects abortion restrictions have on women.
Due to a high degree of violence against women, along with poor health care and educational opportunities, thousands of dangerous and illegal abortions are performed in Ecuador every year, leading to 20,000 to 30,000 hospitalizations annually. Currently in Ecuador, abortion is a crime in all situations except for when the woman’s life is in danger and she consents to the procedure, or if the pregnancy is the result of the rape of an insane or mentally retarded woman.
