Trump’s decision to deny US funding to foreign NGOs will affect women in India

Ten women die in India every day due to unsafe abortions and more than five million women risk having unsafe abortions this year because of the lack of access to safe abortion services. “Despite it being legal, a large number of women are not seeking abortion in safe places. It’s mainly due to three main factors: Firstly, in many cases, there are not many safe abortion providers close to the community. Secondly, then there is a huge stigma around abortion and finally not many women know that abortion is legal in the country. The global gag rule has a conditionality which does not allow local NGOs from talking about abortion or abortion-related services or even referring to abortion. This would be a huge barrier in moving these 5 million abortions to safe abortion services” says Vinoj Manning, Executive Director, Ipas Development Foundation.

February 2017

Source : WION

Trump gag triggers abortion jitters

President Donald Trump's decision to reinstate a rule that blocks US aid to overseas agencies providing abortion-related services will raise the risk of unsafe abortions in India and other countries, non-government agencies said today. A non-government group in India said Trump's decision will stop the flow of US aid to organisations in the country that have been involved in delivering abortion services or raising awareness about contraception options, and raise the risk of unsafe abortions. "The impact on India will be somewhat cushioned because most money for reproductive health services comes from the Government of India," Vinoj Manning, Executive Director of Ipas Development Foundation, told The Telegraph.

January 2017

Source : The Telegraph

Rules push women to unsafe abortion options

A paper published in Lancet medical journal last May had shown that criminalizing abortion does not prevent it but rather pushes women towards unsafe options. Several studies have estimated that of 6.5 million abortions that take place in India annually, a staggering 57% could be unsafe. Around 8% of maternal deaths in India are attributable to unsafe abortions. There are two main reasons behind unsafe abortions in the country— one is the MTP law itself that has a stringent cut-off time and the another is lack of qualified obstetricians and gynaecologists in rural parts of the country," said Mr Vinoj Manning, Executive Director of Ipas Development Foundation, a non-profit body that works towards women's reproductive rights.

January 2017

Source : The Times of India