Shaming and humiliation: South Korean women hope for change to law that bans most abortions
More than a quarter of a century after the first of her three abortions — illegal in South Korea — Lim is still haunted by her sense of shame. She was 24 and had a boyfriend, but neither was ready to wed. And it was ...
Japan to ease restrictions on types of facilities conducting prenatal tests
The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology has drafted a plan to ease restrictions on the types of medical facilities that can provide noninvasive prenatal testing to detect genetic abnormalities in unborn babies. The draft plan, drawn up by the ethics committee of the society, ...
Germany's coalition government agreed in principle Tuesday to soften a Nazi-era law that bars medical doctors from advertising abortion services. Gynecologists, hospitals and public health services will now be allowed to share essential information about where and how women can terminate unwanted pregnancies. The bill is ...
U.S. abortion rate fell sharply in decade ending in 2015, especially among teens: CDC
Abortion rates among U.S. women in all age groups plunged to a decade low, with teens experiencing a greater decrease than older women, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. Statistics for 2015, the most recent year for which data is available, ...
U.S. Supreme Court rejects release of anti-abortion activists' undercover videos
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by anti-abortion activists to win the release of videos they surreptitiously recorded at meetings of abortion providers. The justices declined to take up appeals by the abortion opponents and left in place a lower court's ruling ...
Amid protests, Brazil set to impose total ban on abortions, including for rape victims
More pregnant women could die in Brazil if it passes a law banning all abortions on Tuesday, including in cases of rape or when the mother's life is in danger, critics said. Thousands of women took to Brazil's streets earlier this month to protest the ...
Chile court OKs new law allowing abortions on limited basis, nixing appeal against lifting ban
A Chilean court on Monday ruled that a law legalizing abortion in certain cases is constitutional, a win for President Michelle Bachelet's center-left coalition and for groups that have campaigned for years against the country's strict ban. With the decision by Chile's Constitutional Court, women ...
All priests should forgive abortions during Holy Year, pope proclaims
Pope Francis will give all priests discretion during the Roman Catholic Church's Holy Year to formally forgive women who have had abortions — the Argentine pontiff's latest move toward a more open and inclusive church. In Church teaching, abortion is such a grave sin that ...
Poll finds Americans back federal funds Planned Parenthood, despite bad press
Americans broadly support providing federal funding for free women's health exams, screenings and contraception services, a Reuters/Ipsos poll has found, suggesting risks for Republicans criticizing Planned Parenthood as part of the 2016 campaigns. Support for federal funding of Planned Parenthood itself to provide those services ...
The number of unwanted babies dropped off at Jikei Hospital's so-called baby hatch reached 11 in fiscal 2014 — topping 10 for the first time in four years, the city of Kumamoto has said. The hospital, in Kumamoto Prefecture, opened the Konotori no Yurikago (Stork ...
An Okayama University team's poll of 557 pregnant women has found that 5.7 percent would have an abortion if an initial blood test indicated the likelihood of fetal chromosomal abnormalities. The survey was the first large-scale study on pregnant women in Japan after a new ...
