International

‘I was shocked’: Australian Catholic hospitals refuse to provide birth control and abortion

"Publicly funded hospitals are using the cover of religion to opt out of providing reproductive care - and experts say it has created a ‘postcode lottery’ for access to services When Sarah*, a Melbourne mother, was pregnant with her second child, her GP gave her a surprising warning: if she had any serious complications, concerns about the viability of the pregnancy or believed she might be miscarrying, she should go to the Royal women’s hospital rather than the Mercy hospital for women, where she was planning to deliver the baby. The reason, the GP told her, was that the Mercy…
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Meta criticized for making reproductive health an R-rated issue

"Female reproductive health experts are calling on Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to rethink its restrictions on reproductive health content."Female reproductive health experts are calling on Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to rethink its restrictions on reproductive health content. The company has long faced criticism for removing and restricting female reproductive health information with a prominent report from the Center for Intimacy Justice early last year accusing Meta of systemically rejecting many female and gender diverse reproductive health ads. The CIJ report also accused Meta of having bias algorithms, stating that male reproductive health…
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Extreme Temperatures Threaten Effectiveness of Pregnancy Tests and Birth Control

"Extreme heat has already made pregnancy more dangerous. Now, it is also complicating efforts to control when and how someone becomes pregnant: Record heat waves across the country could threaten access to effective pregnancy tests, condoms and emergency contraception pills. All of these items can sustain serious damage in extreme heat, rendering them ineffective when used. And all have become critical resources for people living in states with abortion bans and who are trying to avoid pregnancy. In those states, few options exist to terminate an unintended pregnancy other than acquiring abortion pills online or traveling out of state for care.…
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How Meta Created a Wild West for Abortion Misinformation

"...Now these posts are at the center of Oversight Board cases that will establish guidelines for how Meta should moderate abortion-related content. Specifically, the board—a panel of 22 researchers, advocates, and policymakers who advise Meta on content moderation—is considering how the tech giant “should treat content that uses the word ‘kill’ while discussing abortion and its legality.” But beyond the specific moderation issues within the cases, the board will also evaluate how Meta’s enforcement practices shape the conversation about abortion in America. The outcome could have profound implications for abortion access. The Oversight Board is expected to announce its recommendations (shaped in…
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“Undress, Squat, Cough” — Police In Poland Ramp Up The Abortion Crackdown

"Poland's conservative government has made restricting abortion access a guiding pillar since returning to power in 2015. Now that appears to include orders to police to detain women seeking access to terminate a pregnancy in the case of health risks, one of the few exceptions to the strict national abortion ban. One Polish woman, identified as "Joanna" told police this week that police detained her, saying she had been pressured into having an abortion. She had purchased abortion pills on her own volition after health problems, and had decided to take them, which is not punishable in Poland, But the state saw it…
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Maltese lawmakers vote to legalize abortion, but only where there is a grave risk to the mother

"Maltese lawmakers on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation to ease the strictest abortion laws in the European Union, but pro-choice campaigners had withdrawn their support, saying last-minute changes make the legislation “vague, unworkable and even dangerous.” The original bill allowing women access to abortion if a pregnant woman's life or health is in danger was hailed as a step in the right direction for Malta, an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation. It was introduced last fall after an American tourist who miscarried had to be airlifted off the Mediterranean island nation to be treated...."
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Google shows you ads for anti-abortion centers when you search for clinics near you

"When people are looking for abortion services, they often turn to Google, searching a phrase like "abortion clinic near me" or "planned parenthood." Yet the ads they'll see at the top of the Google search results are often not abortion providers at all, but instead misleading ads for anti-abortion "crisis pregnancy centers" — facilities that use various tactics to dissuade or delay pregnant people from getting an abortion...."
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