Abortion

Abortion clinics start to close after Supreme Court ruling

About half of states are expected to introduce new restrictions or bans after the court overturned its 50-year-old Roe v Wade decision. Of these 13 have outlawed abortion instantly.

President Joe Biden described the ruling as "a tragic error".

Protests are under way in cities across the US.

Argentina abortion: Senate approves legalisation in historic decision

Senators voted in favour of the bill after a marathon session with 38 in favour, 29 against and one abstention.

Until now, abortions were only permitted in cases of rape or when the mother's health was at risk.

The bill had been approved by the Chamber of Deputies earlier this month.

The Catholic Church, which remains highly influential in Latin America, had opposed the move, calling on senators to reject the bill supported by centre-left President Alberto Fernández.

Irish girl seeking abortion sent to psychiatric clinic instead

A psychiatrist first evaluated the pregnant girl as depressed and suicidal before sending her to Dublin, according to the project, which examines and reports on child care proceedings in Irish courts. The girl and her mother believed they were traveling to the Irish capital for an abortion, according to the report.

Instead, when they arrived, the girl was placed into a mental health facility, where she was detained for days. Under European Union law, the minor's identity has been withheld.

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Ireland protests abortion ban on International Women's Day

Traffic ground to a halt in parts of Dublin Wednesday as women and abortion rights activists sang along to Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and the Spice Girls' "Wannabe" during a raucous dance party on O'Connell Bridge.

After sundown, a second, separate demonstration -- also in protest of abortion rights -- commenced with Irish police estimating 10,000 to 12,000 people on the capital's streets.

New law lets husbands sue to stop wives having abortion

The law, called the Arkansas Unborn Child Protection From Dismemberment Abortion Act, was passed and signed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and goes into effect later this year. It prohibits dismemberment abortion, the most common procedure used in second-trimester abortions.

A clause in the law states that the husband of a woman getting the abortion can sue the doctor to stop his wife's abortion. The husband has to be the father of the child. And because there's no exemption in the law for rape or incest, a woman's rapist could theoretically file suit to stop the abortion.

Appeal right granted in abortion pills case

The woman allegedly bought the pills for her teenage daughter.

She is accused of procuring and supplying poison with the intent to cause a miscarriage in July 2013.

In April 2016, a 21-year-old woman received a suspended jail sentence after admitting self-terminating a pregnancy with drugs purchased online.

Taking drugs to bring on a miscarriage without doctors' consent is an offence anywhere in the UK under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.

Trump's abortion rule will cause deaths - activists

Mr Trump reinstated the so-called global gag rule on Monday, affecting American non-governmental organisations working abroad, to signal his opposition to abortion, which is difficult to access legally in many developing countries due to restrictive laws, stigma and poverty.

Kenyan campaigner Rosemary Olale, who teaches teenage girls in Nairobi slums about reproductive health, said women would go back to getting unsafe abortions.

"You will increase the deaths."

Abortion demand 'soars' amid Zika fear

Estimates suggest there has been at least a doubling in requests in Brazil and an increase of a third in other countries.

Many governments have advised women not to get pregnant due to the risk of babies being born with tiny brains.

The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A termination remains illegal in many parts of Latin America, but women simply turn to unofficial providers.