CREA, in partnership with Global Health Strategies (GHS), are launching a one-week campaign starting Friday, 22nd Septemeber till the International Safe Abortion Day, i.e; Thursday, 28th September to advocate for improved access to safe abortion in India. #InternationalSafeAbortionDay #Sept28.
While globally there is outrage as well as resistance #IResistWePersist to the unconscionable actions of powerful governments to roll back on abortion rights, in India, the situation is mixed. Despite a law that gives women the provision to seek abortions up to 20 weeks, under certain conditions, women in India continue to face numerous barriers in accessing safe services. CREA has in the past addressed issues of stigma that remain one of the key drivers of unsafe abortions. #AbortTheStigma.
This year, during the one week campaign CREA and GHS will address issues of unsafe abortions from the point of view of access to services and barriers within the health system. Abortion is a vital reproductive health right that every person who needs it should be able to access.
In the past, the government as well as judiciary have taken forward measures to address this by framing new guidelines for provision of services as well as propose amendments to the existing law to expand provider base and increase gestational limit beyond 20 weeks. Despite some of these forward moving actions, much remains to be done. The amendments are yet to pass. The judiciary’s positive, rights based interpretation of the abortion law makes compelling headlines at the time of the passage of the judgments, but have not translated into meaningful action that can guarantee women the right to safe abortion.
In casting the spotlight on both the gains as well as continuing barriers through this online campaign, our hope is to create more public awareness on this issue. We hope this can help create better understanding on why women’s access to safe abortion is important and thereby create public demand for action from the government and other key stakeholders.
Come join us through the week in this conversation and support us in our advocacy efforts.
Get Social with #AbortTheStigma & CREA
Help us build buzz on different social media platforms by using the hashtag #AbortTheStigma #IResistWePersist and #Sept28.
Interact with us and the CREA community by posting, commenting, tweeting, and bringing back the message to your groups on why access to safe abortion is a human right.
Follow the whole campaign from www.creaworld.org/abortthestigma