Nepal's Supreme Court Orders Expanded Abortion Access

[ismnotwasm]

First the good news;


Nepal's Supreme Court Orders Expanded Abortion Access

The Supreme Court of Nepal ruled yesterday that the Nepalese government must enact legislation that guarantees women’s access to safe abortion services. The ruling requires the government to create a fund that will cover the costs of abortion services for poor women and to educate health providers and the public on the country's abortion laws.


Melissa Upreti, who specializes in Asia for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a press release: "This is one of the most important legal victories for women in Nepal in almost a decade….Thousands of women in Nepal either die or suffer health complications every year from unsafe abortion. Many are forced to suffer in silence due to their inability to pay for safe services or the lack of information. This decision shows that protecting women’s health and lives means more than just keeping reproductive health services legal – it means ensuring that those services are in fact available to everyone who needs them."

Abortion became legal in Nepal in 2002 and is now legal during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and up to 18 weeks in cases of rape, incest, fetal impairment or to protect a woman's health. Prior to passage of the 2002 law, it was common for women to be imprisoned for abortion-related offenses.
http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=11711

And then, the bad news


Anti-Choice Tennessee Bill Passes in House

A proposed constitutional amendment to the Tennessee state constitution that would void a 2000 state Supreme Court decision on abortion restrictions was approved by the state House in a 76 to 22 vote yesterday. According to Clarksville Online, the 2000 decision threw out restrictions on abortion including informed consent laws, a 48-hour waiting period prior to the procedure, and a requirement that first trimester abortions be performed in hospital facilities.

The resolution (see PDF) states: "nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother."

The resolution passed in the state Senate in March and passed in the state House Health and Human Resources Committee in a 20 to 7 vote in April. According to the Associated Press, in order to go into law, the resolution must pass by a two-thirds vote in the 2010 General Assembly before being put on the ballot to be approved by voters in the 2014 elections
http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=11705