Press Release:

A hotline that gives women practical information on the safe use of Misoprostol for abortion was launched in Caracas.

The hotline “Abortion: Safe Information” was launched in Venezuela on May 18,2011. Women in Venezuela can now call 0426 1169496 and get information about the safe use of misoprostol in case of unwanted pregnancy.

This hotline will try to fill the information gap about the safe use of Misoprostol to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, in order to protect women’s health.

Similar hotlines already exist in Argentina, Chile, Peru and Ecuador. The hotline organizers received training from Women on Waves and members of the Ecuadoran and Argantine hotlines. Participants in the Ecuador hotline “Salud Mujeres” (Women’s Health hotline) travelled to Venezuela to support the hotline launch.

The official launch of the hotline took place at the Nuevo Circo, followed by a question and answer session attended by men and women from different feminist collectives and medical professionals supportive of the iniciative.

The hotline aims especially to help women with little financial resources who cannot afford an abortion in a private clinic, and to demystify abortion and break taboos so that the subject can be openly discussed, to pave the way towards de-penalization.

In Venezuela there are few statistics available on abortion, though the Guttmacher Institute estimates that 4.1 million abortions are performed annually in Latin America. It is estimated that one or two women die every week in Venezuela due to unsafe abortion, and 10-20 women are hospitalized. These deaths and hospitalizations could be prevented if women had access to information about the safe use of misoprostol, sold in Venezuela under the brand name Cytotec. In Venezuela abortion is illegal except to save the life of the woman.

Misoprostol has been used by women in Latin America for over 20 years, and has been clinically shown to be a safe and effective abortion method, recognized by the World Health Organization, and FLASOG, along with other international gynecological and reproductive health organizations. Misoprostol, when used correctly, is 80-90% effective in ending an unwanted pregnancy, and carries the same medical risks as a miscarriage at the same length of pregnancy,...

Press release June 25 th, 2010:

Suhaile - Misoprostol hotline launch in Pakistan!

A hotline that gives women practical information about sexual and reproductive health in general and the use of a
medicine called misoprostol to prevent heavy bleeding of
women after giving birth and for inducing safe miscarriage at home, will be launched on Saturday the 25th June.
Misoprostol is registered as an essential medicine on the
list of the World Health Organization and registered in Pakistan under the brand names Arthrotec, Cytotec, Cytopan, and ST Mom.

Where: press conference at Hotel Ambassador, 7 Davis Road, Lahore, Pakistan
When: 13:00 hrs, Saturday, 26th June, 2010.

The launch is being carried out by the coalition of Pakistani organizations who support women's rights Aware Girls from Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, Peace Foundation from Sindh and Wake Up Call International from Lahore, The hotline is supported by Asia Safe Abortion Partnership, Women on Waves (Netherlands), and Women on Web.

Press inquiries:

0315-947 33 66 (Sindh)
0307-494 08 08 (Punjab)
0315-917 04 09 (Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa)
+31-6-52052561 (Women on Waves)

Women needing information in Pakistan/ hotline numbers:

0307 - 494 07 07 - (Urdu, Punjabi)
0315 - 917 04 08 - (Urdu, Pastho)
0315 - 947 33 99 - (Urdu, Sindhi)

Further information:

Pakistan has one of the highest rates of maternal deaths in Asia. Each year 30 000 women die due to pregnancy related reasons.
Nearly 90% of women deliver at home in the absence of skilled birth attendants. Only 1 in 20 women reaches the emergency obstetric care. Heavy bleeding after giving birth (PPH, postpartum hemorrhage) is the main cause of maternal deaths. 80% of maternal deaths happen during home birth.

The abortion rate in Pakistan is 14 in every 100 live births, approximately 890.000 are performed each year.

An estimated 11-15% of maternal mortality in Pakistan is caused by unsafe abortions. The taboos around abortion limit access of women to health care services resulting in unsafe abortions, which take place in unhygienic conditions and involve dangerous methods. As a result an estimated 197.000 women are hospitalized because of complications from unsafe abortions.

More than half of all maternal mortality caused by post partum hemorrhage and unsafe abortion can be prevented if women themselves have information and access to a medicine called misoprostol. Misoprostol has been on the list of essential medicines of the WHO since 2005. Misoprostol is cheap, widely available, heat resistant, and can be kept for years.

Mis...

Press release: 28 TH OF MAY, 2010

A public hotline giving women information about safe abortion using pills Misoprostol, was launched in Lima, Peru yesterday on may 27 th, 2010,

The hotline was launched by the Colectivo para la Libre Información de las Mujeres (CLIM), or Collective for Free Information for Women, a feminist organization dedicated to democratizing vital health information. The hotline is supported by Women on Waves (Netherlands) and is one of similar initiatives that Women on Waves has supported in Ecuador, Argentina, and Chile in the past two years.

Press inquiries in Peru: 00511997444539

Women needing help in Peru: 01-945411951

Press inquiries Women on Waves: +31652052561

To follow to activities surrounding the launch, please visit the Women on Waves website: www.womenonwaves.org/set-2212-en.html

Further information:

Many women do not have access to safe abortion services as they are legally restricted in most countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. As a result 1 in every 300 women who have an unsafe abortion die unnecessarily: 70,000 women each year. Many more women suffer long-term complications such as infertility and chronic pain. Peru has one of the highest rates of abortion in Latin America, about 352,000 clandestine abortions per year.
Maternal mortality caused by unsafe abortion can be prevented if women themselves have information and access to a medicine called misoprostol. Misoprostol has been on the list of essential medicines of the WHO since 2005. Misoprostol is cheap, widely available, heat resistant, and can be kept for years. Misoprostol can be used to induce a safe abortion, treat an incomplete miscarriage, prevent and treat heavy bleeding after giving birth, and induce birth. Misoprostol is available around the world for treatment of gastric ulcers. Misoprostol can easily be used by women themselves at home without supervision of health professionals t...

Press release from the hotline, "Abortion: Safe Information"

Presenting the hotline giving safe abortion information in Lima.

Lima, Thursday, May 27.

The day before the International Day of Action for Women's Health, in Hotel Riviera, at noon, there was a public presentation of the hotline, "Abortion: Safe Information"

Press inquiries in Peru: 00511997444539

Women needing help in Peru: 01-945411951

www.lineabortoinfosegura.blogspot.com

This project was iniciated by the Colective for Free Information for Women (CLIM, in Spanish), and gives scientific information by telephone about the use of medication to interrupt a pregnancy. This is a free service, and the information is besed on studies by the World Health Organization and the Latinamerican Federation of Obstetric and Gynecological Societies (FLASOG, in Spanish).

The press conference began with statements from the hotline's official spokespeople, Fátima Valdivia and Arón Núnez-Curto. The spokespeople laid down the objectives of the hotline giving an estimate of the number of women that abort every year in the country: 350,000.

During the last few years, similar hotlines have begun functioning in Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina. One member of the Argentine hotline, Veronica Marzano, from the organization Lesbians and Feminists for the Decriminalization of Abortion, spoke at the press conference, as did Susan Davies, from the Dutch organization Women on Waves, which gives institutional support to the Peruvian initiative.

To speak about the issues surrounding abortion from different social perspectives, the event included a panel with feminists Gina Vargas, Maria Emma Mannarelli y María Ysabel Cedano. Miguel Gutiérrez, a doctor specialized in sexual and reproductive rights, referred to the scientific advances in the use of medication to interrupt a pregnancy.

The hotline "Abortion: Safe Information...

Within 2 years of the Women on waves ships campaign, the Spanish senate approved a new law on sexual and reproductive health, which relaxes restrictions on women’s access to abortion on February 24, 2010

The law allows abortion under any circumstances at up to 14 weeks’ gestation and declares the procedure a woman’s right. It also permits abortion at up to 22 weeks if two doctors certify that the pregnancy poses a serious threat to the woman’s life or health, as well as in cases of fetal impairment, and beyond 22 weeks in cases of severe fetal impairment. Previously, safe abortion was widely available in Spain, but was legal only to save the life of a woman, or to preserve her physical and mental health.

For more information or for press contacts, call: 0054 911 57 37 9584

or write to: masinformacion.menosriesgos@yahoo.com.ar

Press release

"How women can do a safe abortion with pills themselves" hotline launch in Buenos Aires, Argentina

WHAT: Press conference and street action.

WHEN: Thursday July 30, 2009, 17:00hs

WHERE: Cultural Center Archibrazo, C/ Mario Brave 437.

WHO: Lesbians and Feminists for the Decriminalization of Abortion and a network of feminist organizations from all over Argentina. The hotline is supported by Women on Waves (Netherlands) and the Coordinadora Juvenil por la Equidad de Género (Ecuador)

After the press conference, at 19:00 there will be a street action at the intersection of Corrientes and Callao for the legalization and decriminalization of abortion.

Background information:

In Argentina abortion is illegal except in cases where the health or life of the woman is endangered or when a mentally disabled or insane woman ("idiota o dementa") becomes pregnant after being raped.
According to the National Health Department of Health, 60% of pregnancies in Argentina are unplanned. Nationally, there are about 500,000 abortions per year, most of them clandestine. About 68,000 women enter the public hospitals each year with post-abortion complications, and annually around 100 of these women die. Unsafe abortion practices are principal the cause of death of pregnant women in Argentina.

The use of medicines to carry out safe abortions exists for more than twenty years as an established practice and is recommended by the World Health Organization and other agencies for its efficacy and low risk of death and complications when used correctly. Abortion using the medicine misoprostol is recommended by the World Health Organization as safe until the 12th week of pregnancy. There is no need for hospitalization; it involves little risk, with minimum subsequent medical care, equal to that following a miscarriage. Many women do not know that this method exi...

Tekst artikel zoals geplaatst in Nederlands Juristenblad 23 2009

Huisartsen moeten toegang krijgen tot de abortuspil: de voorgestelde BAZ-wijziging maakt de overtijdbehandeling zonder vergunning niet strafbaar

Dr. Gunilla Kleiverda, gynaecoloog-opleider Flevoziekenhuis Almere, voorzitter bestuur Women on Waves
Mr. Els H. Swaab, advocaat, Boekel De Neree
Drs. Rebecca Gomperts, directeur Women on Waves

Correspondentie: kleiverd@xs4all.nl

Inleiding
De toenemende populariteit van de abortuspil die sinds 10 jaar op de Nederlandse markt is roept de vraag op of de overtijdbehandeling (OTB) door huisartsen mag worden uitgevoerd.
Voorheen was een OTB alleen mogelijk door middel van een curettage. Bij een zeer jonge zwangerschap, zoals tijdens de OTB-periode, verdient vanuit wetenschappelijk oogpunt medicamenteuze behandeling met de abortuspil Mifegyne de voorkeur. Deze behandeling kan verantwoord in een thuissituatie plaats vinden. Momenteel wordt de medicamenteuze OTB, juridisch onverplicht, alleen in abortusklinieken en ziekenhuizen uitgevoerd. De laatste jaren neemt de interesse van huisartsen toe om de medicamenteuze OTB uit te voeren. Zowel de VNVA als de KNMG ondersteunen dit hulpverleningsaanbod.
Staatssecretaris Bussemaker stelde echter in februari 2008: ‘zowel de overtijdbehandeling als abortus volgens de Wet afbreking Zwangerschap (WAZ) mag alleen plaatsvinden in een kliniek met een vergunning. Of de overtijdbehandeling al dan niet onder de WAZ valt maakt hiervoor niet uit. De abortuspil is bedoeld een zwangerschap af te breken en de toepassing ervan valt daardoor onder de WAZ’. Ook de Inspectie voor de Gezondheidszorg (IGZ) uitte zich op dergelijke wijze. Huisartsen zouden volgens deze denkwijze een vergunning als abortuskliniek moeten aanvragen alvorens de medicamenteuze OTB te kunnen aanbieden.
Recent ging de Ministerraad akkoord met een Wijziging Besluit Afbreking Zwangerschap (BAZ) , suggererend dat de OTB onder de Wet Afbreking Zwangerschap (WAZ) zou zi...

Press inquiries: +56 984668855
Women needing help in Chile: 08-8918590.
To follow to activities surrounding the launch, please visit the Women on Waves website: www.womenonwaves.org/set-1936-en.html

Press release:

Today, on the International Day of Action for Women´s Health, is the public launch of an hotline that gives women information on how to safely abort using a medication known as misoprostol.

Where: Plaza de la Constitución, Santiago, Chile.

When: 13:30 hrs., Thursday, 28 May, 2009.

The launch is being carried out by the Red Salud Mujeres Chile, or Women´s Health Network of Chile, a network of feminist organizations from all over the country. Similar actions will be held in the cities of Temuco and Concepción.

The hotline is supported by Women on Waves (Netherlands) and the Coordinadora Juvenil por la Equidad de Género (Ecuador).

Press inquiries: +56 984668855

Women needing help in Chile: 08-8918590.

To follow to activities surrounding the launch, please visit the Women on Waves website: www.womenonwaves.org/set-1936-en.html

Further information:

Chile has one of the highest rates of abortion in Latin America ? between 120.000 and 160.000 women have abortions every year, meaning that about 1 in 3 pregnancies end in abortion (The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994: ¨Clandestina Abortion: a Latin American Reality.¨ Nueva York, Estados Unidos). Abortion is penalized in all possible circumstances, causing women having abortions to risk their health, lives, and freedom, because they can be denounced, mistreated, and imprisoned.

The Women´s Health Network of Chile seeks to facilitate access to information for women, to allow them to truly exercise their human rights. We state that
*1- Women have the right to freely and autonomously decide about their own lives and bodies
*2- The access to information is a human right
*3- Unsafe abortion is a public health problem and an issue of social justice.

For more information about abortion please see:

Women on Waves: ...