You can get more information about the Peruvian hotline, "Abortion, Safe Information" on their blog, www.lineabortoinfosegura.blogspot.com/

Read here for information about safe abortion and for news about the hotline itself.

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...

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...

Abortion in Peru is only permitted to save the life of the women, or to avoid a grave risk to her health. However, Peru has one of the highest levels of abortion in Latin America, with an estimated 376,000 clandestine abortions practiced per year.

The Peruvian abortion hotline, "Aborto: Información Segura", or "Abortion: Safe Information" was launched today with a press conference at the Hotel Riviera in Lima. The hotline will give information based on scientific studies put out by the World Health Organization and by FLASOG, the Latin Amerian Federation of Obstetric and Gynecological Societies.

In the press conference, the Spokespersons for the hotline, Fátima Valdivia and Arón Núnez-Curto, spoke about the need for the hotline, both as a way to get this much needed information into the hands of women in Peru, and as a way to push public debate on this issue. Given that there are at least 376,000 abortions performed annually in Peru, and all of these under conditions of clandestinity (the number of abortions performed legally is very small), it is an issue that affects all women in Peru. Of course, the women who are wealthy and/or very computer literate can either pay large amounts of money to get a safe abortion in a well-run clandestine clinic, or travel abroad, or at least access the reliable information on a number of websites, such as those of the World Health Organization, or Women on Waves. However, most women are not able to pay for the Internet and/or do not know where to look for this information, which has already showed that it can lower the complications from unsafe abortion, and protect women's lives and health.

The spokespeople from the hotline were joined by Veronica Marzano, from the abortion hotline in Argentina, and Susan Davies, from Women on Waves, to speak about the international and regional aspects of this project.

To speak about the different social and medical aspects of the abortion situation in Peru, feministas Gina Vargas, Maria Emma Mannarelli y María Ysabel Cedano participated in a panel discussion, joined as well by Dr. Miguel Gutiérrez, a specialist in sexual and reproductive rights.

Links Press

Radio Netherlands - article and online interview (in Spanish)
www.rnw.nl/espanol/article/perú-línea-telefónica-sobre-abortos

Peru 21 -
peru21.pe/noticia/487378/crean-linea-informar-como-abortar

Peru.com (with video) - www.peru.com/noticias/lima20100528/99217/Polemica-genera-lanzamiento-de-linea-de-informacion-segura-sobre-aborto

La República.pe
www.larepublica.pe/bienestar/30/05/2010/linea-informativa-sobre-el-aborto

Tierra InSurGente - with video of press conference -
tierrainsurgente.blogspot.com/2010/06/lanzamiento-de-la-linea-aborto.html

Kaos en la Red - www.kaosenlared.net/noticia/127618/peru-presenta-lima-linea-informacion-segura-sobre-aborto

European Pro-Choice Network -
europeanprochoicenetwork.wordpress.com/2010/05/28/abortion-hotline-launch-in-peru-supported-by-women-on-waves/

International Medical Abortion Concorcium -
www.medicalabortionconsortium.org/news/abortion-hotline-launch-in-peru-supported-by-women-on-waves-1119.html

Observatorio Genero y Equidad -
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