On May 18th, a safe abortion hotline was launched by feminist activists in Venezuela. The hotline offers scientific and reliable information about how women can safely use misoprostol to have an abortion in their own home, in order to prevent the harm and deaths that are caused by unsafe abortion. Within one hour of launching, the hotline had already received its first call. In Venezuela abortion is illegal except when the woman's life is in danger.

The hotline was launched at the Nuevo Circo in Caracas, with acrobatics performances and a banner-hang off the building, followed by a question and answer session attended by activists and medical professionals. The hotline was also publicized by stencil grafitti placed throughout the city the night before the launch.

A new hotline has been launched in Pakistan that gives information about how women can use the medication misoprostol to have a safe abortion, or to prevent dangerous hemorrhaging after giving birth. Every year 30.000 women die from pregnancy related causes in Pakistan. The use of misoprostol by women themselves after giving birth or for induction of safe abortion can save the lives of 10.000 women in Pakistan every year. Misoprostol is available in Pakistan under the brand names Arthrotec, Cytotec, Cytopan, and ST Mom®.

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)

The launch was carried out by the coalition of Pakistani Organization 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 and Women on Web.
This is the only hotline of its kind in Asia, following the launching of successful hotlines in Latin America. This hotline will put life-saving information directly into the hands of the women who need it.

Misoprostol can easily be used by women themselves without supervision of health professionals for prevention of postpartum hemorrhage. Immediately after giving birth women should put 3 tablets of 200 mcg misoprostol under their tongue (after making sure there is not another baby inside the womb) to reduce the risk of PPH by 60%.
Women can also safely and effectively use misoprostol at home by themselves to induce a miscarriage (3 doses of 4 tablets of 200 mcg under the tongue every 3 hours). This is very safe and 85-90% effective if taken during the first 9 weeks of pregnancy. It is far safer than the unsafe surgical or traditional methods that women will use when desperately trying to end an unwanted pregnancy and has the same health impact as a spontaneous miscarriage. Usually a miscarriage is handled by women themselves without additional medical supervision. Women who do need further medical attention because of an incomplete abortion can easily be treated by any doctor. Follow-up treatment for miscarriage and even post abortion care is legal everywhere.
Making information about the most effective regimens of misoprostol for prevention of Post partum hemorrhage and for inducing miscarriage easily available to women themselves can save women’s lives.

Women needing help in Argentina:

(011) 156 664 7070

Press information:

0054 911 57 37 9584
or masinformacion.menosriesgos@yahoo.com.ar

In Argentina abortion is illegal in most cases. 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.
The goal of the hotline, “Abortion: more information, less risks” is to democratize access to information on the correct way to have a safe abortion using misoprostol.

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.

Click here to read the information about how to do a safe abortion with pills.

Women in need of help can call:
087839555100
085729295100
085325211100

Women

Press inquiries: +0056 984668855

Women on Waves has visited Spain from October 16 till 21 at the invitation of 33 Spanish organisations (please click here for list) concerned with a better abortion law.

If you need help with abortion in Spain now, click here

Women on Waves has visited Spain from October 16 till 21 at the invitation of 33 Spanish organisations concerned with a better abortion law. In Spain, abortion is only legal when case the pregnancy poses a threat to the physical or mental health of the woman, or in case of rape or fetal malformations. Every year approximately 100.000 abortions take place in Spain, once a psychiatrist has determined that the woman's mental health is endangered.
The major of Valencia, Rita Barberá, denounced the ship’s visit as a provocation.
More than 500 people attended the manifestation to celebrate the arrival of the ship even though police imposed a last minute ban on the artistic and musical parts of the manifestation. The Dutch parliamentarian Chantal Gill’ard of the Socialist party and the Spanish actrices Isabel Requena Pallares and Pilar Bardem addressed the crowds.
Outside the harbor some anti abortion rights groups protested loudly but they failed to fulfill their promise to prevent the ship from entering the harbour.
The boat was able to sail out to international waters with several women. Outside the spanish territorial waters the women on board could get a safe, medical abortion. It showed that many women are falling through the cracks of the system currently in place, For many women the private clinics are too expensive, other women are too young and cannot get parental consent, are immigrants, and/or live far from clinics and cannot travel.
The campaign was covered by media around the world.

The Coordinadora Juvenil por la Equidad de Género (Youth Committee for Gender Equity, ‘CPJ’) invited Women on Waves to come to Ecuador to support them in their stuggle to legalize abortion. Moreover we want to inform women of the possibility to do a safe abortion themselves with medicines, Cytotec, that are available in Ecuador.

For help in Ecuador: (593) 098301317

The information about medical abortion that we provide is based on research done by the World Health Organization. (published in the Lancet. 2007 Jun 9;369(9577):1938-46.)
Click here to read an abstract of the article in the Lancet.
For instructions "How to do a safe abortion" please click here.

Women on Waves gave a presentation at creative times and participated in the wall street occupation

creativetime.org/programs/archive/2011/summit/index.html