EURACTIV: E.U. court deals blow to anti-abortion campaigners “The E.U.’s top court has dealt a blow to anti-abortion activists, ruling that the European Commission was justified in its refusal to propose a ban on E.U. funding for abortion services. In a ruling on Monday (23 April), the European Court of…

Foreign Policy: Human Rights Groups Bristling at State Department Report “Human rights groups blasted the State Department’s annual human rights report, released on Friday, which removed the term ‘reproductive rights’ and softened language on human rights violations in a number of countries, including Yemen and the Dominican Republic. … Human…

Associated Press: Irish premier launches bid to overturn abortion restrictions “Ireland’s premier has urged his country to show compassion as he launched a campaign to overturn some of Europe’s strictest abortion rules. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Saturday that Ireland’s May 25 referendum on whether to lift a constitutional ban…

Miami Herald: El Salvador, Dominican Republic can stop sending pregnant women to their deaths U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) “…Trump’s broad [Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance] directive hinders the substantial good of U.S. humanitarian efforts. Moreover, the [directive, also called the Mexico City policy or global gag rule,] takes…

BuzzFeed News: In Closed-Door U.N. Meetings, Trump Administration Officials Pushed Abstinence For International Women’s Health Programs “In closed-door meetings at the United Nations in March, Trump administration officials pushed socially conservative views on women’s rights issues — including abstinence-based policies over information about contraception — that were further to the…

The Hill: The foreign policy case for decriminalizing abortion in El Salvador Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and vice chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus “For nearly two decades, El Salvador has criminalized abortion in all circumstances…

Human Rights Watch: A Backward Step for Reproductive Rights in Chile In an opinion piece originally published in La Tercera, José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division at HRW, discusses Chile’s revised abortion rules. Vivanco writes, “The Chilean government should review and amend the rules to ensure that…

Agence France-Presse/Medical Xpress: Novartis to inject $100 mn into malaria drug research (4/17). Associated Press: Nobel laureate blasts East Timor’s failure against poverty (Raimundos, 4/17). BBC News: ‘Malaria killed my daughter, I’m protecting others now’ (Smith, 4/17). CNN: Malaria parasites present in 23% of donor blood in some African countries,…

New York Times: Legal Abortion in Argentina? A Long Shot Is Suddenly Within Reach “…[L]awmakers in Pope Francis’ homeland began considering legislation this past week that would allow women to have an abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. If backers of the measure succeed, Argentina would become the…

The Conversation: The unspeakable cruelty of El Salvador’s abortion laws Lisa Kowalchuk, associate professor at the University of Guelph “…In El Salvador, the clock is ticking towards a May 1, 2018, deadline for reform that would decriminalize abortion in two situations: When the life of the pregnant woman is in…