<p>Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff in the case that led to the Supreme Court&#39;s controversial Roe v. Wade ruling that legalised abortion in the United States in 1973, died Saturday. She was 69.</p>

<p>She died of heart failure in a Texas assisted-living facility, said Joshua Prager, a New York journalist who has written about her in Vanity Fair magazine.</p>

<p>McCorvey was known as &quot;Jane Roe&quot; in the case as she fought for the constitutional right to an abortion, a hot-button social issue that has divided the American public roughly in half for decades.</p>

<p>She became a hero to abortion rights supporters but a villain to those seeking to outlaw abortion. Years later in 1995, she announced she had switched her allegiance to the anti-abortion movement.</p>

<p>The Roe v. Wade decision was handed down on January 22, 1973 with seven justices backing it and two dissenting.</p>

<p>In the four decades since the Supreme Court ruling, tens of millions of legal abortions have been performed in the country.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The ruling ended a lengthy legal drama that had begun in the state of Texas three years earlier, where abortions were permitted only in cases in which pregnancies endangered the mothers or children.</p>

<p>A single mother who had had a rough childhood, McCorvey was pregnant for a third time and wanted an abortion.</p>

<p>Encouraged by two feminist lawyers, she filed suit against Dallas district attorney Henry Wade over the Texas law under the pseudonym Jane Roe.</p>

<p>Although her child was born, the case took on a life of its own, becoming one of the most important and best-known decisions ever made by the Supreme Court.</p>

<p>McCorvey later became a fervent abortion opponent, converting to evangelical Protestantism and then Catholicism. She also declared herself a lesbian.</p>

<p>(AFP)</p>


Norma McCorvey died of heart failure in a Texas assisted-living facility

Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff in the case that led to the Supreme Court's controversial Roe v. Wade ruling that legalised abortion in the United States in 1973, died Saturday. She was 69. She died of heart failure in a Texas assisted-living facility, said Joshua Prager, a New York journalist who has written about her in Vanity Fair magazine. McCorvey was known as "Jane Roe" in the case as she fought for the constitutional right to an abortion, a hot-button social issue that has divided the American public roughly in half for decades. She became a hero to abortion rights supporters but a villain to those seeking to outlaw abortion. Years later in 1995, she announced she had switched her allegiance to the anti-abortion movement. The Roe v. Wade decision was handed down on January 22, 1973 with seven justices backing it and two dissenting. In the four decades since the Supreme Court ruling, tens of millions of legal abortions have been performed in the country. The ruling ended a lengthy legal drama that had begun in the state of Texas three years earlier, where abortions were permitted only in cases in which pregnancies endangered the mothers or children. A single mother who had had a rough childhood, McCorvey was pregnant for a third time and wanted an abortion. Encouraged by two feminist lawyers, she filed suit against Dallas district attorney Henry Wade over the Texas law under the pseudonym Jane Roe. Although her child was born, the case took on a life of its own, becoming one of the most important and best-known decisions ever made by the Supreme Court. McCorvey later became a fervent abortion opponent, converting to evangelical Protestantism and then Catholicism. She also declared herself a lesbian. (AFP)

Plaintiff in landmark US abortion case Roe v. Wade dies

<p>US&nbsp;President Donald Trump on Monday reinstated a global gag rule that bans US-funded groups around the world from discussing abortion, a move that was widely expected, but nonetheless dismayed women&#39;s rights advocates.</p>

<p>The rule, which affects both American and non-American&nbsp;non-governmental organisations working abroad, is one that incoming presidents have used to signal their positions on abortion rights. It was created under US&nbsp;President Ronald Reagan in 1984.</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="row">
<div class="article-blockquote">
<div class="col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1 blockquote-content quoteshare">
<blockquote>
<h5>The global gag rule has been associated with an increase in unsafe abortions and we expect that Trump&#39;s global gag rule will cost women their lives,&#39; said Serra Sippel, president of the Centre for Health and Gender Equity in Washington</h5>
</blockquote>
</div>

<div class="col-sm-1 blockquote-content">
<div class="share-blockquote"><a class="twitter popup" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=The global gag rule has been associated with an increase in unsafe abortions and we expect that Trump's global gag rule will cost women their lives,' said Serra Sippel, president of the Centre for Health and Gender Equity in Washington" target="_blank"><i class="fa fa-share">&nbsp;</i></a></div>
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqquoteclosemark">&times;</a></div>
</div>
</div>

<p>Trump, an abortion opponent, signed the reinstatement directive at a ceremony in the White House on his fourth day in office. Former President Barack Obama had lifted the gag rule in 2009 when he took office.</p>

<p>&quot;Women&#39;s health and rights are now one of the first casualties of the Trump administration,&quot; said Serra Sippel, president of the Centre for Health and Gender Equity in Washington. &quot;The global gag rule has been associated with an increase in unsafe abortions and we expect that Trump&#39;s global gag rule will cost women their lives,&quot; she said.</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">If you&#39;re wondering what patriarchy looks like: A group of white men watch as Trump reinstates the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GlobalGagRule?src=hash">#GlobalGagRule</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZV1OX41ziF">pic.twitter.com/ZV1OX41ziF</a></p>
&mdash; Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) <a href="https://twitter.com/JessicaValenti/status/823594304971173888">January 23, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

<p>Reinstatement of the gag rule, formally the Mexico City policy, comes just two days after, according to organisers&#39; unofficial estimations,&nbsp;five<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/women-around-the-world-march-against-trump-11558"> million&nbsp;people</a> marched in cities around the world in a show of unity for women&#39;s rights, among them abortion access.</p>

<p>The far-reaching gag rule affects groups getting funding from the US&nbsp;Agency for International Development (USAID), even if they use separate money for abortion services, counseling or referrals, advocates note.</p>

<p>&quot;It is appalling to dictate to civil society groups and health care providers how they can spend their own money and force them to withhold from women critical information about and access to the full range of reproductive health care,&quot; said Nancy Northup, president of the US-based Center for Reproductive Rights.</p>

<p>The policy puts groups that provide women&#39;s health care in an &quot;untenable position&quot;, said Brian Dixon of Population Connection Action Fund. They can either accept the restriction to keep their funding or they can reject the restriction and lose their funding, Dixon said. &quot;Either choice hurts the women that rely on them.&quot;</p>

<p>Following the rule&#39;s inception in 1984, former President Bill Clinton revoked it when he took office in 1993 and former President George W&nbsp;Bush reinstated it in 2001.</p>

<p>&quot;Life-saving global health funding should not be a political football,&quot; said Ann Starrs, head of the Guttmacher Institute, a leading reproductive rights group.</p>

<p>There is no evidence the rule reduces abortion, she said. &quot;In fact, by targeting funding for overseas family planning programs, it may well have the opposite effect by making it harder for many women to avoid unintended pregnancy, which in turn would increase recourse to unsafe procedures by women who cannot access safe&nbsp;abortioncare,&quot; she said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>(Reuters)</p>


Even foreign organisations across the world funded by USAID will no longer be able to talk about abortion, let alone provide the service

US President Donald Trump on Monday reinstated a global gag rule that bans US-funded groups around the world from discussing abortion, a move that was widely expected, but nonetheless dismayed women's rights advocates. The rule, which affects both American and non-American non-governmental organisations working abroad, is one that incoming presidents have used to signal their positions on abortion rights. It was created under US President Ronald Reagan in 1984. The global gag rule has been associated with an increase in unsafe abortions and we expect that Trump's global gag rule will cost women their lives,' said Serra Sippel, president of the Centre for Health and Gender Equity in Washington × Trump, an abortion opponent, signed the reinstatement directive at a ceremony in the White House on his fourth day in office. Former President Barack Obama had lifted the gag rule in 2009 when he took office. "Women's health and rights are now one of the first casualties of the Trump administration," said Serra Sippel, president of the Centre for Health and Gender Equity in Washington. "The global gag rule has been associated with an increase in unsafe abortions and we expect that Trump's global gag rule will cost women their lives," she said. If you're wondering what patriarchy looks like: A group of white men watch as Trump reinstates the #GlobalGagRule pic.twitter.com/ZV1OX41ziF — Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) January 23, 2017 × Reinstatement of the gag rule, formally the Mexico City policy, comes just two days after, according to organisers' unofficial estimations, five million people marched in cities around the world in a show of unity for women's rights, among them abortion access. The far-reaching gag rule affects groups getting funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), even if they use separate money for abortion services, counseling or referrals, advocates note. "It is appalling to dictate to civil society groups and health care providers how they can spend their own money and force them to withhold from women critical information about and access to the full range of reproductive health care," said Nancy Northup, president of the US-based Center for Reproductive Rights. The policy puts groups that provide women's health care in an "untenable position", said Brian Dixon of Population Connection Action Fund. They can either accept the restriction to keep their funding or they can reject the restriction and lose their funding, Dixon said. "Either choice hurts the women that rely on them." Following the rule's inception in 1984, former President Bill Clinton revoked it when he took office in 1993 and former President George W Bush reinstated it in 2001. "Life-saving global health funding should not be a political football," said Ann Starrs, head of the Guttmacher Institute, a leading reproductive rights group. There is no evidence the rule reduces abortion, she said. "In fact, by targeting funding for overseas family planning programs, it may well have the opposite effect by making it harder for many women to avoid unintended pregnancy, which in turn would increase recourse to unsafe procedures by women who cannot access safe abortioncare," she said. (Reuters)

Trump reinstates rule restricting abortions around the world

<p>Thousands of women protested&nbsp;across Poland today against a proposed near-total abortion ban, international news agency AFP reported.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Pro-choice activists took to social media to launch the nationwide &quot;Women strike&quot;, asking women to stay away from offices and schools to attend protests.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>According to the news agency, around 2,000 people rallied outside the headquarters&nbsp;of&nbsp;the governing rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) party in Warsaw.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>PiS in late September went &nbsp;ahead with a controversial bill that would allow abortions&nbsp;only if the mother&#39;s life is at risk and increase the maximum jail term for practitioners from two years to five, in the devoutly catholic country.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The citizen&#39;s initiative tabled in the parliament by the &#39;Stop abortion&#39;&nbsp;coalition would make women who&nbsp;terminate pregnancies liable to jail term but judges could waive punishment in their case.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The country&#39;s highly influential Catholic church approved the initiative earlier this year, even though its bishops have since then opposed jailing women.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;I don&#39;t like what the Polish government is doing to women,&quot; protester Jolanta Bienicka told AFP.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Unfortunately, we&#39;re going in the direction of countries like Afghanistan and the worst countries in the world.&quot;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Protester Katazyna Goluch, a 17-year-old high school student, told AFP that &quot;no one has the right to decide what I am supposed to do with my uterus&quot;.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;If this law comes into effect and I&#39;m raped and I get pregnant, I&#39;ll have to give birth. It&#39;s the same thing if the foetus is deformed, so we just have to say no.&quot;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The current law, which was introduced in 1993, &nbsp;bans all terminations except in cases of&nbsp;rape or incest, the pregnancy poses a health risk to the mother or the foetus is severely deformed.</p>

<p><br />
(WION with inputs from AFP)</p>


A bill introduced by the governing party last month allows abortion only if the mother's life is at risk

Thousands of women protested across Poland today against a proposed near-total abortion ban, international news agency AFP reported. Pro-choice activists took to social media to launch the nationwide "Women strike", asking women to stay away from offices and schools to attend protests. According to the news agency, around 2,000 people rallied outside the headquarters of the governing rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) party in Warsaw. PiS in late September went ahead with a controversial bill that would allow abortions only if the mother's life is at risk and increase the maximum jail term for practitioners from two years to five, in the devoutly catholic country. The citizen's initiative tabled in the parliament by the 'Stop abortion' coalition would make women who terminate pregnancies liable to jail term but judges could waive punishment in their case. The country's highly influential Catholic church approved the initiative earlier this year, even though its bishops have since then opposed jailing women. "I don't like what the Polish government is doing to women," protester Jolanta Bienicka told AFP. "Unfortunately, we're going in the direction of countries like Afghanistan and the worst countries in the world." Protester Katazyna Goluch, a 17-year-old high school student, told AFP that "no one has the right to decide what I am supposed to do with my uterus". "If this law comes into effect and I'm raped and I get pregnant, I'll have to give birth. It's the same thing if the foetus is deformed, so we just have to say no." The current law, which was introduced in 1993, bans all terminations except in cases of rape or incest, the pregnancy poses a health risk to the mother or the foetus is severely deformed. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Women protest against abortion ban in Poland

abortion

Abortion, News on Abortion, stories on Abortion, articles on Abortion, Abortion stories at Wion, Abortion news, Abortion latest news