Reading List on the different perspectives of Abortion
Curated by Kaveesha Coswatte who is the Legal and Programs Analyst for iProbono in Sri Lanka and a lecturer at the APIIT Law School. Kaveesha has co-authored the BSc Law and Psychology program for the Open University of Sri Lanka and is also a published author in multiple legal research based on accessibility to justice, human trafficking, and legal status of LGBTIQ persons in Sri Lanka. Kaveesha Coswatte’s bio can be found after the reading list.
Facts are critical, especially when discussing women’s healthcare, and Abortion is an essential component of women’s healthcare.
In this month’s Reading List, Kaveesha has focused on readings covering diverse aspects of abortions experienced internationally — extending from the medical and healthcare aspects of abortion to the policy revolving around abortions.
Guidance about choice
Pic Credits: The Boston Globe via Pinterest
Abortion is a less discussed topic in most countries due to the stigma and negative views that shadow it, which causes less access to information on methods and safety precautions when undergoing an abortion. Making a decision by the Arkansas Department of Health is a thoroughly informative book for women seeking an abortion to make an informed choice.
Women’s experience on abortion
Pic Credit : William Wei via Pinterest
A very sensitive but fundamental aspect of abortion is a woman’s experience through the process. Most women are reluctant to share their stories on the termination of pregnancy due to its illegality in many countries, which reduces the overview of what it is like to have an abortion done, which could be shared amongst women who need or want to undergo an abortion. Women’s Stories of Abortion by the Irish Family Planning Association is clear learning from the Irish experience and the power of female ally-ship to battle anti-abortion laws in The Irish Journey. Another view of different experiences with abortion in the eyes of the Sri Lankan woman is given through A Collection of Stories on Abortion in Sri Lanka by the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka, which discusses their decisions made and reasons given along with differing levels of access explored.
MS Reproductive Choices also provides a collection of stories by women worldwide who have undergone abortions. They encourage more open and honest conversations about abortion. They believe that every abortion experience is unique, and sharing these stories means that women and girls feel informed, educated, and supported when making choices about their own bodies.
Further, Lost: Illegal Abortion Stories by Jo Wainer responds to an advertisement in the Melbourne Sun newspaper in 1985 on stories of women who had abortions in the 1980s, Australia. These personal testimonies do not soften the raw facts of dealing with their bodies’ unplanned and unwanted fruits.
The policies behind abortions
When governments ban abortions, they do little to reduce the number of pregnancies that are terminated. In fact, despite restrictive laws, abortions continue to occur at roughly the same rate, according to the World Health Organization. But when safe abortion services are denied, medical professionals who provide proper care are criminalized. Incorrect knowledge of laws may affect how women enter the health system or seek services. It likely contributes to the disconnect between official laws and practical applications of the laws that influence women’s access to safe, legal abortion services.
In Search of Decriminalization by Marge Berer is a country-to-country perspective on abortion and barriers to decriminalization overall in Abortion Law and Policy Around the World. A more rounded approach can be found in Abortion in legal, social, and healthcare contexts by Jeanne Marecek, Catriona Macleod, and Lesley Hoggart. Further, A Systematic Review by Anisa R. Assifi, Blair Berger, Özge Tunçalp, Rajat Khosla, Bela Ganatra is another excellent source for women’s awareness and knowledge on abortion laws. It focuses on providing a synthesis of evidence of women’s understanding and knowledge of the legal status of abortion in their country and the accuracy of women’s knowledge on specific legal grounds and restrictions outlined in a country’s abortion law.
A different lens in viewing abortion, opening floodgates to sex-selective abortion and the increased abortion of female fetuses is demonstrated in ‘And they kill me, only because I am a girl,’ which is a review of sex-selective abortions in South Asia by Farina Gul Abrejo, Dr. Babar Tasneem Shaikh and Narjis Rizvi.
Health care providers have an essential role in the provision of abortion services. However, the shortage of health care providers in low-income countries is critical and exacerbated by the unwillingness of some health care providers to provide abortion services. In “Identifying the importance of Health care providers and their role in access to abortion in Health care providers’ perceptions of and attitudes towards induced abortions in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia” is a systematic literature review of qualitative and quantitative data by Ulrika Rehnström Loi, Kristina Gemzell-Danielsson, Elisabeth Faxelid, and Marie Klingberg-Allvin. This study aimed to identify, summarize and synthesize available research addressing health care providers’ perceptions of and attitudes towards induced abortions in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.
The Sri Lankan experience in amending abortion laws is described in Abortion in Sri Lanka in the context of women’s human rights by Sunila Abeyesekera. From the perspective of women’s human rights, this paper analyses an unsuccessful attempt to amend the abortion law in the Penal Code of Sri Lanka in 1995. Further, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy — Proposals by The Law Commission of Sri Lanka maps the legal reform process with a complete analysis of the proposed laws in Sri Lanka
The influence of religion on Abortion
Pics Credit: Alison Laredo/Courtesy the artists
All religions have taken strong positions on abortion. They believe that the issue encompasses profound issues of life and death, right and wrong, human relationships, and society’s nature, making it a major religious concern.
A Little Bird Told Me About Abortion: The Online Discourse Surrounding Abortion in Sri Lanka by Kaveesha Coswatte herself explores the debates on Abortion in the online sphere and how culture and religion shape the conversation of Abortion.
Women’s Bodies: From Delaying Pregnancy in Sri Lanka to Decriminalization of Abortion in Mexico by Bakamoono.lk provides debunks the Lankan Catholic Churches religious excuse for rejecting abortion laws through the Mexican Experience where Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional to punish abortion as a crime, a landmark ruling that clears the way for the legalization of abortion across the country.
Along the lines of the impact of religious opinion on abortion discussions, Sharanya Sekaram follows Sri Lanka’s journey on abortion in a three-part series focusing on the influence of religious leaders and the absence of women in the conversation in Where are We Now in the Abortion Debate: The Sri Lankan Spectrum.
The outstanding Review gives another interesting reading by Darshi Thoradeniya on Abortion in Asia: Local dilemmas, global politics by Andrea Whittaker, where she discusses how the book as a whole can be taken as an attempt to challenge the discourse that there is only one view on abortion among Catholics.
Further interesting readings
Abortion in Sri Lanka: The Double Standard — by Ramya Kumar
The Curator: Kaveesha Coswatte
Kaveesha Coswatte is the Legal and Programs Analyst for iProbono in Sri Lanka and a lecturer at the APIIT Law School. Her work mostly involves legal drafting and reform, providing pro bono legal services to vulnerable minorities: mainly women, children, and members of the LGBTIQ community, and awareness building. In the field of higher education, Kaveesha has co-authored the BSc Law and Psychology program for the Open University of Sri Lanka, unifying the criminal justice system and psychological aspects that contribute to crime and victimology. She is also a published author in multiple legal researches based on accessibility to justice, human trafficking, and legal status of LGBTIQ persons in Sri Lanka; and poetry focused on contemporary social taboos and gender. As for hobbies, Kaveesha is passionate about traveling, singing, slam poetry, and volunteering for international disaster relief and refugee education.
Curated by Kaveesha Coswatte who is the Legal and Programs Analyst for iProbono in Sri Lanka and a lecturer at the APIIT Law School. Kaveesha has co-authored the BSc Law and Psychology program for the Open University of Sri Lanka and is also a published author in multiple legal research based on accessibility to justice, human trafficking, and legal status of LGBTIQ persons in Sri Lanka. Kaveesha Coswatte’s bio can be found after the reading list.
Facts are critical, especially when discussing women’s healthcare, and Abortion is an essential component of women’s healthcare.
In this month’s Reading List, Kaveesha has focused on readings covering diverse aspects of abortions experienced internationally — extending from the medical and healthcare aspects of abortion to the policy revolving around abortions.
Guidance about choice
Pic Credits: The Boston Globe via Pinterest
Abortion is a less discussed topic in most countries due to the stigma and negative views that shadow it, which causes less access to information on methods and safety precautions when undergoing an abortion. Making a decision by the Arkansas Department of Health is a thoroughly informative book for women seeking an abortion to make an informed choice.
Women’s experience on abortion
Pic Credit : William Wei via Pinterest
A very sensitive but fundamental aspect of abortion is a woman’s experience through the process. Most women are reluctant to share their stories on the termination of pregnancy due to its illegality in many countries, which reduces the overview of what it is like to have an abortion done, which could be shared amongst women who need or want to undergo an abortion. Women’s Stories of Abortion by the Irish Family Planning Association is clear learning from the Irish experience and the power of female ally-ship to battle anti-abortion laws in The Irish Journey. Another view of different experiences with abortion in the eyes of the Sri Lankan woman is given through A Collection of Stories on Abortion in Sri Lanka by the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka, which discusses their decisions made and reasons given along with differing levels of access explored.
MS Reproductive Choices also provides a collection of stories by women worldwide who have undergone abortions. They encourage more open and honest conversations about abortion. They believe that every abortion experience is unique, and sharing these stories means that women and girls feel informed, educated, and supported when making choices about their own bodies.
Further, Lost: Illegal Abortion Stories by Jo Wainer responds to an advertisement in the Melbourne Sun newspaper in 1985 on stories of women who had abortions in the 1980s, Australia. These personal testimonies do not soften the raw facts of dealing with their bodies’ unplanned and unwanted fruits.
The policies behind abortions
When governments ban abortions, they do little to reduce the number of pregnancies that are terminated. In fact, despite restrictive laws, abortions continue to occur at roughly the same rate, according to the World Health Organization. But when safe abortion services are denied, medical professionals who provide proper care are criminalized. Incorrect knowledge of laws may affect how women enter the health system or seek services. It likely contributes to the disconnect between official laws and practical applications of the laws that influence women’s access to safe, legal abortion services.
In Search of Decriminalization by Marge Berer is a country-to-country perspective on abortion and barriers to decriminalization overall in Abortion Law and Policy Around the World. A more rounded approach can be found in Abortion in legal, social, and healthcare contexts by Jeanne Marecek, Catriona Macleod, and Lesley Hoggart. Further, A Systematic Review by Anisa R. Assifi, Blair Berger, Özge Tunçalp, Rajat Khosla, Bela Ganatra is another excellent source for women’s awareness and knowledge on abortion laws. It focuses on providing a synthesis of evidence of women’s understanding and knowledge of the legal status of abortion in their country and the accuracy of women’s knowledge on specific legal grounds and restrictions outlined in a country’s abortion law.
A different lens in viewing abortion, opening floodgates to sex-selective abortion and the increased abortion of female fetuses is demonstrated in ‘And they kill me, only because I am a girl,’ which is a review of sex-selective abortions in South Asia by Farina Gul Abrejo, Dr. Babar Tasneem Shaikh and Narjis Rizvi.
Health care providers have an essential role in the provision of abortion services. However, the shortage of health care providers in low-income countries is critical and exacerbated by the unwillingness of some health care providers to provide abortion services. In “Identifying the importance of Health care providers and their role in access to abortion in Health care providers’ perceptions of and attitudes towards induced abortions in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia” is a systematic literature review of qualitative and quantitative data by Ulrika Rehnström Loi, Kristina Gemzell-Danielsson, Elisabeth Faxelid, and Marie Klingberg-Allvin. This study aimed to identify, summarize and synthesize available research addressing health care providers’ perceptions of and attitudes towards induced abortions in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.
The Sri Lankan experience in amending abortion laws is described in Abortion in Sri Lanka in the context of women’s human rights by Sunila Abeyesekera. From the perspective of women’s human rights, this paper analyses an unsuccessful attempt to amend the abortion law in the Penal Code of Sri Lanka in 1995. Further, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy — Proposals by The Law Commission of Sri Lanka maps the legal reform process with a complete analysis of the proposed laws in Sri Lanka
The influence of religion on Abortion
Pics Credit: Alison Laredo/Courtesy the artists
All religions have taken strong positions on abortion. They believe that the issue encompasses profound issues of life and death, right and wrong, human relationships, and society’s nature, making it a major religious concern.
A Little Bird Told Me About Abortion: The Online Discourse Surrounding Abortion in Sri Lanka by Kaveesha Coswatte herself explores the debates on Abortion in the online sphere and how culture and religion shape the conversation of Abortion.
Women’s Bodies: From Delaying Pregnancy in Sri Lanka to Decriminalization of Abortion in Mexico by Bakamoono.lk provides debunks the Lankan Catholic Churches religious excuse for rejecting abortion laws through the Mexican Experience where Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional to punish abortion as a crime, a landmark ruling that clears the way for the legalization of abortion across the country.
Along the lines of the impact of religious opinion on abortion discussions, Sharanya Sekaram follows Sri Lanka’s journey on abortion in a three-part series focusing on the influence of religious leaders and the absence of women in the conversation in Where are We Now in the Abortion Debate: The Sri Lankan Spectrum.
The outstanding Review gives another interesting reading by Darshi Thoradeniya on Abortion in Asia: Local dilemmas, global politics by Andrea Whittaker, where she discusses how the book as a whole can be taken as an attempt to challenge the discourse that there is only one view on abortion among Catholics.
Further interesting readings
Abortion in Sri Lanka: The Double Standard — by Ramya Kumar
The Curator: Kaveesha Coswatte
Kaveesha Coswatte is the Legal and Programs Analyst for iProbono in Sri Lanka and a lecturer at the APIIT Law School. Her work mostly involves legal drafting and reform, providing pro bono legal services to vulnerable minorities: mainly women, children, and members of the LGBTIQ community, and awareness building. In the field of higher education, Kaveesha has co-authored the BSc Law and Psychology program for the Open University of Sri Lanka, unifying the criminal justice system and psychological aspects that contribute to crime and victimology. She is also a published author in multiple legal researches based on accessibility to justice, human trafficking, and legal status of LGBTIQ persons in Sri Lanka; and poetry focused on contemporary social taboos and gender. As for hobbies, Kaveesha is passionate about traveling, singing, slam poetry, and volunteering for international disaster relief and refugee education.