Case Studies
This section of the site will provide a space for sharing the experiences of all
those have been directly or indirectly affected by the issue of abortion. The site
welcomes testimonies from:
- Women who have experienced unsafe abortion; or who
have had to struggle to access a safe abortion in countries where abortion is largely
proscribed; or who have struggled with obstructive practitioners, local laws or
bureaucracy in countries where abortion is legally available; or who have had to
travel to another country to access services, either because they live in countries
where abortion is proscribed or they are beyond the legal gestation in their own
country; or who have lost a daughter, sister or friend to unsafe abortion.
- Men
who have lost a wife, partner, daughter, sister or friend to unsafe abortion; or
who has seen a loved one permanently injured or disabled as a consequence of unsafe
abortion; or who have struggled to help a loved one access safe abortion services,
or travelled with them to another country to do so
- Medical practitioners – doctors,
nurses, midwives and paramedics who daily see and treat women affected by the consequences
of unsafe abortion; or who have taken the decision to provide safe services to women
in countries where abortion is largely proscribed and from
- campaigners and activists
- politicians
- lawyers
- NGOs
- members of Civil Society
Testimonials can be in
the form of written evidence, blogs, audio and/or video casts.
Testimonial - Latin America - 5“When I found out it had been a month. I didn’t want to do all the tests, especially at the beginning, and I wasn’t feeling bad. Then I started to get worried because usually my period is three days early, and then the month had passed and it still didn’t come, and that was when I started to...
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Testimonial - Latin America - 4“I feel very calm and relieved about my decision because I think that if I had brought those children into the world, I would have had four children and I wouldn’t be able to educate those children. I think my commitment to bring a child into the world is to give it a healthy life, a quality of...
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Testimonial - Latin America - 3[If I met a woman like me] “I would give her a hug and I would tell her that life is the most valuable thing that a woman has and it’s her choice and that whatever anyone tells her - her parents, her boyfriend, her doctor, God, whoever - her decision is hers alone. I think I’ve saved myself...
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Testimonial - Latin America - 2“I don’t want to get pregnant any more. I still regret that I’ve always had so many children, one after another, so many. You have to have children, but children can be a lot of money. If they had told me about [contraception] then I wouldn’t have had that many. But no one told me and I’ve had...
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Testimonial - Latin America - 1“You don’t have to feel guilty, I don’t… Sometimes I watch television and they talk about these women and say that they are murderers and all that. It’s not about killing, but thinking about a quality of life that you can give another person. It’s about a decision that you are going to make with...
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Testimonial - Ireland - 2“Our GP is an Indian and a family friend. If my parents found out life would become a nightmare for me. It’s not that my family is against abortion. Actually, if they knew about my situation they would insist on an abortion anyway. What they are against is sex outside of marriage and in their...
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Testimonial - Ireland - 1“I went to my GP thinking I would get every bit of support I needed in getting referred for an abortion. After all, the GP knew of my situation and the terrible strain I am under as a result of my marriage being on the rocks. I’ve had lots of treatment for my nerves. But I couldn’t believe his...
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Testimonial - Asia - 2“In rural areas there is no planning to have children or not. They accept every pregnancy as their fate. Mostly I have seen that women are not happy after third or fourth pregnancy. Due to malnutrition women become weak and when they become pregnant their responsibilities become double, she has...
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Testimonial - Asia - 1“What have we become? Just to remain comfortable within safe legal and religious bounds, we outright rejected the idea and refused to provide the service. Women around us have to get [abortions] done by illicit providers and perish. They didn't even bother to consult us knowing what our advice...
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Testimonial - Africa - 3“I know that it is illegal but consider yourself in my shoes. How I am going to support my already big family and look at my wife. Will she survive another pregnancy? She already looks torn down. I will do anything to have this pregnancy terminated.”
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Testimonial - Africa - 2“When abortion is legalised it would be better because you will know that you have gone to a safe place where you cannot risk your life. Now people do it illegally and because people will be after money and take them to a place where it is not good, they end up losing their lives. So I think it...
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Testimonial - Africa - 1“If we don’t care about someone who has a problem, she will never turn to us afterwards. So we should take care of her, especially those who have a problem of abortion. If we refuse to take care of her, she’ll go anywhere. Here, we have training and we can teach them family planning. People who...
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