{"id":11425,"date":"2021-09-28T08:51:58","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T07:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/?p=11425"},"modified":"2021-10-19T15:43:27","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T14:43:27","slug":"soopstenie-bezbedniot-abortus-e-osnovna-zdravstvena-zashtita","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/en\/soopstenie-bezbedniot-abortus-e-osnovna-zdravstvena-zashtita\/","title":{"rendered":"Gender Equality Platform: Safe abortion constitutes a primary healthcare concern \u2013 full stop!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Two years into the adoption of the new Law on Termination of Pregnancy, Macedonia has finally joined the ranks of the countries that acknowledge the relevance of medical abortion as an integral part of caring for women\u2019s reproductive health. This is a significant step forward towards ensuring quality abortion care, which is why every year on 28th September the world marks the International Safe Abortion Day.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/FB-Cover-Medikamentozen-Abortus-02-so-Platforma-logo.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11426\" src=\"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/FB-Cover-Medikamentozen-Abortus-02-so-Platforma-logo.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1702\" height=\"690\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/FB-Cover-Medikamentozen-Abortus-02-so-Platforma-logo.png 1702w, https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/FB-Cover-Medikamentozen-Abortus-02-so-Platforma-logo-300x122.png 300w, https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/FB-Cover-Medikamentozen-Abortus-02-so-Platforma-logo-1024x415.png 1024w, https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/FB-Cover-Medikamentozen-Abortus-02-so-Platforma-logo-768x311.png 768w, https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/FB-Cover-Medikamentozen-Abortus-02-so-Platforma-logo-1536x623.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1702px) 100vw, 1702px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As of 2021, medical abortion has become available in our country, too, at the University Clinic for Gynaecology and Obstetrics in Skopje. Also referred to as medication abortion, medical abortion is a safe alternative to the surgical approach, which is reflected in the fact that 80% of abortions performed in the EU countries are by means of medicines. And in circumstances of the pandemic, medical abortion is considered to be a safer option for termination of pregnancy as it reduced to the minimum the need to visit a health facility, thus reducing the risk from exposure to COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>However, at this moment, medical abortion is available in only one health facility in Macedonia. As a consequence, girls and women living outside of Skopje do not have an option as to choose how to terminate their pregnancy, which significantly restricts their reproductive freedom.<\/p>\n<p>The initial findings regarding the application of medical abortion in our country so far show that more than 90% of women are satisfied with this healthcare service, and having the option to substitute the surgical intervention and anaesthesia with medicines contributes to their feeling safer and more dignified. On the other hands, due to the current anti-COVID-19 measures, the hospitals operate on a reduced number of available rooms, so some of the women who sought to undergo abortion at various health facilities across the country have found themselves in conditions where their privacy has been disturbed and were exposed to unsensitive treatment by the healthcare workers.<\/p>\n<p>Taking into account that the ongoing pandemic has only additionally restricted the girls\u2019 and women\u2019s access to healthcare services, today, on the International Safe Abortion Day, <strong>we, <\/strong>members<strong> of the Gender Equality Platform, demand from our health authorities to ensure a wide application of medical abortion across the entire country, meaning that <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Medical abortion should become a healthcare service available in the hospitals in other towns in the country, and<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Registration of medicines used for medical abortion should be ensured so as to ensure its application both at the level of hospitals and in the gynaecological offices providing primary healthcare.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Due to the sensitivity of this healthcare service, we call on the health facilities to guarantee the right to privacy and confidentiality of women who choose to have an abortion. We call on the healthcare workers to perform their work professionally, demonstrating high level of care and empathy for their patients. In this way, both the health facilities and the healthcare workers will contribute for reducing the stigma and judgment of girls and women who have decided to discontinue their pregnancy. This is particularly important now that women are socially and economically among the ones most heavily affected by the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, in times when many right-wing governments in the world have restricted even more drastically their abortion laws and the access to contraceptives, and the comprehensive sexuality education and the longstanding commitments for gender equality have been targeted by manipulation and hate speech, healthcare factors in our country must show support for the human right to a free reproductive life. After all, abortion is a healthcare service just as any other service in the healthcare system \u2013 full stop!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Members of the Gender Equality Platform:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Tiiiit! Inc.<\/li>\n<li>Bori se \u017eenski <em>[Fight Like a Girl]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>\u017denska gra\u01f5anska inicijativa \u201cAntiko\u201d <em>[Antiko Women\u2019s Civic Initiative]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Zdru\u017eenie \u201c\u017denski forum\u201d <em>[Women\u2019s Forum Association]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Zdru\u017eenie za ednakvi mo\u017enosti \u201cSemper\u201d <em>[Semper Equal Opportunities Association]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Zdru\u017eenie za lokalen ruralen razvoj <em>[Association for Local Rural Development]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Zdru\u017eenie za unapreduvanje na rodovata ednakvost \u201cAkcija zdru\u017eenska\u201d <em>[Akcija Zdru\u017eenska Association for Advancement of Gender Equality]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Zdru\u017eenie za emancipacija, solidarnost i ednakvost na \u017eenite \u201cESE\u201d <em>[ESE Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of Women]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Zdru\u017eenie za edukativen razavoj \u201cEkvalis\u201d <em>[Aequ\u0101lis Association for Educational Development]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Institut za op\u0161testveni i humanisti\u010dki nauki <em>[Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Koalicija \u201cSeksualni i zdravstveni prava na marginaliziranite zaednici\u201d <em>[Coalition Sexual and Health Rights of Marginalised Communities]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>LezFem<\/li>\n<li>Mre\u017ea za za\u0161tita od diskriminacija <em>[Anti-discrimination Network]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Nacionalna mre\u017ea protiv nasilstvo vrz \u017eenite i semejno nasilstvo <em>[National Network to End Violence against Women and Domestic Violence]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Nacioanel sovet za rodova ramnopravnost <em>[National Gender Equality Council]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Organizacija na \u017eeni na Grad Skopje \u201cO\u017dS\u201d <em>[O\u017dS Women\u2019s Organisation of the City of Skopje]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Organizaija na \u017eenite na Op\u0161tina Sveti Nikole <em>[Women\u2019s Organisation of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Organizacija na \u017eenite \u201cKumanovka\u201d <em>[Kumanovka Women\u2019s Organisation]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Reaktor \u2013 Istra\u017euvanje vo akcija <em>[Reactor \u2013 Research in Action]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Ruralna koalicija <em>[Rural Coalition]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Stela<\/li>\n<li>TAKT<\/li>\n<li>Helsin\u0161ki komitet za \u010dovekovi prava <em>[Helsinki Committee for Human Rights]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>HERA<\/li>\n<li>HOPS \u2013 Opcii za zdrav \u017eivot Skopje <em>[HOPS \u2013 Healthy Options Project Skopje]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Humanitarno zdru\u017eenie \u201cMajka\u201d <em>[Majka Humanitarian Association]<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Centar za istra\u017euvanje i kreiranje politiki CRPM <em>[CRPM Centre for Research and Policy Making]<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two years into the adoption of the new Law on Termination of Pregnancy, Macedonia has finally joined the ranks of the countries that acknowledge the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11426,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[336,55,1387,671,1514,1259,1513],"class_list":["post-11425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hera-aktuelno","tag-28-","tag-55","tag-abortus-so-lekovi","tag-671","tag-megunaroden-den","tag-medikamentozen-abortus","tag-soopshtenie-za-javnost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11451,"href":"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11425\/revisions\/11451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hera.org.mk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}