Guam moves closer to restoring abortion access after ACLU lawsuit theguardian.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theguardian.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Getting an abortion on Guam, a remote US territory in the Pacific Ocean, has never been simple. Before 2016 there were only two abortion doctors on the entire island, and anti-abortion protesters would often stand outside their clinics with signs. But since 2018, it has been impossible. That year Guam lost its last abortion provider when Dr William Freeman retired and moved away, and the doctor who took over refused to conduct them. This means.
Bevacqua summarized documented instances of abortion among CHamorus in the early 1900s.
He noted the 1990 law banning abortions in Guam introduced by then-Sen. Elizabeth Arriola, which was later struck down by the court. Bevacqua highlighted the efforts of women who were against the abortion ban, including attorney Anita Arriola, then-president of Guam Nurse’s Association and now-Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, and his mother, Rita Lujan Bevacqua, who succeeded Leon Guerrero as president of the Guam Nurse’s Association.
“With the current lack of access to legal abortion in Guam, the same concerns that animated opposition to the 1990 ban are once again relevant,” Bevacqua stated. “In my opinion, forcing people in Guam to travel several thousands of miles, … to obtain care when access to safe and legal abortion can and should be made available on the island imposes a dignity harm on Guamanians.”