Free Republic

A new Iranian law that raises the prospect of the death penalty for abortion has been condemned by independent human rights experts, who have declared that is in “clear contravention of international law”. In a statement released on Tuesday, the experts called on the Iranian authorities to repeal the ‘Youthful Population and Protection of the Family’ law, which was ratified by Iran’s Guardian Council on the first of November. The law, said the experts, severely restricts access to abortion, contraception, voluntary sterilization services and related information, in direct violation of women’s human rights under international law, and contains a provision...

An Iranian official says according to the available data about 95 percent of abortions in the country are carried out through "illegal" procedures. Saleh Ghasemi, head of the Center for Strategic Research on Population, said on Thursday that abortion is one of the most effective variables in population growth, adding that "Only three percent of abortions [in Iran] are legal, and two percent of abortions are spontaneous." He also said that only four percent of abortions happen due to what he called "illegitimate relations". The ban on abortion in Iran has made women go to underground and often unsanitary centers...

Iranian authorities shut down a clinic Sunday, after they said a “volunteer force” has been established to identify doctors and clinics who carry out abortions. Public Relations of Tabriz Medical Sciences University said in a statement Monday that various organizations including the university, Basij Physicians Militia of the Revolutionary Guards’ (IRGC), the justice department of East Azarbaijan Province, and police identified and sealed the clinic. At the same time, Saber Jabbari-Farouji, head of the health ministry’s Center for Rejuvenation of Population, that a volunteer group called Nafas (life) has been formed to help prevent abortions. Iranian media have dubbed the...