The Young Feminists' Network Newsletter- Issue VIII 2025

Author

Everystory Sri Lanka
October 06, 2025

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The Young Feminist Network was established in July 2020 by Everystory Sri Lanka to bring together people interested in learning more about feminism, particularly from a Sri Lankan and South Asian perspective. This month, our newsletter is curated on the theme of Reproductive Freedom.

LETTER FROM
THE EDITOR

Dear Reader,

Every year since 2011, activists around the world observe International Safe Abortion Day on 28 September, campaigning for their governments to decriminalize abortion, provide access to safe and affordable abortion services, and end stigma and discrimination towards women who choose to have an abortion.

In this issue, we explore the ways in which restrictions on the safety, legality, and affordability of abortion shape people’s lives across the world. We begin close to home, in Sri Lanka, where heavy restrictions on the termination of pregnancies compel pregnant people to seek back-alley services, often with great personal danger. We then look at the Philippines, where religious conservatism prevents young people from accessing much-needed sex education and impedes the adoption of a measure that could have pre-empted teenage pregnancies. In the United States, we observe the sophisticated tactics adopted by anti-choice groups to prevent or delay access to abortion.

We also engage in some myth-busting: on contraception, on the typical seeker of abortion-related services, and on the safety and complexity of self-care in the context of abortion. Finally, we explore the experiences of those who consider, seek, obtain, and even facilitate abortions through real-life testimonials, creative writing, and film.

Much of the content of this newsletter may appear bleak, but there is also significant scope for progress—and activists the world over are striving to ensure reproductive freedom for all. You can be part of this global movement by raising awareness, advocating for change, and helping to end the stigma around abortion. We invite you to share your thoughts, responses, and suggestions—on this or any other feminist issue—at [email protected] .

As always, we wish you happy reading, and we hope this newsletter inspires you to take decisive action to ensure reproductive freedom for all.

In solidarity,
Chathuni Uduwela
Guest Editor - 2025 Issue VIII

The Fight for Abortion Rights in Sri Lanka - Groundviews

In a country where abortion remains criminalized under colonial-era laws, Sri Lanka has long denied women the fundamental right to make decisions about their own bodies. The recent proposal to amend these laws has been welcomed by many. However, this limited reform is far from sufficient.

groundviews.org/2025/04/14/the-fight-for-abortion-rights-in-sri-lanka

The fierce debate over sex education in a deeply Catholic nation

Child and teen pregnancies in the Philippines are amongst the highest in Asia. Amid a spike in 10 to 14-year-old girls giving birth, debate rages between lawmakers, health experts and church groups in the Philippines over the future of sex education.

edition.cnn.com/2025/08/31/asia/teen-pregnancy-philippines-sex-education-catholic-as-equals-intl-cmd

The Battle of Reframing: How anti-choice groups manipulate language to try to control the narrative

Anti-choice movements have nefariously hijacked terms like “life” and “choice,” but we must reclaim them with accuracy and power.

www.ippf.org/blogs/battle-reframing-how-anti-choice-groups-manipulate-language-try-control-narrative

Explainer: No, Contraceptives Don't Cause Abortion

Dispelling dangerous myths: how contraception works, why it’s not an abortifacient or cause abortion, and how it saves women's lives.

msmagazine.com/2025/08/14/abortifacient-contraceptives-do-not-cause-abortion

MYTH: Only women need access to safe abortion services.

Trans-men, gender queer and gender-non-conforming persons, as well as others of diverse gender identity who do not identify as women, can and do get pregnant. They face extensive challenges in accessing safe abortion information and services.

www.september28.org/how-does-abortion-stigma-work

Self-care within sexual and reproductive health; a collective and supportive act of resistance

Self-care is an integral part and not an optional or selective modality to access services that uphold our commitments to rights based sexual and reproductive healthcare.  

www.ippf.org/blogs/self-care-within-sexual-and-reproductive-health-collective-and-supportive-act-resistance

Resource: Women on Web provides abortion pill access by mail

Women on Web is a Canadian non-profit organization facilitating online access to abortion pills. Since 2005, Women on Web’s international team of activists, researchers and medical providers has supported over 100,000 people to access safe abortion with pills and responded to over 1 million emails.

www.womenonweb.org/en/home-en

THIS MONTH
WE’RE READING

A Collection of Stories on Abortion in Sri Lanka by The Coalition for Safe Abortions, Sri Lanka

This trilingual electronic resource presents case studies of women who have sought abortions and a review of legal, medical, and socio-cultural perspectives on abortion in Sri Lanka over a period of thirty years.

In the absence of official data, this book combines testimonials with statistical estimates to offer a compelling picture of how abortions are sought and provided outside the purview of the law. It also demonstrates that a determined woman who does not see a future with a child will seek an abortion—regardless of the laws in place or the safety of the conditions under which she obtains it.

The Coalition for Safe Abortions is a partnership of civil society and grassroots organizations from around the country that have combined their efforts to draw attention to, and work towards eliminating, the negative consequences that result from Sri Lanka’s restrictive abortion laws.

A Collection of Stories on Abortion in Sri Lanka by The Coalition for Safe Abortions, Sri Lanka

Short fiction: “Of Fists and Rubs" by Ismat Chughtai

Trailblazing feminist writer Ismat Chughtai gives an unsparing account of the goings-on in a maternity ward.

wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2010-09/of-fists-and-rubs

THIS MONTH
WE’RE WATCHING

Sulang Kirilli

Sulang Kirilli or The Wind Bird is a 2002 drama film dealing with the theme of abortion.

Directed by Enokaa Sathyangani Keerthinanda, Sulang Kirilli follows Rathi, a young, unmarried woman working in a garment factory, who becomes pregnant after a relationship with a married soldier. As she navigates the aftermath, Rathi is thrust into a moral and emotional crisis: forced to choose between carrying a child into a society that will punish and stigmatize her, or seeking an illegal abortion that defies both the law and the values she has been taught to uphold. The film offers a powerful critique of the institutional and cultural systems that deny women autonomy over their own bodies.

Sulang Kirilli is available to watch in full online.

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