Political leaders from 10 African countries jointly called for the legalisation of safe abortion in the region, in an effort to decrease maternal mortality among African women. This move to make abortion safe and accessible may reflect an emerging trend across the continent.

State leaders from Kenya, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia jointly called for all African leaders to make a “political commitment” to legalise safe abortion procedures in an effort to curb maternal mortality among African women.

In a speech read on his behalf by Assistant Minister Hussein Maalim in Nairobi during a three-day conference addressing human rights and maternal mortality, Kenyan Vice President Moody Awori said that “It is sad to learn that 68,000 women die of unsafe abortion each year and, out of these, 30,000 are in Africa.”

Noting that every year, as many as 15,000 girls in Kenya drop out of secondary school because of unplanned pregnancies, Awori said that “Without recourse to termination of the unplanned pregnancy, their personal development is usually curtailed and the nation loses their development potential. At worst, they die at the hands of unqualified abortionist. This needs to be remedied.”

In the region, 21 African countries have now ratified a protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, which allows abortion in cases of rape, incest, and maternal health. Kenya and Uganda have signed but not ratified the protocol, while Botswana, Central Africa Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, and Tunisia have neither signed nor ratified it.

Furthermore, Mozambique, which has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world, has recently announced that it is considering lifting the country’s ban on abortion. And on June 26, the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and the Reproductive Health and Rights Alliance held a mock tribunal on illegal abortions. The groups hosting the tribunal said they intend “to publicise the negative consequences of the criminalisation of abortion in Kenya,” adding that the absence of safe abortions in the country is a violation of women’s human rights.

Anti-abortion and pro-life activists tried to disrupt the mock trial. KHRC Programs Officer Cynthia Mugo however said, “Abortion should not be looked at from a narrow perspective; it is about the reproductive health of an individual. Just because we are talking about abortion does not mean we are going to be telling women ‘go have an abortion.’ We are just saying the law needs to be changed.”

Related article:
“Mozambique: Government plans to lift abortion ban” in we! June 2007, No. 2

Sources:
“Global Abortion News Update” from Ipas, May/June 2007,  <http://www.ipas.org/english/press_room/2007/global_abortion_news_updates/mayjune2007.asp>. “Leaders Of 10 African Countries Call For Legalization Of Safe Abortion To Help Reduce Maternal Mortality Rate” from Medical News Today, posted on July 2, 2007, <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/75567.php>.
“10 African Leaders Call for Safe, Legal Abortion” from Feminist Majority Foundation, posted on July  3, 2007, <http://feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=10398>.