By Crispina Cummings
IPAS, an organisation working on women’s health and reproductive rights last week held a workshop with parliamentarians to discuss safe abortion before the tabling of a bill that will allow for qualified abortion. The bill will seek to allow for the termination of pregnancy if it was caused by rape, incest, or if the woman’s life is in danger by the pregnancy.
Chairing the meeting was the parliamentary Chief Whip, Claude Kamanda of the governing APC party, who recently participated in a seminar in Ethiopia on the issue. He challenged his colleagues to consider what would have happened had a woman in a situation highlighted above was their sister or a close relative.
Michel Sho-Sawyer, MP, of Constituency 108 said that in thinking of enacting a law like this it was also right to think of the right of the unborn.
IPAS country manager, Valerie Tucker said her organisation was not asking for the legalisation of abortion but for the liberalisation of it. She said the organisation was promoting contraception and contraceptives which she said was aimed at reducing especially early and unwanted pregnancies.
Tucker said that in thinking of enacting the safe abortion law it was important to teach women especially in remote communities about risky pregnancies. She spoke about women who villages who lack the capacity, who are impregnated through rape, women who don’t know where to turn to when these issues arise and who risk losing their life to quack medics.
(C) Politico 12/12/13
