Back-street abortions are well on the way to becoming a chronic health problem in Mozambique, and urgent measures are needed to reduce the number of women who seek the services of clandestine abortionists.
Back-street abortions are well on the way to becoming a chronic health problem in Mozambique, and urgent measures are needed to reduce the number of women who seek the services of clandestine abortionists.
According to a report in Thursday’s issue of the independent newsheet, “Mediafax “, the warning was given by an obstetrician, Momad Bay Usta, while speaking at a seminar on unsafe abortion, held at Namaacha, on the border with Swaziland.
Abortions take place under life-threatening conditions because there is nothing as a legal abortion in Mozambique.
The Mozambican statute book still contains the highly repressive anti-abortion provision of the Portuguese colonial-fascist penal code.
This seeks to turn both the woman who seeks an abortion and the health worker who provides one into criminals.
However, nobody has ever been hauled before the Mozambican courts under the archaic law and doctors perform abortions in public hospitals, particularly when they believe the women’s life would be in danger unless the pregnancy is terminated.
However, this is not publicised and most women are unaware of it.
According to the Health Ministry statistics, complications arising from unsafe a bortions account for 16 per cent of maternal deaths in the country and a shocking 55 per cent of all admissions to hospital obstetric and gynecological services.
This is why the Mozambican government has drawn up a bill that would decriminalize abortion, and make safe, legal abortions available in health units.
The Health Ministry argued that the legalization of abortion is a pressing need, given that unsafe abortion causes so much death and illness, as well as enormous costs for the health service in treating its complications.
The question now is whether the country’s parliament will have the courage to face down religious bigots and pass the bill into law.
Panapress.
