Sierra Leone Religious Council slams Abortion Law

By Kemo Cham

[First published by www.politicosl.com] Barely two weeks after its enactment, Sierra Leone’s new Abortion Act, has met with a major stumbling block after religious bodies warned the president against signing it into law.

Politico learnt that the influential Inter Religious Council (IRC) has asked President Ernest Bai Koroma not to sign it.

The ‘Safe Abortion Act 2015’ was passed by parliament on Tuesday December 8, about five years since campaigners began lobbying for a reform of the current law in existence since 1861.

Its proponents say it is aimed at protecting lives as many women and girls have died due to unsafe abortion.

According to the World Health Organisation, around one in 70 women in Sierra Leone dies during or shortly after childbirth. And about one-third of these deaths, say campaigners, are related to unsafe abortion.

Because the current law prohibits abortion in all forms, women and girls are forced to undergo it undercover, often by untrained health workers and in unsafe environments.

The amended law widens the scope for women to conduct abortion. They are entirely free to do so during

the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, after which it is permitted only in cases of rape, incest or risk to the life of the mother or foetus.

But the law can only come into force after the President assent to it. And according to our sources, a delegation of the top religious body paid him a visit last Wednesday. The president, while telling the religious leaders that the bill was yet to reach his desk, promised not to sign it in the main time. It is not clear what exactly the Council`s endgame is.

While both Christian Muslim leaders are known to be against the new law, our source said the greatest opposition is coming from the Catholic Church which opposes all forms of abortion, and considers it “a moral evil.”

Even the highly receptive Pop Francis has not changed this view, despite his “sin of abortion” comment in September that left many questions on the lips of Catholic faithfuls.

The Holy Father noted in a widely reported written statement that priests were allowed to absolve women who had had abortion if they sought forgiveness during the Roman Catholic Church`s ‘Year of Mercy.’

Even among parliamentarians, from both sides of the isle, the law was so unpopular that it spent the last three years stuck in the wells.

In fact a week before it was passed it failed a first attempt when MPs stormed out, preventing a debate on it. An helpless Speaker SBB Dumbuya was forced to adjourn when it emerged there was no quorum. That`s why when it was eventually passed there was surprised among many people.

Opposition SLPP MP Ansu Kaikai has so far proven the most vocal against the law. He has called for its withdrawal.

“My reasons are simple, the bill needed a lot of sensitization considering that it deals with human life. Also it works directly against our traditional values and a deviance to religious teachings. So our people needed to be adequately informed why such a law should be enacted,” he said last week.

Mr Kaikai reportedly abstained on the day the bill was debated and passed. The Pujehun MP said lawmakers weren’t allowed enough time to consult their people about the content of the document before it was presented to them. He claimed he was even prevented from speaking on the bill in parliament.

But APC MP Isata Kabia, who introduced the bill to the House as a private member bill, said there was enough time for sensitization.

“We exist in a house (parliament) that recognizes religion, so we must ensure that we don’t use our personal opinions to make laws for people,” she said.

The US-based pro-abortion lobbyists Ipas, was at the head of a small coalition which championed the law.

They have been accused of deceiving unsuspecting women who were transported from the provinces in a bid to demonstrate widespread support for the bill. The women were given T-shirts bearing the inscription: ‘Child bearing by choice and not by force.’ It turned out they didn’t know the exact details of the document.

It is not only Sierra Leoneans who have issues with the amended law.

The UK-based Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), an internationally-active pro-life organization, has called on the government to reverse the law.

Contrary to the pro-abortionists` view that it will save life, SPUC said a 2012 Danish study revealed significantly higher maternal death rates following abortion compared with normal delivery. It said in a statement that legal abortions were in fact particularly unsafe in poor countries like Sierra Leone.

“In contrast, the so-called ‘studies’ conducted by Ipas have no credibility. It is like relying on studies by the tobacco industry into the safety of smoking. Ipas have vested ideological and business interests in abortion legalization,” said John Smeaton, chief executive of SPUC.

“Future generations will wonder in disbelief that nations legalised the killing of innocent human beings in the names of healthcare and social reform. We call upon Sierra Leone to replace the Safe Abortion Act with legislation which defends human life from conception through to natural death.”

(C) Politico 21/12/15