A
new effort is underway to force African countries that have ratified the Maputo
Protocol to overturn laws that protect women and unborn children from the
violence of abortion claiming such action is needed to ensure compliance with
the abortion provision, Article 14, of the treaty. The African Commission on Human
and People’s Rights monitors compliance with
the treaty and issued General Comment No.
2 on Article 14.1 (a), (b), (c) and (f) and Article 14. 2 (a) and (c) of the
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of
Women in Africa
[Maputo Protocol].
Commissioner Soyata Maiga, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, issued the
exhaustive pro-abortion General
Comment 2 on behalf of the 11 member Commission stating:
-“The
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of
Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol) is the main legal instrument for the
protection of the rights of women and girls in Africa. Article 14 of the Maputo
Protocol guarantees women’s right to health, including sexual and reproductive
health.”
-“Under
Article 14 (2) (c) of the Maputo Protocol, States Parties are called upon to take
all appropriate measures to ‘protect the reproductive rights of women by
authorizing medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and
where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the
mother or the life of the mother or the foetus’.”
-“It
should be noted that the Maputo Protocol is the very first treaty to recognize
abortion, under certain conditions, as women’s human right which they should
enjoy without restriction or fear of being prosecuted.
The
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission)
welcomes the ratification of this important instrument by the majority of AU
Member States. However, the African Commission notes that many countries are
yet to undertake the necessary legislative reforms towards domesticating the
relevant provisions, including in the area of women’s sexual and reproductive
rights. As such, in many States Parties, there is still limited access by women
and girls to family planning, criminalization of abortion, and difficulties
faced by women in accessing safe and available abortion services, including in
cases where abortion is legalized.”
-“The
African Commission wishes to express its gratitude to Ipas Africa Alliance for
its valuable contribution on all issues relating to sexual and reproductive
rights and its technical support towards the preparation of the General
Comment.” [Ipas is
an NGO that performs abortions, lobbies for abortion legalization, and trains health personnel in abortion techniques.]
Lawmakers in the 36 countries that have ratified the treaty are
among the targets of the General Comment according to Ipas, “General Comment No 2 will help policymakers and advocates shape
laws, policies and practices to comply with the Protocol—which is the only
international human rights treaty that recognizes a discrete right to
abortion (under Article 14). The Protocol has been ratified by more than
two-thirds of the 54 member states of the African Union.”
The 10 members of the Commission who approved the Comment, cast national laws
against abortion as “discriminatory” and refer to cherished religious and
cultural beliefs as “barriers”.
Such controversial language is usually
reserved for publications by pro-abortion NGOs but given the “valuable
contribution” of pro-abortion provider and abortion trainer Ipas, it is not
surprising. What is surprising is the
discounting of national laws by the Commission which is responsible to the member
states of the African Union, many of which restrict abortion.
General Comment 2 is shocking given it is
issued to countries with high newborn, child, and maternal mortality where
mothers continue to give birth unassisted and have limited access to health
care, including access to clean blood for the treatment of blood loss, the
leading cause of maternal mortality and a major complication from abortion.
The Comment reads like a pro-abortion
guidebook and begins with a background section that denigrates religious and
cultural beliefs:
“In Africa, the persistence
of several forms of discrimination based on, but not limited to, ethnicity,
race, sex, gender, age, marital status, HIV status, sexual orientation, socioeconomic
status, disability, geographic residence, legal residence and/or traditional,
religious and cultural beliefs prevents women from exercising and enjoying
their sexual and reproductive rights.”
Belief in the sanctity of life which inspires laws against
abortion is considered to be a “barrier”:
“25. The right to health care without discrimination
requires State parties to remove impediments to the health services reserved
for women, including ideology or belief-based barriers. Administrative laws,
policies and procedures of health systems and structures cannot restrict access
to family planning/contraception on the basis of religious beliefs.”
Despite the large number of faith-based
organizations providing vital health care services in Africa, the General
Comment denies them freedom of conscience:
“State parties must ensure that only the health personnel directly involved in
the provision of contraception/family planning services enjoys the right to
conscientious objection and that it is not so for the institutions.”
The broadest and most pro-abortion interpretation of
health is advanced:
“When
assessing the risks to a pregnant woman’s health, health must be interpreted
according to the WHO definition, namely: "state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely
the absence of disease or infirmity". The reasons put forward by
the woman seeking an abortion must be taken into account, and States are
required to ensure that the legal frameworks in place facilitate access to
medical abortion when the pregnancy poses a threat to the health of the
pregnant mother.”
Four general obligations are imposed on State parties
to “respect, protect, promote and fulfill rights”.
The Commission instructs the 35 State parties to the Maputo Protocol that these
are their obligations and they must report on their progress to the Commission
during periodic reviews: “The reports
must take into account this General Comment and comply with the guidelines
adopted by the African Commission for that purpose.”
Under “respect rights” the Commission demands
that that a state must ensure that women are “duly informed on family planning/contraception and safe abortion
services, which should be available, accessible, acceptable and of good
quality.”
The Commission dismisses parental or spousal consent by
declaring that a state’s responsibility to “protect” must include “the necessary measures to prevent
third parties from interfering with the enjoyment of women’s sexual and reproductive
rights…’including but limited to, parents, guardians, spouses and partners.’ ”
In order to promote such rights, State parties
are obliged “to create the legal,
economic and social conditions that enable women to exercise their sexual and
reproductive rights with regard to family planning/contraception and safe
abortion, as well as to enjoy them. An essential step towards eliminating
stigmatization and discrimination related to reproductive health includes, but
is not limited to, supporting women's empowerment, sensitizing and educating
communities, religious leaders, traditional chiefs and political leaders on
women’s sexual and reproductive rights as well as training health-care
workers.”
The obligation to fulfill rights seeks state
funding and “requires that State Parties
adopt relevant laws, policies and programs that ensure the fulfilment de jure and de facto of women’s sexual and reproductive rights, including
the allocation of sufficient and available resources for the full realization
of those rights.”
The Commission expects government to remove laws
against abortion in Section 46:
“State
parties should provide a legal and social environment that is conducive to the
exercise by women of their sexual and reproductive rights. This involves
revisiting, if necessary, restrictive laws, policies and administrative
procedures relating to family planning/ contraception and safe abortion in the
cases provided for in the Protocol, as well as integrating the provisions of
the said legal instrument into domestic law.”
Education of youth on “sexual and reproductive rights
issues” is also included as a ‘must do’ and the Commission again discounts
freedom of conscience:
“52.
In addition, State parties must ensure that educational institutions at
primary, secondary and tertiary levels include sexual and reproductive rights
issues in their school programs and to take the necessary measures so those
programs also reach women in private schools, including faith-based schools,
as well as those out of school.”
Ipas oversaw a self-serving measure to remove
restrictions on its abortion training business and that
of other pro-abortion organizations in section 58:
“State parties should avoid all unnecessary or irrelevant restrictions
on the profile of the service providers authorized to practice safe abortion
and the requirements of multiple signatures or approval of committees, in the
cases provided for in the Protocol. In many African countries, there are not
enough trained physicians available. Mid-level providers such as midwives and
other health workers should be trained to provide safe abortion care.”
PNCI will continue to
monitor this new attempt to usurp the sovereign right of African countries to
respect the innate dignity of life beginning at conception.