Religious Conservatives Push for Abortion Restrictions in Africa following Roe v. Wade Reversal

50

Sub-Saharan Africa holds the unfortunate record for the highest rates of unsafe abortions and unintended pregnancies globally. Women in this region often face social stigma for becoming pregnant before marriage.

Efforts to legalize and ensure safer abortions in Africa were shaken when the U.S. Supreme Court revoked the national right to abortion one year ago. The aftermath of this decision reverberated across Africa, with Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio announcing his government’s intent to decriminalize abortion, recognizing the importance of sexual and reproductive health rights for women amid growing threats.

While some organizations based in the United States were disheartened by the Supreme Court ruling, others, particularly those with a strong Christian affiliation, felt emboldened. Among them is Family Watch International, a nonprofit organization that holds conservative Christian values and opposes LGBTQ+ rights and abortion. Their focus on Africa led to their designation as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In collaboration with African lawmakers and delegates from over 20 countries, Family Watch International played a significant role in organizing a “family values and sovereignty” meeting at Uganda’s presidential offices. Furthermore, the organization’s Africa director is actively advocating for the revocation of Ethiopia’s 2005 law, which expanded abortion access and significantly reduced maternal mortality.

Sarah Shaw, head of advocacy at MSI Reproductive Choices, a UK-based international provider of reproductive health services, aptly described the situation, saying, “It’s as if the constraints have been lifted.”

During a speech to the African Bar Association, Sharon Slater, the president of Family Watch International, claimed that donor countries were attempting to “recolonize Africa” by promoting legal abortion, sex education, and LGBTQ+ rights. She argued that if they could influence African children, they would shape the future generation of lawyers, teachers, judges, politicians, and leaders.

Slater’s speech in Malawi drew the attention of the country’s president, a former leader of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God movement. After lobbying against a bill that aimed to allow abortion under certain circumstances in Malawi, the U.S.-based Catholic group Human Life International declared to its supporters in March that their efforts had made Malawi safe from legal abortion.

Two decades ago, the African Union recognized the right to abortion in cases of rape, incest, endangerment to the life of the mother or fetus, or when the mother’s mental or physical health is at risk. Some countries have progressively adopted relatively liberal abortion laws. However, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, only allows abortion if it is necessary to save the mother’s life.

Experts in Africa are concerned that developments in the United States could erode the progress made in ensuring safe abortion procedures, especially considering that the U.S. government is the largest global donor of international reproductive health assistance.

Changes in abortion laws would significantly impact the lives of women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa, where an estimated 77% of abortions (over 6 million per year) are unsafe, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Unsafe abortions are responsible for 16% of maternal deaths in the World Health Organization’s sub-Saharan Africa region, with the figures varying across countries based on the level of abortion restrictions.

Abortion opponents in East Africa are particularly vocal, with countries publicly grappling with the issue of teen pregnancy while offering limited access to sex education and legal abortions only in specific cases.

The East African Community, which includes Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, is currently debating a sexual and reproductive health bill introduced in 2021. Some Catholic and conservative organizations have criticized a section of the bill that permits abortion in cases of rape, incest, or endangerment to health.

In Rwanda, the Protestant Council directed health facilities operated by its member institutions to stop performing abortions, even though Rwandan law permits them in certain circumstances.

Brenda Otieno, research coordinator with the Kisumu Medical and Education Trust in Kenya, noted the prevailing anti-rights narrative and highlighted the harassment faced by abortion providers. She mentioned that Kenya’s national reproductive health policy, passed a year ago, paid little attention to safe abortion care.

In Uganda, abortion access remains a taboo subject, with advocates facing discrimination, while some women resort to self-mutilation. Uganda outlaws abortion except when a licensed medical worker determines that the pregnancy poses a threat to the mother’s life. However, many doctors, fearing complications, only offer post-abortion care, which may be too costly or provided too late to save lives.

Civil society workers in Ethiopia have called on the government to investigate a concerning trend: a decline in the number of public health facilities providing abortions and an increase in women seeking care after unsafe abortions.

Most groups opposing abortion in Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa, are incited by external influences and view the Supreme Court decision as fuel for their cause, according to Abebe Sibru, the Ethiopia director for MSI Reproductive Choices.

---

AP journalist Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda, contributed to this report.

---

Follow AP’s coverage of Africa at https://bigbignews.net/africa and of abortion at https://bigbignews.net/abortion.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Abortion restrictions in Africa

More about Abortion restrictions in Africa

• The Guttmacher Institute: Abortion in Africa
• Southern Poverty Law Center: Family Watch International
• AP News: After fall of Roe, emboldened religious conservatives lobby to restrict abortion in Africa
• Africa.com: Abortion Law in Africa: A Reality Check
• Human Rights Watch: “It’s a Scandal”: Illegal Abortions in Uganda