on Thursday convened an inter-faith summit to discuss the fate of the proposed controversial Safe Abortion Act recently passed by parliament.
The Act could not become law after the Inter-Religious Council asked
President Ernest Bai Koroma not to give it his signature, which is required to make it into law. The religious leaders then decided to convene a meeting to come up with a final position.
At Thursday’s meeting held at the Saint Anthony’s Catholic Church in Freetown, presentations were made by representatives of the various religious denominations in the country. The Council also invited other stakeholders, including the medical profession, lawyers, and women’s groups.
Almost all those who spoke kicked against allowing the Act to become law.
The ‘Safe Abortion Act 2015′, passed in December, has been promoted as a response to high fatalities and post birth injuries due to unsafe abortions. If it becomes law, the Act will allow women to have an abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy at will which appears to be the major bone of contention.
“The biggest crime before God is shedding blood,’ said Archbishop
Tamba Charles, the head of the Catholic Church in Sierra Leone.
The Deputy Minister of Justice, Mr Arrow Bockarie, said he was alive today because his parents did not abort him, while Health Minister Dr Abu
Bakarr Fofanah said the law would increase unsafe abortion rather than decrease it.
A presentation by the Medical and Dental Council also showed that the
regulatory arm of the medical profession in the country was against the law.
The Inter Religious Council is now set to present its position paper to the President on Wednesday, after a planned meeting with parliament early next week.
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