Dr.Austin Demby,Minister of Health
As the debate over the Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Care Bill tightly continues, government has recently amended some provisions of the Bill.
The bill, which seeks to ensure comprehensive maternal healthcare and access to safe abortion services, has been met with stiff opposition and sparked a nationwide debate.
In its initial form, the bill entailed some loopholes in the area of consent for the termination of pregnancy which could have been easily abused.
Among those loopholes was that there was no mention in the Bill, requiring the consent of a husband for termination of pregnancy. It gave women the absolute right to independently determine matters relating to family planning, including whether to continue with or terminate a pregnancy.
Minors were allowed to terminate pregnancy without the consent of their parents. Consent for minors only required approval from any person with parental responsibility or a responsible adult over 21 years acting in the minor’s best interest. And Discrimination in reproductive health services was prohibited on various grounds, including sexual identity and reproductive morbidity.
Propose Amendments
Following pressure from the public, government has made some amendments on the bill.
In the propose amendments published by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, the right to access family planning and reproductive health services is retained,
But there is now mention of shared decision for married couples, allowing partners to accompany and support each other, with consent.
Consent would now be required by a parent, guardian, or someone acting ‘in loco parentis’ before the pregnancy of a minor is terminated.
Discrimination based on sexual identity has been removed from the list, and healthcare providers may now object to termination services based on conscience or religion and refer the patient to another provider without penalty.
