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About twenty countries in the world still strictly prohibit voluntary termination of pregnancy, even in the most extreme cases: rape, incest or endangering the life of the mother. In Madagascar, women and practitioners incur between 6 months and 10 years of imprisonment, a legacy of the Napoleonic code of 1810. Since 2017, associations have been fighting to decriminalize therapeutic termination of pregnancy.
From our correspondent in Antananarivo,
Five years later and following four setbacks in the National Assembly, the situation has still not changed and therapeutic termination of pregnancy is still illegal. Parliamentarians cite cultural and religious reasons to justify their desire not to study the bill.
An illegality badly experienced by women who have had no choice
Today, those who have needed to resort to it remain in a complicated situation, both psychologically and judicially since they might be sentenced by the courts. I had to abort at four and a half months. After the therapy break, I cried for many months. I was in depression. Four years have passed, and a new child has arrived. But for Tsila, 28, the injury remains immense. ” It was the very first ultrasound with my husband. I dreamed of having a little boy and the gynecologist tells us that it is a boy. We were very, very happy. But a few seconds later, the gynecologist saw that there was a problem with the fetus. The diagnosis fell: it was a poly-malformation. This meant that the baby would not have survived long following birth. And also, that if we persisted in wanting to keep it, I might die. I mightn’t bring myself to have an abortion. I saw two other gynecologists, who both confirmed the diagnosis and the risks for me. So I had to come to terms with it. Today, because I had recourse to therapeutic termination of pregnancy, I risk prison. Ten years imprisonment. We are in a hypocritical system”.
Ralibera Jerisoa, nurse, also risks prison. Because to avoid the death of his patients, he admits having participated several times in medical terminations of pregnancy. Today, he chairs the follow-up committee for the bill in favor of therapeutic abortion. Reality imposes, according to him, a relaxation of the legislation: “ Those who are once morest this bill are because they are irresponsible towards the lives of women. In Madagascar, in all hospitals, therapeutic termination of pregnancy is a daily practice. We take the risk of going to prison because it is to save lives. Because of its illegality, clandestine abortion, performed in often deplorable hygienic conditions, is a major public health problem in the country. According to the American NGO Marie Stopes International, three women die every day on the island as a result of ” spontaneous or induced abortion ».
A subject still taboo in many African countries
The Nifin’Akanga association wanted to hit hard by presenting to the public (over 18 years old) and in 7 regions of the island, an exhibition and a series of discussions on the cases where therapeutic termination of pregnancy is recommended. . The association fights for the safety of women and that of caregivers who are fighting to save lives. Robert Ngoumankeu, intern attached to the Faculty of Medicine of Toamasina, responsible for the seven regional branches of the association, believes that on the continent, abortion remains generally taboo. ” Today, Madagascar is one of the six African countries where the termination of pregnancy is totally prohibited, regardless of the reasons, like Mauritania or Senegal. »
Others, on the other hand, stand out with significant progress, in particular Benin which, in 2017, legalized the termination of pregnancy for medical reasons and in cases of incest and rape. As well as Mozambique. “Finally, on the overall dynamics of abortion rights in Africa, progress is slow, but it is there. Since the adoption of the Maputo Protocol in 2003, (signed by around forty countries including Madagascar, Editor’s note), which is a legal framework for the protection of the rights of women and girls, we see that some countries have amended their law to comply with this protocol. While others, like Madagascar, remain in total contradiction, 20 years later. Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Guttmacher Institute report published in 2020, has the highest abortion-related death rate in the world: regarding two deaths per 1 000 abortions. »
