• CHARLEMAINE HUSSELMANN and STEVEN HARAGEIBPUBLIC HEARINGS finally kicked off in Windhoek this week between pro-choice and pro-life activists in a battle that has raged since the 70s both in Namibia and worldwide.
Abortion is not only about a medical procedure to terminate a pregnancy, but also about a woman’s right to make an informed, conscious decision about her body.
A global perspective presented by the World Health Organisation shows that 56,3 million abortions a year were reported between 2010 and 2014, whether carried out legally or illegally. A fact sheet compiled by the Health Economics and HIV-AIDS Research Division/University of KwaZulu-Natal (Heard), released in 2016, estimates that unsafe abortions contribute to 12% – 16% of maternal deaths.
Given our small population, at a rate of almost 16% of maternal deaths, we must ask what a true reflection is of the rate of abortions that take place in our country?
In 2016, former health minister Dr Bernard Haufiku stated that Namibian public health facilities had treated about 7 300 women for problems related to unlawful and unsafe abortions. He added, however, that the number might be as high as 10 000, or at least 27 instances each day, as many women and girls do not seek medical attention.
Examining the scant statistics available, it is obvious that Namibia has a problem. Many women and girls are being let down by limited health services, and also by legislation that does little to help them with their reproductive health requirements.
The current law, which was inherited from the apartheid era, the Abortion and Sterilisation Act 2 of 1975, is a failure in the advancement of women’s sexual and reproductive rights in Namibia. It is disheartening to note that South Africa abolished this legislation in 1996, replacing it with the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996 (CTOP), while Namibia still adheres to the old law, claiming religious and moral reasons. It is unacceptable to legislate a specific religious doctrine.
In South Africa, we observe successes in recognising and protecting women’s reproductive rights as their act is based on the promise of a woman’s right to decide whether to have children, the number of children and spacing of those children. It also promises to protect the reproductive rights of women, including the right to access abortion health services.
RISKS AND RIGHTS
As a country which has ratified the Maputo Protocol, which aims to uphold the rights of women and girls in Africa, we call on the Namibian government to support this promise. It concerns not only the protection of women’s sexual and reproductive rights, but also the protection and acknowledgment of women’s rights as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Citing moral or religious arguments places women and girls at risk if they have to access unsafe abortion services. Article 10 of our Constitution provides for the protection of individuals and equality of all, yet women and girls are left wanting when it comes to their freedoms and rights.
How can we, as a free and independent Namibia, expect women to carry the weight of Namibia on their backs when we fail to acknowledge the barriers to accessing and exercising their rights?
The perception of women as mothers of the country has left them with a one dimensional identity, putting them at a disadvantage in claiming the multiple identities they represent, one of which is that of a free Namibian. This directly affects the ability of a woman to choose abortion without being hampered by her economic, educational, social, or marital position, age, race, or geographic location.
When different groups attempt to restrict women’s access to abortion, it is essential to remember that it is part of our continuing development towards equality for women and society as a whole. Respect for human life requires us to recognise a woman’s freedom to choose.
To prohibit a woman from making her own decision about whether to continue or terminate her pregnancy is to undermine her agency and autonomy which are essential to her humanity. Access to safe abortion is not only a human right, it is also a gauge of a society’s progress toward gender equality. We have a moral obligation to guarantee safe abortion access.
* Charlemaine Husselmann, gender and human rights activist; Twitter: @MsCWH89.
* Steven Bernardus Harageib, youth and mental health activist. Twitter: @stevenharageib.
