On Wednesday, the Republic of Benin voted to legalise abortion in the West African country, after a heated debate in parliament. Under the new law, women can terminate a pregnancy within the first three months under certain conditions.
According to Aljazeera and France24 news on Thursday 21/10/2021, Parliamentarians in Benin’s National Assembly in Porto Novo voted for the legalization of abortion on Wednesday 20th October, 2021.
Benin is a French-speaking country in West Africa, bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the seat of government is in Cotonou, the country’s largest city and economic capital.
Benin republic parliament voted to legalise abortion
The country has become one of the few on the continent to legalise abortion in most circumstances. The law was passed on Wednesday (20th October, 2021) night following a debate in parliament, but still needs to be ratified by the constitutional court before it takes effect.
Under the new law passed, women can terminate a pregnancy within the first three months under certain conditions i.e if it is likely to “aggravate or cause material, educational, professional or moral distress, incompatible with the woman or the unborn child’s interest”.
Previously, abortion was authorised if pursing the pregnancy “threatened the life of the mother”, was “the result of a rape or incest” or when “the unborn child has a particularly severe affection”.
According to Professor Benjamin Hounkpatin, Minister of Health of Bénin, in a statement on Thursday(21st October, 2021),
“In Benin, nearly 200 women die each year as the result of abortion complications. This measure will be a relief for many women who face undesired pregnancies, and are forced to put their lives in danger with botched abortions.”
The minister said that complications from abortions were the cause of 20 percent of maternal deaths in the country.
“It is because of this public health threat that the government has taken its responsibilities by submitting a text that lawmakers have passed,” said Hounkpatin.
He said the new measure’s “unique goal” was to “save human lives” and that “voluntary termination of pregnancies will remain a last resort”.
After a heated debate in the parliament, with some legislators strongly opposed to legalising abortion further, the amendment finally passed.
The National Assembly in Porto-Novo as it exists today was formed in 1990. The current National Assembly has 83 members who are directly elected through a system of party-list proportional representation and serve five-year terms.
The Parliamentarians voted to legalise abortion in the West African country, where it was already authorised under very restricted conditions.
Several countries in Africa have total bans on abortion, including Congo-Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal.
Abortion laws vary wildly around the world, but only a minority of countries have outright bans.
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