Question Everything Or Die Ignorant.

charquaouia:

voicesofthearabspring:

Today, surprising news out of Morocco: the new prime minister is relaxing abortion laws in the North African country.

NYT: New Prime Minister Surprises Moroccans With Support for Abortion:

Less than two months after winning power in Morocco’s elections, the moderate Islamic party of Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane is surprising opponents by moving to relax the country’s strict abortion laws.

In an interview last week, a top aide to Mr. Benkirane, Mustapha Khalifi, speaking in a personal capacity, confirmed media reports that the prime minister would support an initiative to allow abortions in cases of rape and incest.

According to the article, a newspaper opinion poll showed that over half of Moroccans want the practice to be legal. 

Morocco is one of the more liberal Muslim countries and allows the early termination of pregnancy, with spousal consent, to save the life of the woman or to preserve her physical or mental health. Still, abortion is stigmatized socially, legally and religiously, and abortions for unmarried women are illegal, resulting in high numbers of illegal terminations. A 2008 study, the most recent available, put the number of abortions in Morocco as high as 600 a day.

Last week a leading gynecologist, Chafik Chraibi, put the figure even higher. Dr. Chraibi, a professor of gynecology at Mohammed V University in Rabat, who is an ardent campaigner for legalizing abortion, said the real figure “is probably closer to 900 a day, when you take into account the nonmedical abortions carried out at home.”

“In Morocco, according to the World Health Organization, 13 percent of maternity deaths are from abortions,” he said.

Not only are maternity deaths surging, but so are the numbers of single mothers in Morocco—according to the article, in Casablanca alone there are 27,000 single mothers out of its population of four million. But, says one women’s rights activist, abortion is not the solution to Morocco’s social issues.

Aicha Ech-Channa, who set up a support group for single mothers in Casablanca in 1985, Solidarité Féminine, is a harsh critic of legalized abortion. An icon of women’s rights in Morocco who won the humanitarian Opus Prize in 2009, Ms. Ech-Channa argues that abortion is not the solution to Morocco’s single-mother crisis.

“It’s a vicious circle at the moment, as many single mothers end up being prostitutes,” she said. “First off, I think we should abolish both the laws which punish women for having sex before marriage and the current Article 446, which refuses to give any rights to the children.”

Morocco will join just a handful of Arab and/or Muslim countries that have more relaxed laws relating to abortion.  But no one really talks about abortion in this region of the world. What does abortion law look like in the Middle East/North Africa now?

A few countries to note, from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life:

Tunisia Compared with other Muslim countries, Tunisia has very liberal abortion policies. Abortions are available during the first trimester and after 12 weeks when the mother’s physical or mental health is at risk and in cases of fetal abnormalities; however, in more traditional communities, doctors may be less willing to perform abortions in situations that are considered taboo, such as pregnancies resulting from extramarital affairs or premarital sex. As a result, women often resort to illegal abortions.

Egypt The Egyptian Penal Code of 1937 bans abortion in all circumstances, but criminal law allows flexibility on grounds of “necessity.” Physicians rely on that principle to justify performing an abortion when they believe the mother’s life or health is in danger or in cases of fetal abnormality. A committee of physicians must agree that the abortion is acceptable within the confines of the law.

Iran Abortion has been illegal in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Although there are no explicit exceptions to this prohibition, Iranian law generally allows acts that are performed to save the life of a person; thus, it is commonly understood that abortion is illegal except when necessary to save the mother’s life. In 2005, the Iranian parliament passed a measure allowing abortions within the first four months of pregnancy in cases of fetal impairment that would result in economic burden; the measure was ultimately blocked by the Iranian Guardian Council.

Israel A 1977 law made abortion legal in Israel to save the mother’s life or to preserve her mental or physical health. Abortion is also allowed in cases of rape, incest or fetal impairment, as well as in cases involving a wide range of difficult social circumstances. In 1979, those social circumstances were eliminated as an explicit reason for abortion, but leniency within the law still exists. For instance, being unmarried or being under the age of 17 or over the age of 40 constitutes a social circumstance in which an abortion is allowed. All abortions must be authorized by a medical committee composed of a social worker and two physicians.

Turkey A 1983 law makes abortion legal in Turkey in all circumstances within 10 weeks of pregnancy. After 10 weeks, abortion is legal if the mother’s life is at risk, if her physical or mental health is in danger or if her pregnancy involves fetal abnormalities. Parental- and spousal-consent requirements are in effect, but they can be waived if the risk to the mother’s life constitutes an immediate danger.

The UN keeps data on abortion policies and statistics throughout the world. The links will prompt a download from www.un.org.  In the region:

Algeria

Tunisia

Morocco

Egypt

Bahrain

Iraq

Qatar

Saudi

Iran

Kuwait

Jordan

Israel

Lebanon

Oman

Libya

For the complete list of country profiles from the UN, click here.

I saw this article circulating for the past few days but refrained from posting it. I don’t like the way it was worded and it misses some points.

Abortion in Islam is not a particularly hot-button issue. It’s widely accepted in cases of rape, incest, or if the mother’s health is in danger. Moreover, the PJD was the first party to bring up this matter in Parliament a long long time ago. They’ve been campaigning a lot on this and there is little objection to it. Legislation was announced back in October and confirmed by the Minister of Social Development, Family, and Solidarity. 

Here’s the thing. It’s an issue which most Moroccans agree upon, and it’s a positive step. But it should be noted that matters such as abortion are brought up by the ruling party because they can. It’s not something that threatens the power of the monarchy. It’s relatively apolitical and seen as something progressive. It’ll get passed with little to no objection or controversy. 

Now, let’s see the PJD try to pass legislation on that anti-corruption committee the government talked about back in April. I’d like to see something happen with that.