SHOULD ABORTION BE LEGALIZED?

MY TAKE ON PLANS TO LEGALIZE THE SAFE ABORTION BILL  IN SIERRA LEONE

Photo credit: Shutterstock

According to a United Nation report, only eight out of 126 developing nations have legalized abortion because of high demand. Over 1.3 million abortions are conducted annually in the United States and 43 million worldwide. Abortion is wrong and heartless. In fact, it is murder. It is wrong to kill an innocent (unborn) baby. The child has no crime nor a sin; as Africans and religious scholars, children are considered a gift from God thus the fetus (as medical practitioners call it) deserves a chance at life, and with The Safe Abortion Bill, they won't get that. The bill should not be passed into law.  

The word abortion by definition means the induced expulsion of a fetus from the womb before it is able to survive independently. Abortion is an extremely controversial issue in Sierra Leone and beyond. This is so because, while some people are completely against it, others believe that a woman should have the right to choose what's best for her. That school of thought is absolutely correct from a social perspective but I believe that abortion is morally and ethically wrong.

In my opinion, when a woman chooses to have unprotected sex, she is taking a chance. She does this of her free will, and is in control over what she is doing. Consider this, if a person decides to have sex, (whether it is done with protection or not) the result should also be her responsibility and she must be willing to deal with the consequences. One such consequence is getting pregnant. When a woman gets pregnant, it is usually a result of her own choices, even if the pregnancy is unwanted or unplanned.

Does the bill consider something with a beating heart a living creature? People say that the baby is not really alive and that it is totally unaware, but in reality it's heart and brains are the first things to develop. A baby's heart forms and starts beating in the fifth week of pregnancy; therefore, that would make abortion murder. It is alive and not just some ‘group of cells’ as abortion doctors call them. The baby growing inside of the woman is depending on her, so when she makes the choice to end that baby’s life, she is making the choice to murder another person. This confirms that it is not right to kill an unborn baby.

I think that The Safe Abortion Bill is immoral because it facilitates the intentional killing of a human being. It is a well-known fact that life begins at the moment of conception. If it is murder to kill a human being in any stage of life, then The Safe Abortion Bill is a safe haven for the murder of a fetus which is obviously wrong, because murder is one of the ethical absolutes. Furthermore, The Safe Abortion Bill if passed will deny most women the joy of and opportunity to rise their babies, and in the long run, usually ends up hurting the women as the emotional effects become worse and worse. This problem is even more common when there is pressure on the woman to have abortion, and she does so reluctantly.    

Secondly, abortion should not be legalized because it causes negative health problems for women. Some mental problems a woman might experience after having an abortion according to research, include but not limited to psychological problems such as suicidal thoughts and actions. Studies show that 10% - 20% of women that get an abortion suffer from the aforementioned. These are things most women will have to deal with for the rest of their lives. Another negative health problem is guilt. 55% of women express guilt after 8 weeks. (Post Abortion Syndrome-Abortion After Effects and Symptoms). Some women can experience incomplete abortion as some fetal parts or other products may not be completely removed from the womb. This proves that abortion can cause problems for women and that we don't need the Safe Abortion Bill in Sierra Leone. The local woman wants to empower herself and have a chance to make her life better. 

Drawing by Sema Peyman 2019

The Qur’an clearly forbids the killing of other humans: “take not life which Allah has made sacred”(6:151). Allah (SWT) further informed in the Holy Qur'an that the unlawful killing of a single individual (human being) is equal to mass murder of the whole mankind: “Because of that, We ordained for the children of Israel that if anyone killed a person not in retaliation for murder or for spreading mischief on earth, it would be as if he killed all mankind. And who saved a life, it would be as if he saved all mankind” (Al-Maidah, 5:32). In this case the unborn baby has not spread any mischief on earth nor killed anyone. Why then should we murder an innocent soul? A favored text to support this is: (Surah, Al-An’ am, 6:151) which says “Do not kill your children for fear of poverty for it is We who shall provide sustenance for you as well as for them”. 

Muslim jurists have agreed unanimously that after the fetus is completely formed and has been given a soul, abortion is Haram. It is also a crime, the commission of which is prohibited to the Muslim because it constitutes an offense against a complete, living human being. However, there is one exceptional situation. If, say the jurists, after the baby is completely formed, it is reliably shown that the continuation of the pregnancy would necessarily result in the death of the mother, then, in accordance with the general principle of the Shari’ah, that of choosing  lesser of two evils, abortion must be performed. The Prophet said: “When two forbidden things come (upon a person) together, the lesser will be sacrificed for the greater”.  The reason for this is that the mother is the origin of the fetus; moreover, her life is well established with duties and responsibilities, and she is also a pillar of the family. It would not be wise to sacrifice her life for the life of a fetus which has not yet acquired a personality and which has no responsibility or obligations to fulfill. In principle the Qur’an condemns the killing of humans except in self defense or as capital punishment. Islam allows women to prevent pregnancy but forbids them to terminate it. In the case of rape the victim should use use the morning after pill or RU46 immediately after the sexual assault in order to prevent the possible implantation of a fertilized ovum.

 video credit: Shutterstock

Some biblical arguments against abortion are whether or not a fetus is completely human from the point of conception. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him” (Genesis 1:27).  People argue that the fetus is not human until it is born, but the question to ask ourselves is “What else would it be”? Genesis 1:27 says is clearly that God created us in his own image. The sixth commandment is “You shall not murder”. This in itself is reason enough not to pass The Safe Abortion Bill in Sierra Leone.

If both religions (recognized and practiced) in Sierra Leone forbid the killing of another human being, who are we to determine the value of someone’s life! When we are conceived it is because God/Allah has a will for us and wants us to live. As mere humans we are not suppose to, under God’s law, have any control over death.

When a lady feels that she is responsible enough to participate in sexual activity (without any form of protection), she should also be responsible enough to deal with the consequences.