People march to legalise abortionPeople march to legalise abortionStaff ReporterSEVENTY thousand people in Namibia have put their signatures to a petition that implores the government to do away with archaic abortion laws in Namibia.A multitude of people on Saturday marched from the Katutura State Hospital to Zoo Park in Windhoek to garner even more support for their campaign to legalise of abortion. One of the organisers of the march, Beauty Boois stated that the purpose of the petition is to express a collective plea to legalize abortion in Namibia as well as to display, by way of petition, that thousands of Namibians, Namibian women, in particular, have a similar desire.The petition was handed to ministries of health, justice, youth, gender, the youth advisor of the Office of the President and the parliament secretary. The petition so far has gathered the signatures of 70 000 people.She added that as equal citizens of Namibia with Human Rights, women deserve to be heard and to practice autonomy over their own bodies. When it comes to his views on legalizing abortion in Namibia, the President of the Namibian Nation is quoted in local media saying, “One day, we have to pass the law to legalise abortion. People are dying because they have to go to dark corners. So, whether it is legal or not, people are doing it,” when asked whether the government would consider legalizing abortion in Namibia. Reverberating the president sentiments, Boois added that Namibian women are left with no choice but to break the law in order to practice their right of choice, but they are also risking their lives, health, and wellbeing in order to obtain illegal abortions. "This puts Namibian women at risk, due to the fact that about 500 women die every year because of illegal abortions, adding onto the threat against their wellbeing posed by other social issues such as Gender-Based Violence and Sexual Gender-Based Violence in the country; which are at alarmingly high rates," Boois said. She further argued that the right to be able to access legal abortion in Namibia should be accompanied by education of matters relating to Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights as well as consent in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies, baby dumping, and encourage safe, legal abortions in the Namibian nation. "Counseling and Support Structures will also need to be implemented in order to empower Namibian women, who are considering or have undergone abortion with the necessary guidance and support to make well-informed decisions and freely practice rights and freedom of autonomy over our own bodies.Namibia is currently operating under the Abortion and Sterilization Act of South Africa (1975), which was developed during the apartheid era, which is an indication that the Act was never created for Namibians, by Namibians and in consideration of Namibian social issues as well as Namibian people in general. We hope that a new Act can be developed for Namibians, by Namibians and that this petition results in the legalisation of abortion in Namibia" Boois stated. LEGALIZE ABORTION: Concerned Namibians over this weekend raised their concerns on reproductive health rights and called for the legalisation of abortion.
Posted by Informanté on Sunday, July 19, 2020