September 28 is the International Day for the Right to Safe and Legal
Abortion. This day is not a UN commemoration but a feminist action day,born in Latin America. It is a day of actions worldwide. The
international meetings (global dialogues) that will shape this year's
September 28 have not yet taken place. ---- There is nothing to add to
the observations and analyses from the article published last year in
these same pages[1]. But it is an opportunity to discuss the situation
in African countries. In 2003, the Protocol to the African Charter on
Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (known as the
Maputo Protocol) was adopted by the African Union, bringing together all
the countries on the continent. It establishes a legal framework for all
areas concerning women, including an article on health and reproductive
rights.
Almost all countries have ratified it, sometimes with reservations, but
many either do not implement the part on abortion at all or do so
reluctantly and with many obstacles. It states: "States shall take all
appropriate measures to[...]protect the reproductive rights of women by
authorizing medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest,
and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical
health of the mother or the life of the mother or the fetus."
A Right with Shifting Boundaries
Worldwide, about 55% of abortions are safe. In Africa, only 24% are. And
the mortality rate linked to abortion is the highest of any region: 185
deaths per 100,000 abortions[2]. It must be constantly repeated: the ban
on abortion results only in preventable deaths of women[3].
When abortion is permitted, the right is usually restricted by
conditions that vary by country: threat to the physical or mental health
of the woman, socioeconomic criteria, rape... Tunisia (since 1973,
though with uneven implementation), South Africa, Mozambique, Cape
Verde, and Benin allow unrestricted access.
In Morocco, abortion is allowed only if the mother's health is at risk;
otherwise, she faces six months to two years in prison. The Alternative
Movement for Individual Freedoms (MALI) provides abortion pills for
free, sourced from abroad. It is led by clinical psychologist Ibtissame
Betty Lachgar, who was taken into police custody on August 11 for
wearing a T-shirt reading "Allah is lesbian." The debate reignited in
September 2023 after the death of Meryem, a 14-year-old who died
following a clandestine abortion after a rape-induced pregnancy.
Ibtissame Lachgar, known as Betty Lachgar, born in August 1975 in Rabat,
is a Moroccan human rights and feminist activist.
X/@IbtissameBetty
In Madagascar, abortion is totally banned. A feminist organization there
is fighting for its legalization. It is called Nifin'Akanga, named after
a traditional herbal abortifacient.
Cultural and Religious Colonialism
Africa is not isolated from reactionaries in the Global North. In May,
Nairobi, Kenya's capital, hosted the second Pan-African Conference on
Family Values. Although organized by the Forum of Christian
Professionals of Africa, it was largely driven and funded by
fundamentalist Christians from Europe and the United States.
Unsurprisingly, the "family values" promoted included opposition to
abortion and sex education. It is a form of cultural and religious
colonialism as repugnant as economic colonialism.
Before Trump's second term, the United States provided nearly half of
international aid funding for reproductive healthcare, with half going
to African countries. These funding agreements have now been revoked,
depriving countless women of contraception and information and likely
causing many additional unsafe abortions.
A particularly telling symptom of this assault on women is the attempt
(met with fierce resistance) to destroy $10 million worth of
contraceptive products stored in Europe and destined for supported
countries, including African nations. As of early August, this issue is
ongoing. The abrupt end of all USAID funding has left many organizations
and countries struggling-not only in the field of reproductive rights.
The consequences of economic and political (and extractive) colonialism
make such aid essential.
Expanding the Struggle
In 1994, what would become the reproductive justice movement[4]was born
when Black women in the United States critically challenged the
mainstream "pro-choice" movement. The latter focused only on the right
to abortion and individual choice, without addressing the social and
material conditions that shape those choices. For some, the central
demand was instead the ability to have and raise children in
dignity-without intervention from social services and without the threat
of police violence.
Coordinated by Elsa Dorlin, Feu! Abécédaire des féminismes présents,
Libertalia, 2021, 736 pages, EUR20.
Intersectionality is one of the foundations of this movement. Since
1994, its main demands have been the right to have or not have children,
the right to abortion, and the right to raise children under the best
possible conditions. This framework encompasses many forms of
oppression: reproductive coercion, forced or heavily promoted
sterilizations, obstetric and gynecological violence, lack of education
on sexual and reproductive health, gender-based and sexual violence.
Activists for reproductive justice also address the role of state
institutions: police violence, public housing.
This movement of Black women faces tensions, such as how to handle
violence within the Black community or the reproduction of that
community itself. Adopting this framework across the feminist movement
means, as with intersectionality in general, reflecting on strategies to
build closer ties with organizations of racialized, disabled, LGBTI, and
refugee people. It is a framework rich with promises of collaboration
and fruitful struggles-especially for abortion rights.
Christine (UCL Sarthe)
Valider
[1]"Droit à l'avortement: Un combat perpétuel et universel," Alternative
libertaire no. 352, September 2024,
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Droit-a-l-avortement-Un-combat-perpetuel-et-universel.
[2]Awa Cheikh Faye, "Droit à l'avortement: Un combat perpétuel et
universel," BBC, 2021.
[3]This article speaks of women; however, it is important to remember
that trans men and non-binary people may also need abortions.
[4]Nesrine Bessaï, "Justice reproductive," in Elsa Dorlin, Feu!
Abécédaire des féminismes présents, Libertalia, 2021.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Journee-internationale-pour-le-droit-a-l-avortement-Du-droit-a-l-IVG-a-la
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