By Leocadia Bongben
The Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of Cameroon (SOGOC) marks International Safe Abortion Day this September 28 with a solemn appeal on behalf of the women and girls who suffer in silence for the adoption of a Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Law.
Safe abortion is one component of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Yet Cameroon still has no dedicated legal framework on SRHR, a gap that leaves providers uncertain and leaves women without clear pathways to the care the law already allows.
According to a release from President Pr. Emile Mboudou, SOGOC is urging lawmakers and policymakers to fulfil their responsibility to enact a comprehensive SRHR law that protects the health of women and girls, clarifies procedures, and removes barriers to care.
The Cameroonian law already recognises that some circumstances demand compassion, Article 339 of the Penal Code permits abortion where a pregnancy places the mother’s life in grave danger, or where it results from rape. “A woman in such a situation should be able to visit a health facility and be guided, with dignity, through the steps prescribed by law. Consequently, SOGOC urges healthcare providers to make lawful safe abortion services accessible to every eligible woman, with professionalism and empathy and without discrimination.
Abortion remains restricted. Article 337 provides for imprisonment of 15 days to one year, a fine, or both, for a woman who procures or consents to her own abortion, and one to five years’ imprisonment for anyone who performs one. Article 338 sets further penalties for violence against a pregnant woman.
“The human cost of this restriction is grave. Unsafe abortion is estimated to account for 25% of maternal deaths in Cameroon (Pan African Medical Journal, 2019). Behind this figure are mothers, daughters and sisters lost to haemorrhage and infection, or left with infertility, stigma and the fear of prosecution,” SOGOC decries.
No woman or girl should lose her life for want of safe, lawful care, SOGOC President reiterates.