Issue 421 August 15, 2019
Parliament on its hands a new Bill that would decriminalise abortion.
Justice Minister Andrew Little has said that the existing Law is draconic and outdated and that a woman should have the right to decide what happens to her body, he said.
Legal and administrative reforms are quintessential to a modern society but how a legislation that proposes Abortion as a right will meet with public opinion remains to be seen. Our lawmakers will of course use their conscience and cross party lines to vote.
Many people across the world are ambivalent about abortion. A majority of them however would say that it should be legal during the first three months of pregnancy, although Mr Little has proposed a 20-week limit. Pro-lifers know that they cannot ban abortion outright. In America, the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v Wade case in 1973 that the procedure is legal until the fetus is viable, that is until it can survive outside the womb.
But lawmakers in most countries would like to ban abortions after 20 weeks.
Cultural War
Abortion is made about to be a cultural thing, although it should really be health issue- that is the argument of many proponents such as Mr Little. But even as the cultural war changes,
significant changes in access to contraception attract less attention. Some time ago, ‘Power to Decide,’ a US organisation estimated that 19 million American women live in contraception deserts, meaning that they do not have reasonable access to health clinics that provide a full range of birth-control methods. The number could be more today.
Is Pope Catholic?
In a chat with journalists, Pope Francis said that he really was a Catholic.
Some regard him a liberal.
But addressing a recent Conference at the Vatican, the Pontiff said that abortion was always unacceptable, regardless of whether a fetus is fatally ill or has pathological disorders.
“Is it legitimate to take a human life to solve a problem?” he asked.
