Brookman-Amissah Eunice, Moyo Josephine Banda
Ipas Africa Alliance, Nairobi, Kenya.
Reprod Health Matters. 2004 Nov;12(24 Suppl):227-34. doi: 10.1016/s0968-8080(04)24026-5.
Stigma and silence surrounded unsafe abortion in Africa until the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994. Up to five million unsafe abortions are performed in Africa every year, with young women disproportionately affected. This paper summarises the colonial origins of current abortion laws and efforts in the region to provide post-abortion care. Much as it helps to save lives, however, post-abortion care will not eliminate unsafe abortion. There is a need to do away with restrictive laws. The paper describes efforts in several countries to change the law, focusing on Kenya, where organised opposition to reforming the law has emerged and led to the arrest of three service providers. Regional bodies, including the African Union, have taken a stand on abortion within the wider context of safe motherhood and reducing maternal mortality, and advocacy for better abortion laws is increasing across the region. As more girls remain in school and the marriage age increases, the inadequate provision of family planning and abortion care will cause Africa to lose many young women through unsafe sexual activity, unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion, early childbearing and HIV infection. The time has come in Africa for a commitment to eliminate deaths and disability from unsafe abortion and respect women's right to decide the number and spacing of their children.
在1994年国际人口与发展会议召开之前，非洲不安全堕胎问题一直笼罩在污名和沉默之中。非洲每年有多达500万例不安全堕胎，年轻女性受到的影响尤为严重。本文总结了当前堕胎法律的殖民起源以及该地区提供堕胎后护理的努力。然而，尽管堕胎后护理有助于挽救生命，但它并不能消除不安全堕胎。有必要废除限制性法律。本文描述了几个国家为修改法律所做的努力，重点关注肯尼亚，在那里出现了有组织的反对法律改革的声音，并导致三名服务提供者被捕。包括非洲联盟在内的区域机构在安全孕产和降低孕产妇死亡率的更广泛背景下对堕胎表明了立场，并且整个地区要求制定更好的堕胎法律的呼声日益高涨。随着越来越多的女孩继续上学以及结婚年龄的提高，计划生育和堕胎护理服务的不足将使非洲因不安全的性行为、意外怀孕、不安全堕胎、早育和感染艾滋病毒而失去许多年轻女性。非洲现在应该做出承诺，消除不安全堕胎导致的死亡和残疾，并尊重妇女决定子女数量和生育间隔的权利。
