Abortion in Benin

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Abortion in Benin is legally permitted "upon the request of the pregnant woman, voluntary termination of pregnancy can be allowed when the pregnancy is likely to aggravate or cause a situation of material, educational, professional or moral distress incompatible with the interest of the woman and/or the unborn child…"[1] in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.[2]

Benin’s Parliament passed a new legal amendment to the Sexual Health and Reproduction (SRH) 2003 Law on Wednesday 20 October 2021.[3] Under Benin's previous abortion law, which was passed in 2003, a woman can only terminate the pregnancy if her life is at risk, if the pregnancy is a result of incest or rape, or if the foetus has a particularly serious medical condition.[4] A select list of experts were allowed to examine a pregnancy to determine whether the only option for saving the woman's life is to induce abortion.[5]

Impact of strict abortion laws[]

Self-induced abortions have been growing in Benin, especially among students in high school or university, and the average age of abortion recipients is 19.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ Ouedraogo, Ramatou. "Benin's groundbreaking new abortion law will save the lives of many women". The Conversation. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  2. ^ Job, Chisom Peter. "'Letting women decide': Activists hail Benin abortion vote". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  3. ^ "FIGO releases statement welcoming Benin's new law improving access to safe abortion". Figo. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  4. ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Benin liberalizes abortion law | DW | 10.11.2021". DW.COM. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  5. ^ a b Abortion Policies: Oman to Zimbabwe. United Nations Publications. 2001. ISBN 9789211513653. Retrieved 4 December 2014.


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