Sierra Leone defends plan to unban abortion

The controversial topic of decriminalizing abortion has been defended by Sierra Leone's minister of communications.

It wasn't a gimmick, according to Rahman Swaray, and the government meant to approve the legislation.

In Freetown, he said to BBC Focus on Africa's Umaru Fofana, "This is not about appeasing the international community; it's about tackling important and vital concerns affecting our country."

He said that unsafe abortions, many of which were performed on teens, were to blame for 14% of deaths that occur during childbirth.

According to the UN, Sierra Leone has the highest rate of maternal deaths worldwide, with 1,360 women passing away for every 100,000 live births.

Since 1861, abortion has been illegal in Sierra. MPs did adopt a measure in 2016 to decriminalize them, but the legislation was halted by then-President Bai Koroma in response to concerns from religious groups.

President Julius Maada Bio recently said, "At a time when sexual reproductive rights for women are under attack, my government will try again." He was alluding to the US Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.

Some people think President Maada Bio's remarks were just intended for international audiences. However, Mr. Swaray assured that the new legislation would be developed and presented to parliament and that the president "did not showboat."