Addis Ababa — Asnakech gave birth to her first child as early as at the age of 15. She had to work at a brothel for a monthly salary of 140 birr to raise her child.

After two years, Asnakech was shocked to find out that she had gotten pregnant again. Having no one to support her she thought it was impossible to have another child and decided to get rid of the fetus.

Since abortion is illegal in Ethiopia, for many young girls discharging a fetus means going to unprofessional practitioners and getting a "treatment" where unhygienic instruments are used for the operation. Asnakech was no exception.

She went to a man who was a driver by profession. He performed the abortion using a pair of scissors and in the process damaged other parts of her womb.

Asnakech suffered a lot and later was admitted to a hospital to undergo an operation. Unfortunately, she died after six weeks of suffering leaving her only child without a parent.

Abortion is the cause of up to half of all maternal deaths in countries like Ethiopia-an alarmingly high figure. A recent study conducted in St. Paul Hospital indicates that abortion performed by unprofessional practitioners who utilize unhygienic instruments has a 54 per cent contribution to mothers' deaths.

Much of hospital resources are also reported to be spent on patients who were admitted after sustaining severe complications due to unsafe abortion. Although a contentious issue, abortion remains as one of the primary reproductive health concerns.

Much operational work needs to be done to reduce the instances of abortion and improve the quality and availability of appropriate care. Putting the right laws in place is among the many operational activities that should be considered in our case.

The Ethiopian Penal Code stipulates that abortion is an illegal act unless it is performed to save the mother's life or when the health professionals have recommended it. The new draft penal code has added some more exceptions other than these.

If the pregnancy happens to be a result of rape or incest abortion is allowed. However, legal experts say the laws pertaining abortion are among the most violated ones in the country.

Even if the Ethiopian law calls abortion illegal, the number of such cases performed at the shabbiest corners by unprofessional practitioners is increasing at an alarming rate putting mothers life in danger. This was an issue that was elaborately discussed at a recent workshop Ethiopian Women Lawyers' Association organized.

The workshop drew participants from legal and medical experts who lent their expertise on the topic. Basically, abortion or termination of pregnancy was viewed as the mother's reproductive health right and as her right to privacy.

It was said that in order to observe this right the government should refrain from interfering in individuals' right. Its responsibility in this respect is to put their right in place (whether to use their right or not is up to the individuals).

The other responsibility of the government is to create conducive environment for individuals to exercise their rights. This might be in the form of enacting laws or removing those which create setbacks.

"Reproductive health right is directly related with individuals right to live. Many women die due to extreme measures taken to terminate unwanted pregnancy.

These women's right to live is put at risk because their reproductive health right is not observed," Helen Alem one of the speakers at the workshop said. The very point that abortion is allowed in the case of rape and incest in the draft penal code was disputed by many participants.

A legal expert said with the current court system it would take time to prove whether the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest. He said: "By the time this is proven it would be too late to have the abortion; the child might even start going to school by then".

Another participant, a medical expert said rape and incest are not the only awkward situations that occur during unwanted pregnancies. He said he had encountered cases whereby women got pregnant due to failure of contraceptive methods.

Therefore, he said, the law should also consider such instances. Some of the religious leaders participating in the discussion stated that abortion amounts to murdering a human being, a sin and therefore should remain illegal.

They said the "unwanted" fetus has also the right to live and should not be denied this right. According to an explanation by another legal expert, the Ethiopian Civil Code states that a fetus is considered as a human being starting from the time when it was born.

The legal conditions for it to be a human being are: If it is born alive and if it manages to survive 48 hours after birth. A medical expert also explained that a fetus is viable when it can live on its own outside the womb i.e.

when it is 20 weeks old and weighs 500 gm. Until that time it is controversial to call it a human being and is not generally considered a crime to terminate it.

Concerning the fetus' right to live many questions were raised. Participants asked: When the child is born and starts to lead a "miserable life" will the same party who denied the mother her right to have the abortion come to the child's aid? Should the mother be denied her rights to protect the right of a "potential human being"? At the end of the discussions it was recommended that legal conditions should be put in place especially for women with economic and social burden to get full information and service for termination of pregnancy.

Although many said for abortion to be legalized they expressed their worries saying there should be certified health institutions and health workers in place. They also said awareness should be created among the target group not to take abortion as a method of contraception.