Members of the Civil Society have appealed to President Paul Kagame not to sign the draft penal code.
During a news briefing yesterday, officials of the Rwanda Civil Society platform stated that they are firmly against the legalising of the conditions that were given an exception for abortion, apart from the fourth clause which states that when continuation of a pregnancy seriously jeopardises the health of the unborn baby or that of the woman.
Edouard Munyamaliza, the Chairperson of the Rwanda Civil Society Platform, said that signing the bill was taking the wrong path.
He stated that legalising abortion "is against our cultural values which should be respected even when making and passing laws." He said that unborn children's rights shouldn't be abused under the guise of women's rights.
Imaculee Ingabire, the Chairperson of Transparency Rwanda, said that there is no way the death penalty can be removed and then legalise abortion, which she said is contradictory since both are forms of killing.
"The only exception to abortion should be when continuation of a pregnancy seriously jeopardises the health of the unborn baby or that of the woman. The rest of the conditions aren't justifiable and shouldn't be made legal, Ingabire said.
She noted that abortion has terrible consequences to a woman's health which are both physical and mental, observing that emphasis should be made on encouraging use of family planning and contraception methods instead of legalising abortion which she referred to as homicide.
Ingabire added that no women's right that supports killing existed, therefore, unborn children should be given a chance to live.
She further noted that the opinions of the public should also be heard through a referendum so Rwandans can give their opinion.
Ingabire and Munyamaliza both contest the findings of a recent survey that was carried out about abortion in Rwanda, saying that they question the methodology that was used.
They argue that it was carried out secretly and civil society organisations weren't involved yet they were vital when it came to such issues.
While the draft penal code that was approved by the chamber of Deputies recently criminalises abortion. Article 165 stipulates that there is no criminal liability for a woman who causes her own abortion and a medical doctor who helps a woman to abort provided that the following four conditions are met:
When one conceives out of rape, incest, subject to forced marriage or abnormality of the unborn child or when the pregnancy can endanger the life of the woman.
Statistics from a recent abortion incidence study, conducted by the Ministry of Health, the National University of Rwanda's School of Public Health and the U.S.-based Guttmacher Institute, shows that the national abortion rate is 25 abortions per 1,000 females aged between 15 and 44.
This indicates that 60,000 pregnancies are terminated in Rwanda every year, with 40 per cent of them leading to complications that require treatment.
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AGAIN I SEETHE CREEP OF NGOS SELLING THEIR CRAP TO AFRIC AABORTING AS IT GOES AFRICAN CULTURES. WHAT IS NEEDED IN AFRICA IS A REVERSE OF THE NGOS AND THEIR WESTERN METHODS AS WELL AS THEIR FORM OF CHRISTIANITY. ABORTION WAS USED IN AAMERICA AS A WAY YO UNDERMINE THE BLACK POPULATION IN AMERICA; TODAY WITHIN THE BLACK COMMUNITIES THERE ARE ABORTION CLINICS ON EVERY CORNER LIKE LIQUOR STORES. THE BLACK WOMAN IS MORE LIKELY TO COMMIT ABORTIONS THAN NAY ONE ELSE IN THE USA. THEY HAVE BEEN ADDCITED TO THE PROCESS KILLING OFF OUR POPULATION WITHOUT THE REALITY OF WHATY THEY ARE DOING.THESE TWO THINGS ARE WHAT THE WEST USES TO MAINTAIN DOMINANCE AND POPULATION CONTROL ANOTHER THING IS SODOMY ALL THESE THINGS ARE COUNTER AFRICAN CULTURES. LET US AGAIN LOOK AT HOW WE LIVED WE DID NOT HAVE PROSTITTION WE DID NOT HAVE SODOMY WE DID . WE HAD POLYGAMY WHERE THERE WAS NO NEED FRO RAPE OR BUYING SEX THESE LOW VALUES HAVE BEEN BROUGHT BACK INTO AFRICA AFTER ALL THESE THINGS WERE ABOLISHED FROM AFRICA THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO. THESE PEOPLE COME WITH THEIR ABNORMAL PRACTISES TELLING US THIS IS GOOD FOR AFRICA IT IS CIVILISED WE WERE FOOLS THEN WE ARE NOT NOW. WE MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OURSELVES AND WE MUST NOT KEEP SIGNING THINGS TO PROVE TO WHITES WE WANT TO BE LIKE THEM W DO NOT WANT TO BE LIKE THEM THEY SHOULD BE FREE TO DO WAHT THEY LIKE AS WE ARE FREE TO ALSO DO AS WE LIKE. IF WE SEE THINGS THAT ARE OF VALUE THEN OF COURSE IT WOULD BE IMPLIMENTED INTO LAWS BUT TO HAVE RNDOM LAWS TO SATISFY WHITE HEGEMONY IS NOT THE RIGHT THING TO DO. AFRICA IS UNIQUE IT IS ALSO THE CONTINENT OF THE BIRTHPLACE OF HUMANITY AND TH BLACK MAN HAS BEEN ON THE PLANET LONGER THAN ANY OTHER ETHNIC MAKE UP ON THE PLANET. WE ARE ALSO THE MASTERS OF CIVILISATION . MOST OF HUMANITY IS FROM THE LOINS OF THE BLACK AN WE ARE ONE