As debate on abortion in Liberian society intensifies, the former President of the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) Bishop Kortu Brown, says he supports abortion for risks reason.
However, Bishop Brown, who is also Overseer of the Apostolic Pentecostal Church International, cautious Liberians to carefully consider whether to legalize abortion on demand for any reason, up to 14 weeks.
Speaking Friday, 14 July at the end of a two-day retreat organized by LICOSES Teacher's College Training program held in the New Water in the Desert Apostolic Pentecostal Church edifice in Brewerville, Montserrado County, Bishop Brown argued that if a prospective mother faces life-threatening risks such as rape, incest and disability, abortion should be allowed, noting "This is already legal in Liberia."
He cautions against any law that would legalize abortion for more than three months for any reason other than threats to a mother's life.
He underscores that a life from God is involved, and rejects abortion being committed for any reason for a young baby almost four months old in the mother's womb, contending "that would give Liberia one of the most extreme abortion laws in Africa, even more extreme than most European countries."
The former president of the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia says based on research, by 14 weeks or almost 4 months, a baby has all of its major organs formed in the womb, including a beating heart, and is able to feel pain, and so on.
"Therefore, abortion cannot be legalized on demand, for any reason - only because a person wants an abortion even if their lives are not threatened and they have not suffered incest, rape, or disability."
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He reveals that studies have shown that in some countries where abortion is legalized, one in four children are aborted, which is like losing a quarter of the country's population just through legal abortion alone.
He notes that it is difficult to articulate what a catastrophic impact that has had on those countries because there is no turning back once abortion is legalized, so once the floodgates are opened, thousands of children in Liberia will be legally killed.
According to him, performing abortion just over three months would be something to carefully study because most abortions take place within the first 14 weeks, so such new law would make most abortions legal.
He continues that if the frequency came to European levels, about 15,000 children could be lost by abortion each year in Liberia because the proposed law allows abortion just for any reason, not merely for risks to the mother's life, arguing that "exceptional abortions are already legal in Liberia."
The Bishop wants Liberian lawmakers to engage a more moderate bill as they revise the Public Health Bill that would actually improve on the 1976 Law instead of adopting laws that could have unfavorable impact on the population of the country in years to come.
Last week, the House's Committee Chairperson on Health, Representative Joseph Sowambee, disclosed that the 54th Legislature has been deliberating on whether or not to legalize abortion in Liberia.
