- Public mounts pressure on Senators
The Liberian Government is facing growing pressure to remove the section of the Public Health Bill that it is estimated will lead to 40,000 babies being aborted in Liberia each year.
A number of senators have received a flood of correspondence from members of the public who are deeply concerned by the radical proposed change to abortion legislation in Liberia.
The Public Health Bill, which includes the extreme abortion provision, is currently before the Senate.
Members of the public throughout Liberia are being encouraged to visit www.StopAbortionLiberia.com to ask their senators to ensure that the extreme abortion section be removed from the Bill.
Under Liberia's current law, abortion is allowed in exceptional circumstances - where the mother's life is at risk, rape/incest/felonious intercourse, and disability of the fetus. These are rare situations.
The abortion section in the Public Health Bill would scrap Liberia's current abortion law and replace it with an extreme law that allows abortion, for any reason, on demand, up to when the baby in the womb is at 14 weeks gestation.
It has been estimated that this change from allowing abortion in exceptional circumstances to allowing abortion on demand would lead to the lives of 40,000 babies being lost to abortion in Liberia every single year. This is a conservative estimate, the actual number could be much higher.
Based on this estimate, if this law change is made, it will lead to up to 400,000 innocent lives being lost to abortion over the next ten years in Liberia. Senators can avoid this mass loss of life now by removing this extreme abortion section from the Public Health Bill.
This data demonstrates that this bill would introduce a drastic change to our legislation here in Liberia and would directly lead to the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent babies through abortion in Liberia.
Most African countries prohibit abortion except in extreme circumstances, such as the life of the mother, rape/incest, and fetal disability. Most countries in the world likewise prohibit abortion except in extreme circumstances. Only a minority of countries allow abortion on demand.
The Swedish government and other foreign NGOs have been creating and funding organisations in Liberia (particularly the Amplifying Rights Network) to lobby for the legalisation of abortion.
Bishop Kortu K. Brown said:
"Senators have received a flood of correspondence from members of the public who are deeply concerned by the proposed radical change to abortion legislation in Liberia."
"People throughout Liberia have been rightfully horrified by this abortion section in the Public Health Bill which will lead to the death of thousands of babies each year in Liberia".
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"It's time for Senators to listen to the people of Liberia and remove the abortion section in the Public Health Bill."
"A change from allowing abortion in exceptional circumstances to allowing abortion on demand would lead to the lives of thousands of innocent babies being lost to abortion in Liberia every single year."
"The extreme abortion provision in this Bill would introduce a drastic change to our legislation here in Liberia and would directly lead to the death of thousands of innocent babies through abortion in Liberia."
"Senators can avoid this mass loss of life now by removing this extreme abortion section from the Public Health Bill."
"Members of the public can take action now and contact senators via www.StopAbortionLiberia.com and ask them to remove the abortion section in the Public Health Bill."-Press release
