LEGALIZE IT be executed
Calls for abortion to be lawful, and rapists to Persons convicted of raping children under the age of 12 should be sentenced to death
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Review of the Constitution of Botswana has endorsed the termination of pregnancy, abortion, and called for it to be made into law.
If all goes well, circumstantial abortion will be legalised in Botswana in the next few years, and abortion services would be made freely available to women and girls, particularly those who have found themselves with unintended pregnancies from contraceptive that did not work, or were raped or coerced into unprotected sexual intercourse that resulted in unplanned pregnancy.
The hope is that this would be the pinnacle of intensification of efforts towards ensuring that sexual and reproductive health, as well as rights services were an essential part of Universal Health Coverage.
The Commission findings also indicate that it is also critical to improve access to quality family planning services.
“Apart from empowering individuals and couples to space pregnancies, family planning has also saved lives and promoted the health system’s effectiveness by improving maternal health and child survival, as well as prevented sexual transmission of HIV.”
The situation on the ground is dire as unintended pregnancies in Botswana continue, and one key indicator of this being teenage pregnancies. Between 2015 and 2019 girls aged 10 to19 years accounted for about 10 percent of all recorded births in Botswana.
Furthermore, 43 percent of the participants in a cohort study on sexually transmitted infections reported their current pregnancy to be unintended.
The 2022 State of the World Population report indicates that close to half of all the world’s pregnancies, roughly 121 million each year, were unintended, and that nearly a quarter of the affected women and girls were unable to make decisions about their own health, and the scourge of unintended pregnancy was labelled a crisis because it was linked to lack of development and could lead to unsafe abortions.
Botswana is currently battling poor access to contraceptive and family planning services in clinics and hospitals due to the high cost that can run up to P139 million per annum on average, as well as a high rate of GBV.
Currently, abortion in Botswana is only legal if the pregnancy gravely endangers the woman’s physical or mental health, or the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest. As per health regulations, these abortions must be performed within the first 16 weeks of pregnancy.
Although general abortion remains illegal in Botswana the Ministry of Health is seeking ways to make abortion safe and accessible to all women in the country, particularly as it is the third leading cause of maternal death in Botswana.
Minister Edwin Dikoloti has indicated that his Ministry is “working on ways to make abortion an option in the health system and also offer safe abortion services for women and girls.”
The Commission has also made recommendations that it is important to sensitise Batswana on the provisions of the Penal Code Act 2021, which prescribes penalties for those convicted of sexual offences and GBV.
It also recommends additional measures in particular, mandatory lashing on the back and emasculation of rape repeat offenders to be included in the Penal Code. Furthermore, the Commission recommends that persons convicted of raping children under the age of 12 should be sentenced to death.