Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma has again
refused to sign a bill legalising abortion, saying it should be put to a
referendum.
It was unanimously passed by MPs in December, but Mr
Koroma refused to sign it after protests by religious leaders.
After consultations, MPs returned the bill to him
last month, unaltered.
The law would allow women to terminate a pregnancy
in any circumstances up to 12 weeks and in cases of incest, rape and foetal
impairment up to 24 weeks.
Abortion is currently illegal in Sierra Leone under
any circumstances.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and five
Sierra Leonean rights groups wrote to President Koroma in February urging him
to give the bill his assent.
No comments:
Post a Comment