Tuesday June 22, 2010
‘The Law Must Speak for the Unborn Child’: Senior Ghanian Leader Calls for Abortion Restrictions
By Hilary White
June 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Ghanian Parliament’s Minority Leader, Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has called upon the Attorney General to significantly increase restrictions on abortion in the country.
Abortion in the Republic of Ghana is currently legal in cases of rape or incest, if the pregnancy is judged to threaten the woman’s physical or mental health, or if there is “substantial risk” of fetal abnormality.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu says he wants to change the law to allow abortions only in cases where it is “necessitated by medical reasons.”
He told the Daily Graphic newspaper that some constitutional provisions guarantee the right to life and the sanctity of life.
In a radio interview clarifying his comments, Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said, “We are talking about human life. People who have justified abortion would say that the fetus is not human. Some of us disagree entirely with that concept. Which is why I say as a nation, we must come out of this. Come clean on it.”
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu is a senior member of the New Patriotic Party, one of two dominant parties in Ghanaian politics, called “center-right” in Europe’s media. He did not disagree with the statement of the interviewer that “medical abortion” is “recommended.”
“Absolutely. We will always have the caveat ‘for medical reasons’. And those reasons should be stated outright. If it is to save the life of the woman, certainly. That would be justifiable.”
But he added that such cases would need to be “certified” by a “board.” “We don’t leave it to the whimsicalities of one person,” he added.
Asked if there is a “right to abortion” in cases where a woman is not prepared to have a child, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu replied, “The woman has a right; the unborn child also has a right.”
“To the extent that the unborn child cannot speak for itself, somebody may have to speak for it. And the law will have to speak for the unborn child.”
“People should live up to their responsibilities. The consequences of the actions that you take or engage in should live with you. You should not say, ‘Well, I undertook the exercise for fun, unprepared.’ You should anticipate the consequences.”
On the same interview, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu was opposed by Nana Oye Lithur, a long-time abortion campaigner for Ghana affiliated with international abortion advocacy groups. Identified only as a “human rights activist,” Nana Oye Lithur said, “We cannot hear this argument about having an abortion board. It won’t work. The law we have now is okay, women’s lives are being saved, and women are being counseled [on abortion].”
The international abortionist agency Ipas has praised the law in Ghana as one of the most “progressive” of any African country. The current law in Ghana was largely the work of Nana Oye Lithur, who successfully lobbied the Ministry of Health to amend its policy to include “comprehensive abortion care” as part of the services offered by the Ghana Health Service.
Read related LSN coverage:
Ghana Bans Gay Conference, Says it Would Promote Unhealthy Homosexuality
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/sep/06090502.html