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International Day for Safe Abortion

In the context of the International Day for Safe Abortion, and under the system of defending women’s rights and preventing discrimination through which Life Foundation for Development and Community Integration works. The foundation called on the Egyptian government to amend the articles of abortion law and to sign and ratify the African Women’s Rights Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People (known as the Mobatto Protocol), which guarantees, through Article 14, paragraph C, on reproductive and health rights, the right of women to access safe medical abortion in cases where the continuation of pregnancy poses a danger to her health or life, even if this pregnancy is the result of rape

Life Foundation notes that despite the adoption by the General Assembly of the Protocol since 2003, Egypt has not yet signed or ratified it. It should be noted that of all African Union member States, Egypt, Botswana and Tunisia are the only countries that have not signed or ratified the Protocol until right Now

The foundation also renews its call to the Egyptian Parliament to amend the articles of the Penal Code to allow women to abort in the following cases: – There is a danger to their lives – pregnancy as a result from rape or incest – Egyptian law is one of the most stringent laws for abortion worldwide

The fact that an article in the Code of Ethics is present, which allows the doctor to perform abortion in cases of danger to the health and life of the pregnant woman makes women vulnerable to the lack of access to safe abortion services because doctors or conscientious pharmacists refuse to serve these women based on their religious or social convictions without any obligation to refer them to doctors who agree to provide this service to them or because of the opposition of hospitals or health facilities in which these doctors work, some ask the women to have a fatwa that allows them to have an abortion before the doctor approves it, in addition, some women are subjected to blackmail by the doctors, who may ask for higher prices or sexual services to terminate the pregnancy

About the Mobatto Protocol

The protocol consists of 32 articles and is considered one of the most advanced charters regarding women’s rights

Elimination of discrimination against women as well as harmful practices, and to achieve the right to dignity, the right to life and personal security, as well as access to justice and equal protection before the law, the right to participate in the political process and decision-making, the right to peace, the right to education and training; The rights to meal security, the right to adequate and decent housing, the right to a sustainable health environment, the right to sustainable development, marriage, divorce and invalidity of marriage, the right to inheritance, the rights of widows, the right to a positive cultural context Disability, special protection for women in difficult circumstances, and compensation

Article 14 of the Mobatto Protocol Health and Reproductive Rights

Involved parties shall ensure respect for and promotion of women’s health rights, including sexual and reproductive health, and the following

Their right to control their fertility

The right to decide whether or not to have children, the number of children, and the spacing of their birth period

The right to choose any method of contraception

Their right to self-protection and protection against sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV / AIDS

The right to be informed of her health status and the health status of her partner, especially if he has a sexually transmitted disease, including HIV / AIDS, in accordance with internationally recognized standards and best practices

The right to receive an education on family planning

Involved partied shall take all appropriate measures, as follows

To provide women with adequate health services at affordable costs, including the provision of IEC programs for women, especially those in rural areas

Establish and support health and nutrition services for women, in relation to pre and post-natal as well as during pregnancy and lactation

Protection of women’s reproductive rights, especially the authorization of medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape and incest, where the continuation of pregnancy is a threat to the mental and physical health of the mother or a threat to her life and the life of the fetus

Articles of the Egyptian Penal Code on Abortion

Article 261: “Whoever deliberately aborts a pregnant woman by giving her medicine or using means leading to it evidence whether she is satisfied or not, shall be punished by imprisonment

Article 262: “A woman who is satisfied with the use of medicines with her prior knowledge or has consented to use of the means mentioned above or has enabled others to use such means on her which caused an abortion, shall receive the same punishment as above

Article 263: “If the abort-er is a doctor, surgeon, pharmacist or midwife, they will be sentenced to temporary hard labor

Article 264: “There is no punishment for attempting to abort.