Backyard abortion addressed in Womens Policy

Written by Cherelle Jackson
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Backyard Abortion is the term given to illegal abortions in the National Policy for Women (NPW) of Samoa 2007-2017. The document currently being reviewed by women’s organisations around the country addresses serious and diverse issues relating to women in Samoa including abortion. Currently abortion is illegal in Samoa, with the exception of extreme threat to a womans physical health where abortion is then allowed. “Illegal abortion is often undertaken by women in response to desperate circumstances, including family, village, church ostracism and often at great personal risk,” the NPW states. In some cases, women resort to suicide as means to escape their dilemma. The Purpose of the Policy is to protect women and girls from the physical and mental health risks associated with illegal abortion practices. The Policy Outcome: “Reduced utilisation of backyard abortions.” The main objective of the NPW is for Legislative reform to expand the circumstances under which abortion is legal to accommodate life threatening mental health impacts of the pregnancy on the mother as well as life threatening physical health impacts. The performance of abortions in Samoa is regulated by the Crimes Ordinance of 1961, as amended by the Crimes Amendment Act of 1969. Under the Ordinance, abortion is generally illegal. It specifically addresses that anyone even the woman herself who unlawfully uses any means, whether she is pregnant or not, to cause a miscarriage is subject up to seven years’ imprisonment. Article 73 of the Act provides that a person who before or during the birth of any child causes its death to preserve the life of a month is not guilty of a crime. According to a United Nations publication on abortion Samoa, like many Commonwealth countries, whose legal systems are based on the English common law, follows the holding of the 1938 English Rex v. Bourne decision in determining whether an abortion performed for health reasons is lawful. According to the publication, the Bourne decision, a physician was acquitted of the offence of performing an abortion in the case of a woman who had been raped. The court ruled that the abortion was lawful because it had been performed to prevent the woman from becoming “a physical and mental wreck”, thus setting a precedent for future abortion cases performed on the grounds of preserving the pregnant woman’s physical and mental health. According to the UN report induced abortion appears socially acceptable in Samoa and has reportedly been performed routinely in cases of rape or incest. Findings from the Western Samoa Family Planning Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Survey (KAP) in 1971 show that induced abortion, although illegal, was considered permissible by 34 per cent of unmarried women, by 28 per cent of married women and by 15 per cent of husbands. Currently there are no reliable estimates on the frequency of induced abortion in Samoa. The NPW recognised the strong partnership between Non Governmental Organisations and Ministry of Health to assist women in counselling, health services, family planning services and general health services “to ensure that all women of Samoa have access to and utilisation of all opportunities for an improved quality of life.” Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment

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