Abortion in Benin

Abortion in Benin is legally permitted "upon the request of the pregnant woman, voluntary termination of pregnancy can be allowed when the pregnancy is likely to aggravate or cause a situation of material, educational, professional or moral distress incompatible with the interest of the woman and/or the unborn child…"[1] in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.[2]

Benin’s Parliament passed a new legal amendment to the Sexual Health and Reproduction (SRH) 2003 Law on Wednesday 20 October 2021.[3] Under Benin's previous abortion law, which was passed in 2003, a woman can only terminate the pregnancy if her life is at risk, if the pregnancy is a result of incest or rape, or if the foetus has a particularly serious medical condition.[4][5] A select list of experts were allowed to examine a pregnancy to determine whether the only option for saving the woman's life is to induce abortion.[6]

Impact of strict abortion laws

Self-induced abortions have been growing in Benin, especially among students in high school or university, and the average age of abortion recipients is 19.[6]

References
  1. Ouedraogo, Ramatou. "Benin's groundbreaking new abortion law will save the lives of many women". The Conversation. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  2. Job, Chisom Peter. "'Letting women decide': Activists hail Benin abortion vote". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  3. "FIGO releases statement welcoming Benin's new law improving access to safe abortion". Figo. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  4. ICMA - Laws on Abortion - Benin Chișinău, Moldova: International Consortium for Medical Abortion (ICMA). 2003
  5. Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Benin liberalizes abortion law | DW | 10.11.2021". DW.COM. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  6. Abortion Policies: Oman to Zimbabwe. United Nations Publications. 2001. ISBN 9789211513653. Retrieved 4 December 2014.


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