Several feminist associations demonstrated this Wednesday September 28 in Rabat to demand the right to abortion in Morocco to mark the international day of the right to abortion. But it also follows the death of Meriem on September 06, a 15-year-old girl who was trying to end her pregnancy as a result of rape.
Yesterday, Wednesday 28 September, the whole world celebrated the International Day for the Defense of Abortion Rights. And to mark this edition, dozens of Moroccan feminist activists took to the streets of Rabat to demand the revision of the laws that condemn voluntary interruption of pregnancy (IVG).
In front of the parliament, waving placards that read: “Abortion is a woman’s right”, “The law killed me”, “Abortion is medical care”, “Respect my choice”; the demonstrators demand safe abortion. Their approach is to urge legislators to review restrictive laws regarding abortion. “We demand the decriminalization of abortion from the age of 12,” said Fouzia Yassine of the Printemps de la dignité, a coalition of Moroccan feminist associations. “We renew this call today. Legislators bear the responsibility for this situation and for the violence and hardship that women endure,” she added.
Six months to five years in prison
Under Moroccan law, abortions are punishable by six months to five years in prison, except in cases where the mother’s health is in danger. Throughout the world, women’s right to control their own bodies is unequal. While in recent years, some countries have relaxed their legislation on abortion, others have remained firm in their position, questioning this fundamental freedom that frequently creates tragedy. In this heavily Islamic North African country of about 37 million people, between 600 and 800 clandestine abortions are performed every day, according to associations campaigning for its legalization.
Despite the steps taken in 2015 in the kingdom to legalize abortion, especially in the face of special cases of rape and severe fetal abnormalities, no law has formalized the act.
