An abortion is a procedure used to terminate a pregnancy and remove a fetus from a woman’s uterus. Although it is illegal in Uganda, the policy provides a platform for legislators, government, clerics and the women to rethink the law on abortion.
Human rights activists on Wednesday come into conflict with religious leaders over the emerging ‘Abortion Bill’.
Here, religious leaders reminded the government that abortion is murder, plain and simple, with Dr Cyprian Kizito Lwanga urging that any law allowing abortion would be a recipe for disaster.
Rev Stanley Ntagali, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda added his voice to fellow clergy under their umbrella organisation (Inter-religious council) stating that the 23rd provincial assembly of the Church of Uganda met on August 29 and resolved never to legitimatise abortion.
“Religious leaders should know that in about 160 countries where legislation allows abortion on broad indications, there is a lower incidence of unsafe abortion and much lower mortality from unsafe abortions, as compared to legislation that greatly restricts abortion like in Uganda,” The Centre for Human Rights and Development executive director, Mr Moses Mulumba told the Daily Monitor, urging that the Bill will set standards and guidelines on abortion.
The Figures, according to director health services Dr Anthony Mbonye.
Uganda’s government loses Shs7.5 billion annually on consequences of unsafe abortion.
There are more than 300,000 abortions in Uganda each year and the “vast majority” are unsafe.
There are several different kinds of abortion.
The kind of abortion procedure available depend on how long one has been pregnant, and one’s own personal preference. When talking about types of abortion, people usually refer to the two categories of medical abortion (where you take abortion pills) and surgical abortion (where doctors directly remove your pregnancy).
The “abortion pill,” RU-486, works by blocking the hormone progesterone, which subsequently causes the uterine lining to break down and no longer be able to carry out the pregnancy. After two days, depending on the health provider, you may be asked to take a second pill, misoprostol, a drug which helps to empty the uterus.
This involves taking medication to make the lining of your womb come away, ending your pregnancy.
There are two kinds of surgical abortion, which one you have depends on how long you’ve been pregnant.
Vacuum aspiration (up to 15 weeks)
- A small suction tube is placed in your cervix and the pregnancy is sucked out (on the NHS, this treatment is only available from seven weeks).
Dilation and evacuation (15-24 weeks)
- Your cervix is gently widened using forceps and the pregnancy is removed using a suction tube.
Partial birth abortion, is when a person performing the procedure “deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living fetus until, in the case of a head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother, or, in the case of breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother, for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus.”
The Bible Speaks On Abortion
An unborn baby in the womb of a mother is called a “child” on twenty-five occasions (in twenty-four verses) in the Scriptures. Notice the words “with child” as a description of a pregnant woman. Some say they can not afford to have a baby or another baby. Again, adoption is a viable alternative than to end the child’s life.
God is eternal, so His work is also eternal. Abortion is an attempt to do away with unwanted people–an attempt to make a liar out of God by bringing an end to His work.
However, Jesus said you can destroy a person’s BODY, but not their SOUL (Mat. 10:28). Parent, if you’ve had an abortion, your aborted child is in Heaven right now, because you only destroyed the body!
The shedding of innocent blood is a horrible sin in the sight of God. Consider: II Kings 21:16.
marvin@ugchristiannews.com