Pro-Abortion Activists Fabricating Maternal Death Statistics to Push for Abortion in Sierra Leone: Religious Leaders

They further dismiss a report by Ipas, which claimed that unsafe abortions caused 30 percent of maternal mortality in  Sierra Leone. “This was completely fabricated as the source it cites said no such thing,” they say.

According to the IRCSL, which is headed by Archbishop Edward Tamba Charles of Sierra Leone’s Catholic Archdiocese of Freetown, maternal deaths in Sierra Leone have very little to do with what has been named “unsafe abortions.”

In their statement, the faith-based leaders say that the only reliable estimates of maternal death come from Sierra Leone’s Maternal Death Surveillance & Response annual report, which in 2016 found just 1.9 percent of maternal deaths were due to “abortive outcomes”, including ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages.

“We have no data regarding how many deaths occur from unsafe abortion alone, since it is always grouped with other conditions. But we know it is at most 3 percent of maternal deaths – a very small proportion,” IRCSL members say, adding that initiatives to reduce maternal mortality in Sierra Leone should focus on other issues like emergency obstetric care.  

They say that even with Sierra Leone’s maternal deaths, legalizing abortion would not help solve the problem, but that it could only make the problem worse.  

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Pro-Abortion Activists Fabricating Maternal Death Statistics to Push for Abortion in Sierra Leone: Religious Leaders

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Proponents of the Bill titled “Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Care Act 2024” claim that it will “provide for safe motherhood and reproductive health care throughout Sierra Leone”, and that it will also “set the standards of sexual and reproductive health care” in the country.

Those in support of the Bill have also said that the Bill will “provide for the right to make decisions regarding safe motherhood and reproductive health and to provide for other related matters.” 

On what has been claimed as “life-saving abortions” in the contested Bill, IRCSL members say, “Abortion to save a woman’s life is already legal in Sierra Leone and does not require a bill to legalize it. Obstetricians in Sierra Leone will already perform an abortion if the mother’s life is at risk. These doctors have not been consulted and have not offered their support for the Bill.”

According to the inter-religious Council, there is no evidence that legalizing abortion solves the problem of maternal deaths. The faith-based leaders say that it is pro-life countries that have the best maternal health records.  

“Malta and Poland have the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world, and both of them have prohibited abortion,” they say, adding that pro-abortion countries, on the other hand, still experience high rates of maternal deaths.

“The only West African country to allow abortion on demand is Benin, which still has major problems from unsafe abortion,” Sierra Leone’s faith-based leaders say, and add, “African countries with legal abortion still have major problems with unsafe abortion.”

According to the IRCSL, the main outcome of the Bill, if enacted, will result in mass murder of innocent lives.

The religious leaders say legalization of abortion in Sierra Leone will also add more burden on the existing socio-economic challenges and put women and girls in danger.

The faith-based leaders are appealing to Sierra Leone’s legislators to ensure that “no bill that would serve contrary to the preservation and protection of the sanctity of life” is passed.

Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.