A Bill that aims to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services for women and girls in six East African countries faces a tough uphill battle to approval, with opposition from conservatives who claim that it would promote abortion and LBGTQ rights
Over the past week, the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has conducted public hearings on Bill that aims to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services for women and girls.
EALA, which covers Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, has been trying for five years to pass the Bill in a region with some of the highest maternal mortality and teen pregnancy rates in the world.
But it has faced opposition from conservatives, including international right-wing organisations CitizenGo and Empowered Youth Coalition, some of which made objections at public hearings held in the six countries, claiming that the Bill is pro-abortion and pro-LBGTQ rights.
The aims of the East African Community Sexual and Reproductive Health Bill 2021 are to protect and facilitate the SRH and rights of all people in the region, provide for the progressive realisation of SRH information and services and prohibit harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and forced sterilisation.
It also aims to prevent newborn, child mortality and maternal mortality and “facilitate and promote reduction and elimination of unsafe abortions, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, early and unintended pregnancies”.
Article 16 of the draft Bill states that a woman should be able to terminate her pregnancy if, in the opinion of a health professional, there is a need for emergency treatment, it endangers her mental or physical health or life, or is the result of rape or incest.
But it also provides for member states to use their own laws to decide what to do in such situations.
The region is in desperate need of improved SRH services. According to a 2020 scorecard (see below) on reproductive health and HIV, many member states are lagging behind in agreed-on targets, particularly South Sudan, which is not on track to meet any targets. South Sudan’s maternal mortality rate of 730 women per 100,000 is one of the worst in the world, while only Rwanda and Tanzania are on track to meet maternal mortality targets.
EALA has tried to introduce this Bill since 2017 but faced various obstacles, including having to start from scratch when the term of the previous assembly ended and new representatives were sworn in.
The current Bill has been introduced by South Sudan’s EALA representative Kennedy Mukulia as a Private Members’ Bill.
However, Mukulia has faced vilification and online harassment including a CitizenGo petition calling for his removal.
The Bill aims to give expression to Article 118 of the East African Community (EAC) Treaty, in terms of which member states have committed to providing reproductive health services to their citizens. But a number of member states do not have laws or policies in regard to a number of issues and the Bill aims to provide guidance in cases where there are legal vacuums.
Should the Bill be passed, each member state will have to report to the secretary-general of the EAC on the status of its implementation every two years.
The secretary-general is obliged to report to the EALA on each country’s progress, and one state can even bring legal action against another at the East African Court of Justice.
Vilification
However, Mukulia has faced vilification and online harassment including a CitizenGo petition calling for his removal.
The secretary-general is obliged to report to the EALA on each country’s progress, and one state can even bring legal action against another at the East African Court of Justice.
The Bill aims to give expression to Article 118 of the East African Community (EAC) Treaty, in terms of which member states have committed to providing reproductive health services to their citizens. But a number of member states do not have laws or policies in regard to a number of issues and the Bill aims to provide guidance in cases where there are legal vacuums.
Should the Bill be passed, each member state will have to report to the secretary-general of the EAC on the status of its implementation every two years.
