ABORTION: PASTOR CALLS FOR ARRESTS, STIFF PENALTIES

MBABANE – Instead of legalising abortion, members of the clergy are calling for the arrest of women who commit same.

According to Pastor Celani Mhlanga, abortion is illegal in the country and if someone commits the crime, they should be punished and the penalties made stiff as a deterrent. Pastor Mhlanga said it was wrong to advocate for the legalisation of abortion, as it was not a human right but a crime. According to Mhlanga, abortion was not just murder but a sacrifice to the devils and the country needs to take it seriously. “Why should we allow sacrifices to be made to the devil, if Eswatini is a Christian nation?” Mhlanga questioned. He stated that if allowed, this would kindle the wrath of God against the people and the nation.

Sacrificing

He noted that God had issued a stern warning on sacrificing sons and daughters to the devils. Furthermore, he said God had warned against the shedding of innocent blood of the sons and daughters by sacrificing them to devils. The pastor said responsibility must be placed on the parent and not for the unborn child to suffer for the mistakes of adults. “We are living in the 21st century and getting pregnant cannot be a mistake because all the preventative measures are there,” said the man of the cloth. Mhlanga questioned why people could not utilise the preventative measures. The pastor, who presented before the Ministry of Health Portfolio Committee, said he was speaking on behalf of God, concerning the Health Bill of 2022, which aimed at legalising abortion. Mhlanga stated that he was presenting based on the Bible, which was the Constitution of God’s kingdom and the Constitution of the land, which governed the country.

Murder

The man of God said in the book of Exodus 20 verse 13, it read; ‘Thou shall not kill’. He said based on the Bible, abortion was murder before the Almighty’s eyes. Mhlanga mentioned that Eswatini had a foundation in its existence, of being a Christian nation. “Before we do anything as a nation, including the passing of laws, it is important not to disregard what God says.” Mhlanga said before a law could be passed, it should be tested on whether it was aligned to the scripture, and the God served by the citizenry. He mentioned that some names were redefined, including murder, which was termed as abortion to ease up guilt upon the conscience of those people who killed innocent children.

Mhlanga added that he had noticed that the Health Bill, 2022 was unconstitutional, as it eliminated all rights of pre-born babies. “All human beings have a right to life, they are equal with the right to life, deemed a foundation right and freedom within the Constitution.” The above, he said, was explained in article 14 of the Constitution, under Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of Individuals. He said the Constitution clearly included pre-born lives in the description, since abortion was confirmed as unlawful in article 15. Furthermore, he noted that the Health Bill was unconstitutional because it supposed an affirmative right to abortion. He said Parliament did not have the authority to issue a sweeping provision, that a user could have access to termination of pregnancy. Such, he said was provided in 44.1 of the Bill. This, he said implied an affirmative right to abortion, whereas the Constitution was clear that abortion was indeed illegal with only limited exceptions, where it was permitted without it being considered a criminal act and the exceptions were explained in article 15.5 of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, he stated that the Bill eliminated the right of conscience, which was inalienable, meaning the possessor could not give it away and neither could it be taken away. Mhlanga said any infringement upon the right of conscience could not be justified under any circumstance, which was guaranteed by international human rights laws.

Legalising

He said by legalising abortion, it would contravene Eswatini’s international human rights obligations, if healthcare providers would perform abortions in violation of their conscience.
The pastor said they also realised that in the Bill, termination of pregnancy would be permitted on demand, which meant that it effectively allowed same to be on demand for any reason without defining terms for the narrow exception that permitted abortion, without clearly specifying limits, without thresholds or requirements for access to a narrow exception for abortion. He said the Bill was also inconsistent with both the language and the intent for the Constitution of the country. Mhlanga further noted that the Health Bill would permit the late termination of pregnancy, because it specified that no gestational limits effectively permitting abortion on demand up until birth. “There is no limit, no time specified that abortion will be allowed under certain terms and would not be allowed after certain terms of pregnancy.”

Mhlanga stated that the bill would also fail to ensure informed consent because it lacked informed consent requirements for women including information on foetal development and ultra sound image to verify the foetal age. SAFAIDS Country Representative Mandisa Machakata, said they were not encouraging people to abort but wanted the service to shift from the black market and be accessed in health facilities. Machakata advised pastors to continue preaching the word of God and not interfere with health rights. She said she did not know that abortion was a sacrifice to the devil but the World Health Organisation (WHO) defined termination clearly and the standards of how it happened.

Preventable

Machakata said she could not get into the moral discourse part as she addressed issues of women and girls. She said the campaign of safe abortion was aimed at ending preventable deaths, disabilities which were happening as a result of unsafe abortions. Machakata said women and girls were continuing to commit unsafe abortions. She stated that the restrictions caused those who were allowed by law not to access services, as it was a tedious process, even though it was provided in the Constitution. Eswatini Interdenominational Ministries Fellowship also emphasised on the biblical position regarding abortion. Reverend Luke Mnisi noted that they believed in the sanctity of life and stood opposed to any deliberate and purposeful plan to terminate a life which God had created and pre-ordained. Mnisi said they believed that a child had life and destiny while in his or her mother’s womb.

Contraception

Reverend Mnisi stated that in a country where contraception was permitted, there should be no reason to terminate life once it began. He said all stakeholders should focus on educating young girls about the medical hazards of abortion and the other options available to them, thus preventing abortion from being promoted as an option. He stated that the Constitution also covered issues of rape, which had unfortunately become prevalent in the current moral decay of society. Mnisi urged society to channel resources and energy towards capacity building of young girls to empower them to report and deal with rape cases expeditiously to avoid terminating life once it began.

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