Sierra Leone debates decriminalizing abortion as women and girls endanger their lives

In Freetown, Sierra Leone, 21-year-old nursing student Fatou Esther Jusu, who survived a dangerous self-abortion attempt, is advocating for a bill to decriminalize abortion in the country, where tens of thousands of women resort to unsafe methods annually due to the procedure being illegal. President Julius Maada Bio introduced the Safe Motherhood Bill to improve maternal health, but facing opposition, the bill has been amended to allow abortion only in cases of life-threatening risk, fatal fetal abnormalities, rape, or incest. Religious leaders have criticized the bill, and its fate in parliament remains uncertain, despite the urgent need for reform to prevent unsafe abortions and maternal deaths.

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