Global Action For Access To Safe And Legal Abortion

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Teenage mothers who cannot not care for their babies have been advised to submit them voluntarily to the Department of Social Welfare for their proper upbringing and development.

teenage pregnancy
teenage pregnancy

Mr Raphael Godlove Ahenu, Chief Executive Officer of Global Media Foundation (GLOMEF), a human rights and media advocacy non-governmental organization, gave the advice, on Friday.

Mr Ahenu when addressing a forum on ?Unsafe Abortion at Subinso Number Two. He addressed similar events at Awisa and Droboso in the Wenchi Municipality.

The fora were in commemoration of the Global Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion Day, which falls on September 28, every year. The day was instituted by Civil Society Organisations.

It is aimed at stimulating governments to decriminalize abortion and to provide access to safe and affordable abortion services. It is also to end the stigma and discrimination against women who choose to have an abortion.

The participants, comprising adolescent boys and girls and some young women were educated on Sexual Reproductive Healthcare, Good Family Planning Methods and other Contraceptive Services, at the fora organized by GLOMEF.

Mr Amenu expressed worry about the rate at which many teenage mothers callously abandoned or killed their babies because they could not fend for them.

He, however, noted that education on the voluntary child surrender policy and other activities of the Department of Social Welfare were very low and called on the government to adequately resource the department to function well.

Mr Ahenu noted that teenage pregnancy was very high in the country and many pregnant girls went for unsafe abortion because they could not cater for their unborn babies.

However, they ended up at various health facilities with complications

?Whilst Ghana?s abortion law is considered relatively liberal, inaccessibility to safe services, with traditional values, social perceptions, and religious teachings, have created a situation whereby quacks doctors carried out the majority of the abortions in clandestine and dangerous ways?, Mr Victor Fosu Boamah, Operations Directors of GLOMEF, said.

He explained it was against this background that the NGO with the support of the Safe Abortion Fund was implementing a project to increase awareness among both in and out of school young people , community members, and the media on access to safe abortion and contraceptive services.

Mrs Mavis Wiafe, Wenchi Municipal Education Coordinator of the School Health Programme, expressed regret that pregnancies among Senior High School girls were very high in the Municipality.

She expressed concern that that some parents guided their pregnant girls to apply herbs and concoctions to abort their pregnancies, a situation, which often led to other health complications or fatalities.

Mrs Wiafe appealed to civil society organisations and the media to help intensify education on sexual reproductive health care services, especially in rural areas, to prevent teenage pregnancy.

GNA

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