Abortion in Egypt:

Earlier this year, a member of the National Council of Women spent three weeks in Egypt. She filed this report for Alranz:

Egypt’s population is estimated to be 83 million and it is rising at the rate of approximately one million per year. There are 18 million people in Cairo alone.  A majority of Egyptians are Muslim, although Coptic Christians live side by side with Muslims in Cairo without any friction. In Cairo we found a small coloured poster pasted on a lamp post, showing a woman breaking her chains, a sign of women’s liberationists.

On our travel by bus through mud brick villages, we saw goats and sheep tethered in front of the houses, overloaded donkeys transporting for people and goods, and rubbish everywhere. Our guide told us that contraception is forbidden.

In a poverty economy, some children will probably die in each family, so it is considered essential to have lots of children to provide for the parents in their old age. However it was obvious that the financially better off families only had a few children. Our bus driver told us, “I have two girls and that’s enough.  But my wife wants to try for a boy, so we’ll give it one more shot.”

In 1981, Egypt was the first Arab country to ratify CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women. Yet it did so with several reservations.

When I returned home, I found the following information [CLICKING WILL DOWNLOAD A .DOC DOCUMENT] here: 

Grounds on which abortion is or is not permitted  

• To save the life of the woman Yes
• To preserve physical health, mental health, in cases of rape or incest, in cases of foetal impairment, for economic or social reasons or on request.  No
• Three physicians must certify that an accepted indication for the performance of the abortion exists. The husband’s consent is required unless the physician believes the operation is needed.

On 20 March 2010, The Health Committee at the People’s Assembly, Egypt’s lower house of Parliament, approved the Medical Responsibility Law which includes an article that authorises abortion and sterilisation if a woman’s health or condition does not make her fit for having children.

But on 22 March 2010, Azhar (Muslim) scholars rejected an Egypt abortion draft law as un-Islamic because it is considered an intervention in God’s will. They argued that such procedures could only be carried out in cases of emergency – if the woman’s life was in danger. They said that “those who drafted the law as well as those who will apply it are sinners.”

In defence of abortion, Hamdi al-Sayed, head of the Health Committee and chairman of the Doctors’ Syndicate, defended the law as necessary in the light of the current financial situation. “Many women cannot afford to raise their children,” he said during the discussion at the People’s Assembly.

Hamdi explained that the new law allows under specific circumstances. According to the planned new law, abortion and/or sterilization require the approval of husband and wife as well as a medical committee made up of three doctors. In case of abortion for health reasons, a report has to be written to the effect that the woman cannot go through pregnancy due to her health condition or that she is the carrier of a disease that might cause foetus deformation.

In case of poverty, the Ministry of Social Affairs will issue a report on the financial situation of the woman or the family, according to which it will be decided whether the abortion or sterilisation should take place. The number of children the woman already has will also play an important role in the decision. “We have to do our best to bear into consideration the harsh conditions those families go through,” Hamdi concluded. (Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid) Source: www.alarabiya.net

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

The latest Egypt report under CEDAW, covers abortion. It is available [THIS IS A PDF] here.