By The Namibian (Jana-Mari Smith) 

THE SILENT epidemic of life-threatening abortions in Namibia is growing rapidly as young women struggle to exercise a personal choice in a hostile legal environment. 

The Namibia Planned Parenthood Association (NAPPA) says there is "an urgent need" to overturn current restrictive legislation on abortion and reopen the debate in Parliament. 

"NAPPA urges all houses of Parliament to compromise and re-introduce the motion on abortion." 

A study done almost 16 years ago revealed that 16 per cent of maternal deaths in Namibia were abortion related, a figure that could be significantly higher today. 

"As a country we need to ensure that not a single woman dies from a pregnancy related condition, thus there is an imminent need to revisit the discussion to liberalise legislation on abortion," Sam Ntelamo, NAPPA's country director, said last week. 

Currently, legal abortions in Namibia are restricted to pregnancies as a result of sexual abuse, or those that carry medical risk. The freedom of choice is denied to women who feel they do not want to carry out a pregnancy for other reasons. As a result unsafe abortions increasingly put Namibian women at risk from a host of medical complications and death, which can arise when desperate woman seek medical treatment in unsafe and harmful circumstances. 

"The status of unsafe abortions in Namibia has reached a point where it warrants open discussions at all levels of society," Ntelamo said. 

He spoke at the third annual Family Planning Awareness day hosted by the Polytechnic of Namibia and NAPPA, last week. 

The majority of women who seek abortions in Namibia, and put themselves in life threatening danger are aged between 15 and 25. 

"The reality is that unsafe abortions are ongoing daily," Ntelamo said. "Ending the silent pandemic of unsafe abortion is an urgent public health and human rights imperative." 

Complications from unsafe abortions can lead to death or permanent medical complications. Ntelamo said that 97 per cent of unsafe abortions occur in developing countries such as Namibia. 

"It is very evident that access to safe abortion can improve women's health, but in the absence of favourable legislation, most women have limited choices, and therefore cannot easily access safe abortion." 

He added that women no longer die as a result of blood loss or infection after an unsafe abortion, but rather because of "apathy and disdain towards women". 

He called on government, and Namibian civil society in general, to accept the need for new initiatives which will "accommodate termination of pregnancy for economic or social reasons and the need to procure abortion on demand". 

Ntelamo asked why unsafe abortions still take place, "if there is an increase in national access to effective modern contraception?" 

NAPPA advocates a number of options that are best and easiest in order to avoid unwanted pregnancies. These include birth control pills, injectable pill, condoms, emergency contraceptives and abstinence.

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