.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{box-sizing:border-box;width:100%;padding:5px;border:none;font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .hidden-title{font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .hidden-content{text-align:left}You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (April 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 5,891 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Avortement au Bénin]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template ((Translated|fr|Avortement au Bénin)) to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Abortion in Benin is legally permitted "upon the request of the pregnant woman, voluntary termination of pregnancy can be allowed when the pregnancy is likely to aggravate or cause a situation of material, educational, professional or moral distress incompatible with the interest of the woman and/or the unborn child…"[1] in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.[2]

Benin's Parliament passed a new legal amendment to the Sexual Health and Reproduction (SRH) 2003 Law on Wednesday 20 October 2021.[3] Under Benin's previous abortion law, which was passed in 2003, a woman can only terminate the pregnancy if her life is at risk, if the pregnancy is a result of incest or rape, or if the foetus has a particularly serious medical condition.[4][5] A select list of experts were allowed to examine a pregnancy to determine whether the only option for saving the woman's life is to induce abortion.[6] The law was created due to lobbying by doctors, supported by the country's minister for social affairs Véronique Tognifode [fr], and health minister Benjamin Hounkpatin [fr], who have both worked as gynecologists.[7] President Patrice Talon supported the law, and the legislators present during the final vote passed the law unanimously.

Impact of strict abortion laws

Self-induced abortions have been growing in Benin, especially among students in high school or university, and the average age of abortion recipients is 19.[6]

References

  1. ^ Ouedraogo, Ramatou. "Benin's groundbreaking new abortion law will save the lives of many women". The Conversation. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  2. ^ Job, Chisom Peter. "'Letting women decide': Activists hail Benin abortion vote". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  3. ^ "FIGO releases statement welcoming Benin's new law improving access to safe abortion". Figo. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  4. ^ ICMA - Laws on Abortion - Benin Chișinău, Moldova: International Consortium for Medical Abortion (ICMA). 2003
  5. ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Benin liberalizes abortion law | DW | 10.11.2021". DW.COM. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  6. ^ a b Abortion Policies: Oman to Zimbabwe. United Nations Publications. 2001. ISBN 9789211513653. Retrieved 4 December 2014.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ Peltier, Elian (Nov 13, 2022). "While Abortion Rights Shrink in U.S., This Small Country Expanded Access". The New York Times. Retrieved December 24, 2022.


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