TY - CHAP
T1 - Reproductive Health Rights in Liberia
T2 - The Case of (Il)Legal and (Un)Safe Abortion
AU - Bruey, Veronica Fynn
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Safeguarding girls’ and women’s reproductiveBruey, Veronica Fynn rights in LiberiaLiberia is an all-around lose-lose situation. Carrying a child full-term is risky and, in some instances, deadly. The United NationsUnited Nations report in 2017 shows that Liberia ranks the ninth highest of 184 countries in the world, with a maternal mortality rate of 661 per 100,000 live births. The major causes of maternal mortality in Liberia are haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, sepsis, and unsafe abortionUnsafe abortion. For mothers fortunate to give birth, 84.6 per 1,000 of their infants will not see their fifth birthday. There are many reasons why a prospective mother may not be able carry a pregnancy for a full-term. Sometimes the only option is to abort the pregnancy, whatever the reason. In Liberia, a woman’s choice to abort a pregnancy is restrained by law. The Liberian Penal Law—Title 26 Revised, 1976 criminalises abortion as an offense against the family. In a country with a negative annual GDP growth rate, a patient–doctor ratio of 1:15,000, a high incidence of rape cases, and a life expectancy of 64.1 years, there is no denying the challenge of securing girls’ and women’s reproductive rightsReproductive rights. Compounded by the post-war reconstruction, the recent Ebola Virus Disease crisis, and the Covid-19 pandemicCovid-19 pandemic, the need to protect girls’ and women’s reproductive health rights is ever-pressing. Drawing on the rights-based approach and feminist (legal) theory methodological analysis, the chapter examines the state and effect of (il)legal and (un)safe abortionUnsafe abortion on girls’ and women’s reproductive rights in Liberia.
AB - Safeguarding girls’ and women’s reproductiveBruey, Veronica Fynn rights in LiberiaLiberia is an all-around lose-lose situation. Carrying a child full-term is risky and, in some instances, deadly. The United NationsUnited Nations report in 2017 shows that Liberia ranks the ninth highest of 184 countries in the world, with a maternal mortality rate of 661 per 100,000 live births. The major causes of maternal mortality in Liberia are haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, sepsis, and unsafe abortionUnsafe abortion. For mothers fortunate to give birth, 84.6 per 1,000 of their infants will not see their fifth birthday. There are many reasons why a prospective mother may not be able carry a pregnancy for a full-term. Sometimes the only option is to abort the pregnancy, whatever the reason. In Liberia, a woman’s choice to abort a pregnancy is restrained by law. The Liberian Penal Law—Title 26 Revised, 1976 criminalises abortion as an offense against the family. In a country with a negative annual GDP growth rate, a patient–doctor ratio of 1:15,000, a high incidence of rape cases, and a life expectancy of 64.1 years, there is no denying the challenge of securing girls’ and women’s reproductive rightsReproductive rights. Compounded by the post-war reconstruction, the recent Ebola Virus Disease crisis, and the Covid-19 pandemicCovid-19 pandemic, the need to protect girls’ and women’s reproductive health rights is ever-pressing. Drawing on the rights-based approach and feminist (legal) theory methodological analysis, the chapter examines the state and effect of (il)legal and (un)safe abortionUnsafe abortion on girls’ and women’s reproductive rights in Liberia.
KW - Abortion
KW - Feminist (legal) theory
KW - Feminist jurisprudence
KW - Law
KW - Liberia
KW - Reproductive rights
KW - Rights-based approach
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85194555955&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-981-99-2411-0_7
DO - 10.1007/978-981-99-2411-0_7
M3 - Chapter
AN - SCOPUS:85194555955
T3 - Sustainable Development Goals Series
SP - 127
EP - 156
BT - Sustainable Development Goals Series
ER -
