Four people arrested after woman dies from an illegal abortion, as legislation remains in Parliamentary deadlock

Four individuals were arrested today, Tuesday, after suspicion of involvement in an illegal abortion that lead to the death of a pregnant woman.

The Judicial Police Division of the Inezgan area, near Agadir, referred two women, a doctor who owns a private clinic, and a fourth individual, on suspicion of their involvement in the tragic case.

Hespress AR sources indicated that authorities opened a judicial investigation after the death of a woman, who was admitted to the city hospital in a critical condition last Saturday.

Preliminary investigation uncovered that the deceased had undergone an illegal abortion outside the hospital, before being transferred for treatment after her health drastically deteriorated.

The same sources add that the investigation showed that the main suspect was involved in performing a “traditional abortion” on the victim inside a residential house in the city, at the behest of one of the detainees, mediated by the third arrested woman.

The arrested doctor then completed the procedure in his private medical clinic, as the victim’s health deteriorated. She died shortly after being taken to the local hospital.

The three suspects were kept under arrest, while the doctor was subjected to the judicial investigation procedures that are taking place under the supervision of the competent Public Prosecution, before they were brought before the Public Prosecution today.

The victim’s age has yet to be revealed, as this case joins the long list of illegal abortions that lead to fatality in the country.

Earlier in September, a 14 year old girl died after undergoing an illegal abortion in Midelt. The victim died during the procedure, in the home of the father of her unborn child, who sexually exploited the minor.

The young victim, Meryem, ignited renewed demands for a dormant yet popular call for the government’s involvement, as NGOs, civil society actors and Moroccan citizens requested abortion law changes.

In Morocco, legislation on pregnancy termination is highly restrictive, with strict guidelines and specific cases being allowed, which many women seeking the treatment do not fit.

There are no official figures on the number of unsafe abortions that take place in Morocco, but experts and social workers assure there are too many to ignore, which often take place illegally, and under extremely unsafe conditions.

but the gynecologist Chafik Chraibi, founder of the “Moroccan Association Against Clandestine Abortion,” keeps saying that the number of clandestine abortions in Morocco ranges from 50,000 to 80,000 per year. year, with an average of 200 operations per day.

Years have passed since a heated societal and political debate raged about abortion in Morocco, as a result of which King Mohammed VI intervened and ordered, in March of 2015, a committee composed of the Minister of Justice and Freedoms, the Minister of Islamic Affairs and the President of the National Council for Human Rights to launch consultations, reviewing the laws regulating abortion in the Kingdom.

After two months of discussion, the committee concluded that abortion is allowed in the following cases: when pregnancy poses a threat to the life of the mother, pregnancy resulting from rape and incest, and if doctors notice serious congenital deformities and difficult diseases that threaten the fetus. The government approved a bill with these recommendations in 2016.

However, this project remained stagnant to this day in the hands of the Parliamentary Committee for Justice and Legislation, whose role is to prepare laws before presenting them to a vote in Parliament.