Morocco’s Former Foreign Minister Calls for Reforming Abortion Law

Rabat – Saad Eddine El Othmani, President of the National Council of the Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD), called for reforming Morocco’s law on abortion.

In an opinion article published by Al Massae Newspaper on Monday, the former Foreign Minister called for more flexibility with regards to the abortion issue, saying that “it would be possible to proceed with abortion in cases of malformation or rape and incest.”

The termination of pregnancies in Morocco remains illegal. El Othmani said that there are no less than 10 articles of the law that criminalize abortion in Morocco. However, he added that the law on abortion in the kingdom must evolve towards greater flexibility in the light of the recent medical breakthroughs and the evolution of the society.

El Othmani based on Islamic jurisprudence to distinguish between three periods of pregnancy: Pre-fetal period (before 6 weeks), the one where life animates the fetus (under 18 weeks) and that of after. In the Maliki school of Sunni Islam, abortion is prohibited after 40 days (6 weeks), except in cases of binding necessity.

Nonetheless, a fatwa that was issued by the Council of Jurisprudence in Mecca in 1990 suggested that, before 120 days of pregnancy, if medical examinations show that the unborn baby suffers from malformation that will make its life difficult and painful; abortion is permitted on request of the parents.

The Islamist politician and a Psychiatrist by training said that the Moroccan law on abortion must comply with the requirements of the aforementioned fatwa. He also called for a comprehensive approach that would include prevention.

Although he does not deny the existence of abortion practices in Morocco, PJD’s number 2 believes that the statistics on abortion provided by civil society are exaggerated and excessive. In fact, and according to The Moroccan Association for the Fight against Clandestine Abortion AMLAC, headed by Professor Chafik Chraibi, 600 abortions are carried out daily by doctors and another 200 non-medical abortions.