Stop “pressuring eSwatini to legalize abortion”, Catholic Activists Petition Advocacy Body

Manzini, 12 October, 2022 / 2:59 AM

Catholic social activists in Africa under their umbrella association, CitizenGo Africa, have petitioned an advocacy, communication and social mobilization entity in Eswatini to stop pushing for the legalization of abortion in the Southern African Kingdom.

In a Tuesday, October 11 petition, CitizenGo officials say they have received information that the Kingdom of Eswatini’s branch of the Southern Africa AIDS Dissemination Service (SAFAIDS) is pushing for the easing of restrictions on abortion laws in the African Monarch.  

“We have learned that your organization is pressuring eSwatini to legalize abortion like you have done in South Africa,” CitizenGo officials say in their petition to SAFAIDS Director. 

Eswatini is a pro-life country, they say and demand that SAFAIDS leadership “steers off matters to do with life and family of Emaswati.”

“The Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini is clear and concise on abortion and we would urge SAFAIDS to familiarize itself with this,” the CitizenGo officials say. 

SAFAIDS Kingdom of Eswatini reportedly held a webinar to promote the safe termination of pregnancies on the International Safe Abortion Day that is marked on September 28.

The Catholic activists say the promotion of abortion as a human right undermines the General Assembly's consensus, established at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994.

In the 1994 ICPD, it was agreed upon that abortion should be decided in national legislation without outside interference. 

“Abortion is Not an international human right,” the Catholic activists say.

Instead of championing abortion rights, CitizenGo officials say SAFAIDS “should help women avoid abortion and ensure the well-being of mothers and their children before and after birth.”

In their petition to SAFAIDS Director, officials of the African branch of the International Catholic activist organization say they are also “alarmed by the increasing trend aiming to undermine the institution of marriage and the family by promoting the so-called new rights, concepts and standards which are contrary to the norm and are not even found in any international human rights instruments.”

They further express concern about “the tendencies of foreign donors like SAFAIDS to promote such when dangling the ‘dollar carrot’ in front of government and non-government officials. The most common threat used is to bribe them to accept things like homosexuality, abortion and prostitution as ‘human rights’”.

“We therefore call upon the SAFAIDS and their counterparts to respect the national sovereignty, cultural and religious values of Emaswati and desist forthwith from promoting such behaviors,” CitizenGo Africa officials say in their petition.