[Petición] Carta al presidente de Sierra Leona

Un Comité Parlamentario estará discutiendo los próximos pasos en relación al Proyecto de Ley la próxima semana. Por eso, debemos movernos rápidamente para asegurarnos que el Presidente y el Parlamento sepa lo importante que es la aprobación de esta legislación para un gran número de organizaciones en todo el mundo.

Necesitamos su ayuda para demostrar al Presidente Karoma que la comunidad internacional apoya la legislación porque ello salvará un incontable número de vidas de mujeres.

Invitamos a su organización a que se una a nosotras en el respaldo al Proyecto de Ley de Aborto Seguro de 2015.

POR FAVOR, FIRME EN LA CARTA QUE APARECE DEBAJO
Para firmar, por favor envíe un email urgente a: info@safeabortionwomensright.org, indicando el nombre de su organización, ciudad y país.

TEXTO DE LA CARTA (solo disponible en inglés):

15 January 2015

His Excellency Ernest Bai Koroma

President of the Republic of Sierra Leone

State House, Freetown

Re:  Urging quick passage of the Safe Abortion Act 2015 into law

Your Excellency, President Koroma,

We, the undersigned, represent a broad range of stakeholders active globally in the field of maternal health, reproductive health and rights, medical care, legal issues and social justice.  We write today to applaud the strong position you took in a speech to Parliament on 11 December 2015 in which you declared maternal and child health to be a National Health Emergency, and to urge quick passage of the Safe Abortion Act 2015 into law. This important bill reaffirms your administration’s dedication to improving the health of women and families and is consistent with regional and global trends in abortion law reform. Bringing abortion out of the shadows by making it safe and legal is one of the most direct and effective ways to reduce maternal mortality, and passage of the Safe Abortion Act 2015 is vital to Your Excellency’s commitment to save women’s lives and improve their health and lives.

Your Excellency, it is well documented that at least 47,000 women die every year from unsafe abortion, almost all of whom are in developing countries, with African women at the highest risk. In Sierra Leone, complications from unsafe abortion account for one in five admissions for obstetric complications in the health system. These complications currently over-burden the fragile health system in Sierra Leone, and moreover, are almost wholly preventable when safe abortion is an option for women.

Your Excellency, by ensuring the Safe Abortion Act 2015 is swiftly signed into law, you would not only be reaffirming your commitment to women’s health but also taking decisive action to implement the pledges made by your government to uphold regional and international agreements. In the summer of 2015, Sierra Leone ratified the Women’s Protocol to the Africa Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Maputo Protocol), which affirms women’s rights to dignity, life, integrity, security of person and reproductive rights. Passage of this bill ensures that Sierra Leone will meet and lead in its commitments to African nations and peoples. Sierra Leone has also pledged before CEDAW and the Committee Against Torture to address unsafe abortion by reforming the current restrictive and punitive abortion law.

We understand that your office is now under pressure to stop this significant advance in women’s health.

We urge you to trust instead in the actions of the Honourable Members of Parliament of Sierra Leone who developed and passed this bill, who understand what is best for their constituents. Even as we prepare this letter, abortions are taking place daily in Sierra Leone—but unsafely and in dangerous conditions. Your action to ensure passage of this bill into law will ensure that women in need of this health care service can obtain it safely, without risking their health and lives. Ensuring access to safe and legal abortion saves women’s lives, and saving women’s lives is the right and moral action to take.

Your Excellency, we urge you to ensure passage of this law without delay, and guarantee your legacy as a leader in Africa—and indeed, the world—in recognizing the direct link between safe abortion and women’s health and well-being.

Sincerely,

[ORGANIZATION NAMES, CITIES, COUNTRIES]