Reproductive health: A human right or a moral issue?

Introduction

Health is a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being and not just the absence of disease or infirmity similarly sexual and reproductive health is crucial to the wellness of all regardless of social status. To achieve a good healthy sex life is to have responsible satisfying and safe sex that is free from disease, injury, violence, or risk of death.

Against this backdrop, the United Nations Agency on Sexual and Reproductive Health, (UNFPA) is mandated to ensure that there is no unwanted pregnancy and the beginning of unwanted life on this earth.

Challenges to Accessing Reproductive Health in the Upper West Region of Ghana
Reproductive health and healthy sex life are important and in the good interest of the development of the upper west region.

On the contrary, socio-cultural implications in my region of the upper west have silenced and relegated women to the background in the area of accessing sexual or reproductive health freely which is a roadblock to the achievement of SDG goal (3).

Women’s right to reproductive health is for the woman to have the free hand to choose whether or not to produce, including the right to carry out a termination of an unwanted pregnancy at an appropriate hospital or health center or simply access safe abortion because procreative rights of women are integral to women rights.

The 1960 criminal code (Act 29) (Section58) which was amended by PNDCl102 of 1985 act 29 permits abortion to be performed under certain inhuman conditions; Pregnancy through rape, incest, and mental retardation among others which may adversely affect the wellness of the mother.

The point needs to be made that the World Health Organisation (W.H.O.) has projected (2021) that annually 45 percent of abortions are unsafe and 94% is taking place in developing countries including Ghana and for that matter the upper West Region.

According to the WHO, unsafe abortion is a leading but preventable cause of maternal deaths and morbidity. When safer and legal access to abortion is restricted to women, especially young girls, they will resort to less-safer methods.

Some of these less safe methods include inserting objects in the uterus and drinking concoctions to terminate a such unwanted pregnancy. When women can control what happens to their bodies, they can play a role in society whether as a member of the family, the workplace, or in government.

However, in Ghanaian society abortion is perceived as a shameful and immoral act. The Pro-life conference of the Ghana Catholic Bishops has denounced strongly abortion and population control. The church believes that in every situation every man and every woman must respect, protect and uphold the dignity and sanctity of every human life once it begins from conception until its natural end.

The Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference has further denounced the radical promotion of abortion and the use of condoms and other forms of contraceptives. For most women who want to have children, procreative health is not an option; it is basic health care they need.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Reproductive health and healthy sexual life is a human rights issue that requires sustained advocacy, sensitization, education, and information sharing among others. The key principle of human dignity needs to be safeguarded at all times.

Therefore, like all rights, duty bearers such as the government and other Development partners need to do more to empower women and tackle the root causes of unwanted pregnancies such as poverty and low access to productive resources for women. Doing so will go a long way to ensure that Reproductive becomes a real human right and not mere rhetoric in development cycles.

(gladiswein@gmail.com)