Using the right to life to confront unsafe abortion in Africa

Unsafe abortion is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in Africa. In international human rights law, there are two possible approaches to tackling the problem of unsafe abortion. One is to advocate the right of privacy, which means states must refrain from interfering in women's abortion decisions; the other is to advocate the right to life of women, which stresses the duty of states to take affirmative measures to minimise the consequences of unsafe abortion. African societies are communal and duty is the central element in them. The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights reflects communal values by stressing the duty of individuals to help their communities. Unlike other human rights documents, it does not have a right of privacy provision. This paper focuses mainly on the right to life and discusses the interpretation of this right for women, as applied to unsafe abortion, under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Advocating states' duties in ensuring women's right to life, to minimise the consequences of unsafe abortion, is more consistent with duty-based African communal values than the right of privacy.