THE RWANDAN LAW REGULATING ABORTION: A QUEST FOR A MORAL GUIDANCE FOR CHRISTIANS

Abstract

Abortion is one of the moral issues concerning reproduction and the beginning of life. As a critical issue in Bio-Medical Ethics, abortion touches many aspects: health (medical field), religion, law (legal aspects), morality, economy, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, theology, human rights, sexuality, and feminism. All these aspects are interconnected; that is why the issue of abortion remains complex. In this article, we tackle the issue of abortion by focusing mainly on its legal and moral aspects in the Rwandan context. The following questions are addressed: Is safe abortion really safe? What does culture contribute to the discussion? Are there alternative aids for women in crisis pregnancy? We intend to propose a moral reflection that can shed some light on how to reconcile the legal and moral positions as far as the current Rwandan law regulating abortion is concerned.