“The anti-choice groups have been very vocal in the past two years, and particularly in the past year since the US Supreme Court decision [to strike down the Roe vs Wade ruling, which guaranteed American women’s right to abortion]. They’re pointing to this [court ruling] and saying abortion should not be legal in Ethiopia, either,” he says.
But it’s not only religiously motivated figures from the US who are trying to reverse abortion rights in Africa. Last year saw an attack on abortion law published in Ethiopia Medical Journal. The author was a British academic, Calum Miller. “For now, the campaigners are continuing to threaten women’s healthcare using stigmatisation and public shaming,” he says. Earlier this week he witnessed an anti-abortion demonstration in Addis which he says was organised by church groups.
“These movements against abortion and LGBT community are coming together in an anti-human rights movement. This move towards authoritarianism and against civil society has created the perfect climate for this,” she says.