Cameroon: Divided Opinion Over Abortion

Ethical questions surrounding the legalisation of abortion have been in the limelight of discussions between medical experts, legal practitioners, philosophers, religious bodies and the civil society. While the civil society holds that abortion should be legalised given that some people are financially unable to bring up children, different experts say abortion is not only a criminal act but, it cannot be the solution to unwanted pregnancy. Prof. Tangwa Godfrey, Head of the Philosophy Department at the University of Yaounde I, says that a foetus has moral worth from the moment of conception. While noting that this is also the position of the Catholic Church the philosopher says that nevertheless, there are certain circumstances in which abortion can be justified. An example is during therapeutic abortion to save the life of a pregnant woman.

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