Pregnant Boko Haram victims pushed to abort babies conceived by rape
LONDON (Christian Examiner) -- Vulnerable women impregnated by rape while captives of Boko Haram terrorists now face further devastation by being pressured to abort their unborn.
The London-based Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) reported learning through its outreach to Nigeria and other parts of Africa, that the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) offers abortion advice under the guise of "counseling" to pregnant women rescued from the Islamic militants.
According to the pro-life group, UNPFA is among the leading international organizations promoting abortion in the developing world where the practice is typically illegal and largely rejected.
Often, the general population supports traditional pro-life and pro-family values. For example, in April, more than 1,500 participants gathered to stand against abortion and its "encroaching culture of death" in Nigeria and world-wide during a three-day International Pro-life and Family Conference.
Additionally, the Church of Nigeria has publicly opposed abortions carried out on Boko Haram's victims which pro-life supporters consider a further victimization of the already traumatized women.
SPUC expressed fears, in its May press released, "that these emotionally vulnerable, malnourished women will be pressured into aborting their babies."
Antonia Tully, a spokesperson for the organization, further added, "press stories have focused almost exclusively on the reported high number of pregnancies among the released women. It is extremely worrying that some of these women may undergo abortions, which could cause them further physical and emotional trauma in their already weakened state. The deaths of their unborn babies would add to the toll of lives lost in this tragic situation."
Boko Haram victims number in the thousands and include hundreds of girls kidnapped from a Chibok secondary school in April 2014. Many are raped and impregnated for the sole purpose of spreading radical Islamic fundamentalism.
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