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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Emmanuel Akinwotu, west Africa correspondent

Sierra Leone backs bill to legalise abortion and end colonial-era law

President Julius Maada Bio with Åsa Regnér (left), deputy executive director of UN Women, and Oulimata Sarr, regional director of UN Women West and Central Africa at State House, Freetown, Sierra Leone
President Julius Maada Bio with Åsa Regnér (left), deputy executive director of UN Women, and Oulimata Sarr, regional director of UN Women West and Central Africa at State House, Freetown, Sierra Leone. Photograph: Courtesy of Office of Presidency

Ministers in Sierra Leone have taken a major step towards decriminalising abortion and overturning the country’s colonial-era law, in a move hailed by campaigners and women’s rights activists.

President Julius Maada Bio said his cabinet had unanimously backed a bill on risk-free motherhood, which would expand access to abortion in a country where terminations are only permitted when a mother’s life is at risk.

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