Damned Muslims

[Fake Messiah]

Abortion in Afghanistan: 'My mother crushed my stomach with a stone'

When Bahara was four months pregnant, she went to a Kabul hospital to beg for an abortion. "We're not allowed," a doctor told her. "If someone finds out, we will all end up in prison."

Abortion in Afghanistan is illegal and you can be locked up for having or assisting one.

But Bahara was desperate. Her jobless husband had ordered her to "find a solution" -- he did not want a fifth daughter.

"We can barely afford to feed" the girls as it is, Bahara, 35, told AFP. "If it was a boy, he could go to school and work."

But there are no such prospects for a girl, with women banned from secondary schools, universities and most jobs since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

So Bahara took a neighbour's advice and bought -- for the equivalent of two dollars -- a herbal tea at the market made from a type of mallow that induces contractions.

The bleeding was so bad she had to go back to the hospital. "I told them that I had fallen, but they knew I was lying because I had no marks on my body. They were angry but did not report me," said the mother-of-four.

"They operated and removed the remains of the foetus. Since then I have felt very weak."

Two other women AFP talked to during our months-long investigation also risked their lives to abort. Nesa took tablets toxic to the embryo and Mariam crushed her stomach with a heavy stone.

The Taliban -- who follow a strict interpretation of Islam -- did not change the abortion laws when they returned to power in 2021.

But officials check more often that terminations are not being carried out in hospitals, panicking doctors and pushing women to have abortions in secret.

Less than half of Afghan women have access to methods such as condoms, implants or pills.

Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world, with young women banned from training as midwives or nurses in medical schools since last year.

"Before (the Taliban's return) we were able to perform more abortions, there were NGOs helping us and no government checks," said a 58-year-old gynaecologist in Kabul.

"Now doctors are afraid because if they check prescriptions at a pharmacy, it's very dangerous" for them.

Women are afraid to ask for a termination in hospital, she said, "so more are trying it at home, and then they go to hospital saying they have had a miscarriage."

While some healthcare workers are compassionate, others can demand exorbitant sums in what is one of the world's poorest countries.

Nesa, a mother of eight daughters and one son, found out she was pregnant with another girl at four months.

"I knew if my husband found out, he would throw me out. He thinks we do better with boys," the 35-year-old farmer said.

"I begged a clinic to help me. They asked for 10,000 Afghanis (130 euros), which I didn't have. I went to the pharmacy without a prescription and they gave me a malaria drug, saying it would help."

Mariam, 22, had an affair. While abortion is a source of shame in Afghanistan and weighs on the entire family, sex outside marriage is often dangerous, sometimes leading to femicides known as "honour killings".

So my mother brought me home, placed a very heavy stone on my belly and crushed my stomach.

"I screamed and started bleeding," Mariam said. "I went to the hospital and they told me the embryo was gone. Now I am depressed and constantly have stomach pain."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/abor...37242.html