FAITH AND CHOICE
3W WomenThis past weekend We had a very insightful knowledge-based session on the intersectionality of religion and sexual reproductive health choices. It is clear that our religious beliefs greatly influence our choices before, during and after an abortion. We tackled some common myths propagated across various religions that negatively affect our health-seeking behaviour. Some main ones included:
1. How certain religions believe that having a male child is better than having a female child and hence once the gender of the baby could be told the pregnant individual would be asked to terminate the pregnancy if it was discovered that they would have a daughter instead of a son.😥
2. Others believed that contraception was “unholy” forcing an individual to have numerous children even if they could not afford to raise them.🤦🏾♀️
3. A female body was meant for marriage and procreation and nothing else.😤
4. We also talked about the belief that being queer is a way to reduce the population in Africa which wasn’t God’s will.😡
These among others further highlighted the intersections of queer stigma and abortion stigma. There is a need for more sessions with religious leaders in the community if we are to make positive steps towards destigmatizing abortion in our communities. Here are some highlights of the session:
