The case of a woman, six months pregnant with an anencephalic fetus – devoid of part of her brain – relayed by a gynecologist from Safi, caused a reaction on Facebook by Professor Chafik Chraïbi, gynecologist, president of the Association Moroccan campaign against clandestine abortion (Amlac). Is the debate on medical abortion in Morocco revived?
A six-month pregnancy… But this is a rare case, that of a woman who carries an anencephalic fetus. And now the debate on voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion) or abortion seems to resume, on Facebook.
On this social network, a gynecologist-obstetrician practicing in Safi, Dr. Hassan Essouiti, had reported, on November 30, the case of one of his patients pregnant with an anencephalic fetus.
Anencephaly of a fetus is a congenital malformation (from the Latin born, “born with”) which reaches the central nervous system, and which is present from conception. Its origin is at the very beginning of intrauterine life. It results in the absence of a large part of the brain, and most often leads to fetal death. in utero (before childbirth).
Post on Facebook by a gynecologist-obstetrician practicing in Safi (Marrakech-Safi), who reports, on November 30, 2022, ultrasound in support, of the case of one of his patients, pregnant with an anencephalic fetus.
© : essouiti / Facebook (screenshot)
Professor Chafik Chraïbi, president of the Moroccan Association for the Fight against Clandestine Abortion in Morocco (Amlac) subsequently reacted, still on Facebook, recalling that these situations necessarily required a medical termination of the current pregnancy.
“Why subject the mother to an unnecessary pregnancy, since the baby will die within minutes of its birth?” Asked Professor Chafik Chraïbi in the comments following the publication of this post.
Response on Facebook from Pr Chafik Chraïbi, on behalf of his colleague Dr Hassan Essouiti, about the case of a woman pregnant with an anencephalic fetus, December 1, 2022.
© : Facebook / chafik.chraibi via Essouiti (Screenshot)
Another specialist, gynecologist-obstetrician Ilham Rhazi, also invited herself into this debate, when Professor Chafik Chraïbi relayed, on his own Facebook account this time, the post of his colleague from Safi, on Thursday 1is last December.
Post on Facebook published on December 1, 2022 by Pr. Chafik Chraïbi, relaying a post from one of his colleagues, obstetrician-gynecologist Hassan Essouiti, who practices in Safi and who reported the case of one of his patients pregnant with an anencephalic fetus.
© : chafik.chraibi / Facebook
In a long commentary, Dr. Rhazi explained that “the therapeutic interruption of any non-viable lethal malformative conception makes it possible to alleviate the suffering of parturients, at crucial times and moments in her conception life, by limiting the profound psychological damage of expectation, of that of bringing the birth to term (…) that we, practitioners, monitor…”.
Doctor Hassan Essouiti, at the origin of this sharing of ideas between specialists, was contacted by telephone by Le360.
This obstetrician-gynecologist says he advocates voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion) with regard to certain types of congenital malformations. This is the case of his patient, pregnant with an anencephalic fetus: on ultrasound, this doctor discovered that her fetus had this malformation.
“When the mother learned [la nouvelle] and realized that pregnancy [allait] continue until the ninth month, that the baby [allait au maximum] to die an hour later, she only had her eyes to cry, what else could she do?” Safi’s obstetrician-gynecologist exclaimed on the phone.
As everyone knows, the medical termination of a pregnancy is not authorized in Morocco. “In theory, the future mother, in this kind of situation, can request a legal abortion, a court decision, but it is a very long and useless procedure, since in Morocco there has never been an authorization from the court for a medical abortion,” explained Dr. Hassan Essouiti.
A bill on medical abortion, in the event of congenital malformation, rape, incest or special cases, such as mental disability, has been submitted twice to the deputies of Parliament. It was removed, without any official explanation being given. It was during the period when the Justice and Development Party (PJD, now in opposition) was leading the government team.
Last October, Aawatif Hayar, Minister for the Family, Solidarity and Social Integration assured Parliament, whose deputies met in plenary session, that the revision of these provisions of the Penal Code would subject of “serious government interest”. But the Minister also stressed that the proposals of NGOs and parties had to “respect the sharia (Islamic law, organizing principles and rules emanating from Islam, which codifies rights and duties, editor’s note) and be accepted by Moroccan society”.
For Professor Chafik Chraïbi, this evidence: it is “the religious power and conservatism of Moroccans” who are currently “blocking the decriminalization of abortion”.