Reproductive health expert Professor Fred Torgbor Sai has accused the Church in Ghana of contributing to the rise in maternal mortality through its staunch anti-abortion stance.
Professor Sai bemoaned the situation where the Clergy discourages women and girls from going in for abortion services even when it is legal and necessary for the survival and safety of the woman or girl.
According to him, the Church and religion must get off their moral high horses and face the reality on the ground. He said the anti-abortion stance of the Church is pushing many girls into using unsafe and illegal means to have abortions.
Prof. Sai lashed out at the Clergy when he took part in a discussion on maternal health and maternal mortality on the platform of the Maternal Health Channel in Accra on Tuesday.
“As for religion coming in and saying God says this…I don’t go into that argument at all…I don’t believe a person should die when the ability to save that person is there.
“…I am a Christian too but I do hear things being said from the pulpits and by our Christian leadership which makes me very very sad because we are putting lives at risk by some of the positions we take”, he said, adding that “…The position of thou shalt not”, is not helping matters.
Prof Sai also suggested that women rights groups in the country as well as women in the Churches mount an intense campaign and advocacy against the Church’s stifling stance against abortion.