The Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of Cameroon – SOGOC has formally urged lawmakers to enact a dedicated Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights – SRHR law.
Issued in observance of International Safe Abortion Day, the appeal highlights how the lack of a comprehensive legal framework generates severe clinical uncertainty and leaves countless women and girls to suffer quietly from the devastating consequences of unsafe medical procedures.
While SOGOC acknowledges that Cameroon’s existing legislation permits lawful abortion under specific criteria, namely under Article 339 of the Penal Code when a pregnancy stems from rape or poses an immediate threat to the mother’s life, access remains heavily restricted.
The organisation points out that Articles 337 and 338 impose strict criminal penalties on women undergoing unauthorised procedures and practitioners performing them, creating an environment of fear and ambiguity that obstructs lawful care.
The human toll of these legal gaps remains alarmingly high across the country. Citing data from a 2019 Pan African Medical Journal publication, SOGOC revealed that unsafe abortions account for an estimated 25 percent of all maternal deaths in Cameroon. Beyond preventable fatalities from haemorrhage and severe infections, survivors frequently endure long-term physical complications such as infertility, compounded by intense social stigma and the constant fear of legal prosecution.
SOGOC stressed that this persistent legislative void leaves healthcare providers hesitant and unsure while forcing eligible patients into bureaucratic or dangerous dead ends. In response, the organisation is pressing policymakers to establish a clear, protective framework that removes operational barriers to care and ensures that reproductive health services are delivered with absolute professionalism, empathy, and zero discrimination.
Concluding its urgent appeal on behalf of the nation’s women and girls, SOGOC reiterated that safeguarding reproductive rights is a vital public health imperative. The organisation’s leadership emphasized that decisive legislative action is long overdue, declaring firmly that no woman or girl should ever lose her life simply for wanting access to safe and lawful medical care.
