SILENT DEATHS

Unsafe abortions are increasingly becoming a public concern in Botswana as women continue to lose their lives in silence.Meanwhile, abandoned fetuses and newborn babies are discovered in shocking circumstances across the country. Police and health authorities warn that desperate women are risking dangerous procedures because of fear, stigma and strict abortion laws.Recently, a 43-year-old woman from Mogoditshane died after what doctors suspected was a botched abortion. The woman was discovered by her teenage son lying in bed in excruciating pain, with blankets soaked heavily in blood as she struggled to stand up.Realising the situation was serious, he rushed to the landlord’s house to seek help. The woman was taken to hospital where doctors tried to save her life but in vain.Medical examinations later revealed that she had allegedly attempted to terminate her pregnancy.Superintendent Mompoloki Ramaphoi of Mogoditshane Police confirmed that officers found a bucket containing foetal remains with a small amount of water inside.Ramaphoi said the situation was deeply worrying, especially because police continue to discover foetuses dumped in public places with no clue about who abandoned them.Police have already recovered foetuses dumped by the roadside twice this year in the Mogoditshane policing area.“We do not know whether this is being done by Batswana or foreigners, but it is really disturbing,” he said.The tragedy in Mogoditshane comes as Galaletsang Ntwaagae, 39, of Otse appeared before Lobatse Magistrates Court, after a newborn baby boy was allegedly found alive inside an unused pit latrine in Otse on April 25.Police charged the woman with attempted murder following the horrifying discovery.Meanwhile, another painful case is unfolding in Shashe-Mooke village, where a young woman reportedly died after an alleged illegal abortion went wrong.Sources in the village said the woman was more than three months pregnant and her pregnancy was already visible. According to information gathered, the abortion procedure allegedly failed, and the woman later developed severe complications before dying at home. Abortion is only permitted under limited conditions, including when the mother’s life is in danger, in cases of rape or incest, or where the pregnancy poses serious risks to the woman’s physical or mental health. Health experts have repeatedly warned that unsafe abortions continue to contribute heavily to maternal deaths in Botswana.Statistics Botswana recorded 89 maternal deaths from over 50,000 live births in 2022.Unsafe abortions contribute between 17 and 25 percent of maternal deaths, with severe bleeding, infections and septicemia among the leading complications. Last year, Assistant Minister of Health Lawrence Ookeditse publicly called for urgent action to improve access to safe abortion services.Speaking during the second biennial congress of the Botswana Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in Gaborone, Ookeditse warned that women were dying quietly because they resort to dangerous procedures performed in secrecy.He said the country needed honest conversations and reforms that would protect women’s lives and dignity.According to Ookeditse, access to safe abortion services should be viewed as a health issue rather than encouragement for women to terminate pregnancies.

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SILENT DEATHS