"RIGHTS OF A MOTHER AGAINST RIGHTS OF A FETUS" LEGAL APPROACH TO THE ABORTION DEBATE

ABSTRACT The study examined the "rights of a mother against rights of a fotus" legal approach to the abortion debate. In response to the law, Article 22(2) 1 provides that "No person has the right to terminate the life of an unborn child except as may be authorized by law". Twenty years later, the said law is yet to be enacted to operationalize this Constitutional provision. Instead, the country continues to rely on the colonial-era Penal Code Act, whose provisions on the legally permissible grounds for termination of pregnancy are vague and poorly understood, severely limiting access to safe, legal abortion and post-abortion care services and contributing to a high number of deaths and injuries from unsafe abortion. This study displays the sensitivity of the topic of ab01tion within the Ugandan society. Examples of how this delicacy is manifested include the way different actors and their activities are portrayed and presented, in addition to how stakeholders themselves choose to convey their messages through the media. It is also showcased by the nonexistence of certain statements and actors. The key groups described in the examined articles involve church leaders and others acting against abortion in the name of religion, groups looking to change Uganda's strict legislation on abottion, as well as young women who have undergone abortion. Noticeable is also the complete lack of statements related to the Ugandan abortion legislation by the country's political leaders. It is likely that this to a large extent also explains the complete lack of statements related to the Ugandan abortion law by the country's political leaders within the examined articles. Thus, this absence of certain views and angles from the country's political arena can also help explain the prevailing social climate and different power relations in Uganda. One example of how groups looking to change the abortion legislation work is to refer to international measures, such as statistics on maternal mortality and morbidity in relation to changed abortion laws in other countries, when arguing for relaxation of the Ugandan abortion laws. Another example is how international conventions signed by Uganda are put forward, stating the obligation to protect women's rights.