In Morocco, women and girls risk prison sentences if they attempt to terminate their pregnancies. Abortion is criminalised in almost all circumstances, even when pregnancy results from rape. Pregnant women and girls are compelled to resort to clandestine and unsafe abortions which often result in injuries and deaths. Moreover, women and girls seeking illegal abortions risk being arrested and charged for sexual relations outside marriage. These punitive laws and policies deny women and girls access to essential sexual and reproductive healthcare and violate their human rights.
Sign the petition and call on Moroccan authorities to fully decriminalize abortion and provide accessible, safe and good quality abortion services for everybody who needs them. Call on the Moroccan authorities to respect, protect and fulfil women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights.
What is the problem?
The criminalization of abortion in Morocco has devastating consequences for women and girls, forcing them to resort to clandestine and dangerous methods to terminate their pregnancies, , even in circumstances where pregnancy results from rape. The “chilling effect” of criminal and punitive laws also prevents women and girls from seeking post-abortion care in cases of complications or failed abortion attempts.
In a country where sexual relations outside of marriage are criminalized, women and girls are at risk of arrest and prosecution if they seek illegal abortions and are often therefore effectively forced to carry the pregnancy to term, which exposes them to gender-based violence, ostracism and destitution while enduring the painful consequences of failed abortion attempts.
I would have liked to have had places to go to be able to seek abortion, that was free, safe and confidential.
Nadia, rape survivor who was forced to resort to self-induced abortion
The failure of Morocco to ensure access to safe and quality abortion and post-abortion care results in violations of women’s and girls’ rights to life, health, dignity, bodily autonomy, equality and non-discrimination, and the right to be free from torture and other ill-treatment.
What can you do to help?
Sign the petition and call on Moroccan authorities to fully decriminalize abortion, provide accessible, safe and good quality abortion services for all people who need them, and respect, protect and fulfil women and girls’ rights to make autonomous, free and informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and lives.