OP-ED: Whatever the reason may be

The decision to terminate a pregnancy should be respected, not judged
When I was in my first year of university, a male friend asked if I knew of any hospitals which performed safe abortions.

Naturally, I asked who it was for and he answered that it was for his 17-year-old cousin’s girlfriend. I asked what the girl thought about this and he said it was his cousin who was taking the decision and the girl was too scared to talk to anyone about this.

Both of them were minors, yet the boy somehow felt that he could take the decision alone.

Society is always quick to judge a woman who wants to get an abortion. Abortion is a personal matter, not something that society ought to decide for women and girls, and this particularly makes it more challenging for those seeking abortions.