Female students joining the National University of Rwanda are reportedly at risk of getting pregnant In their first academic year. surveys conducted have shown that in about hundred female students nearly 36 get pregnant every year.
A large number of university girls get pregnant at the beginning of their academics because they are young and naïve.
By this time they just joining a different world where there is total personal independence as opposed to earlier close monitoring from parents.
Others get pregnant accidentally due to poor protection. Pregnancy in among students is a serious issue, it involves a lot of choices and decisions to make.
Since abstinence seemingly doesn’t work and that the number of pregnancies keeps growing and yet they are not desired therefore abortion becomes an only option.
The question is whether abortion is a good option or not, to get a clear idea on that I talked to some of the girls on Campus and got different opinions.
Very few of them are against abortion claiming that religiously it wasn’t right at all since it means taking away the life of another humanbeing. Besides religion they still thought it wasn’t right to abort no matter what the reasons might be.
Unless you have been raped and got pregnant, there is no excuse to abortion because it will be seen as selfishness in the way you only focus on your life and not on the life of the one you created.
According to them, the woman in question was in full consciousness when she conceived therefore she should also be able to assume her responsibilities by having that baby and all that she will endure during and after the delivery( labor,education,raising the child and all other kinds of struggle).
Those who support abortion had their various reasons; Raising the child wouldn’t be an easy task for the young mother especially in situations where the father denies paternity.
They alsoargue that the pregnancy may push them to suspend school or even quit for good which means that their future is jeopardized.
One of the respondetns said that in the Rwandan culture, being pregnant out of wedlock is a disgrace and dishonor to the family and the society will be pointing fingers at the concerned person.
Maybe she got pregnant unexpectedly while she neither had nor wanted an exclusive and serious relationship with the partner because she only needed a one night stand kind of thing.
In some cases, they would opt for abortion because she has been raped. They abort because they are not ready to have responsibilities yet.
Their partners encourage them to abort because they are not ready to be fathers and also because they do not want to lose their freedom when it comes to having different girlfriends, again it is that fear of bearing responsibilities and adopting more serious and mature ways in the new life they will be shifting to.
The fears to change into a commited life with someone you don’t really love.
They do not want to get to the point where they have no better choice than to marry the man who impregnated them, they need a second chance to find love and live with the one they really want to be with.
These are different reasons why abortion should or shouldn’t be legal, but whatever the decision of the pregnant woman, no one should judge her because we can never know what happens in somebody’s life unless we walk in their shoes.
You can help the person going through such tough times by supporting her and not pointing your finger at her. If she is thinking about aborting, try push her into thinking about the pros and cons concerning the step she is about to make.
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