The Criminal Chamber of the Appeals Court in El Jadida has sentenced a general practitioner working at a health center in the Oualidia region to five years in prison for his involvement in prescribing medication that led to the death of a young woman who was pregnant as a result of an illicit relationship.
The details of the case date back to May of this year, when a twenty-year-old woman, three months pregnant, visited the health center in Oualidia. She received medication from the concerned doctor without a written prescription for the purpose of abortion. After taking the medication, she began to experience severe cramps and dangerous bleeding, which necessitated her urgent transfer to El Idrissi Hospital in Kenitra; however, she died shortly after her arrival.
Judicial investigations overseen by the law enforcement officers in El Jadida revealed that the doctor had recommended a medication typically used to treat arthritis, but known for its side effects that can cause abortion in pregnant women. A forensic report confirmed that the death resulted from acute internal bleeding caused by ingesting a toxic substance, leading to a forced abortion.
In light of this information, the public prosecutor charged the doctor with “advising on an abortion that resulted in the death of a pregnant woman,” a crime punishable under Moroccan criminal law, especially given the lack of a medical prescription and exceeding the legally permitted professional framework.
The court decided to convict the accused to five years in prison, pending whether the defense will appeal the ruling before the Appeals Chamber.
This incident rekindles the debate surrounding clandestine abortion in Morocco, along with its health and legal risks, especially in the absence of a legal framework that regulates cases of voluntary termination of pregnancy, taking into account the social and humanitarian dimensions of such issues.
