VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHCL #0169/01 2311543
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191543Z AUG 09
FM AMCONSUL CASABLANCA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8497
RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS CASABLANCA 000169 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG, DRL/NESCA, AND G/IWI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KWMN PGOV MO
SUBJECT: Abortion and Family Planning in 
Morocco 
 
REF: 08 Casablanca 222 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: Despite significant advances to 
women's legal rights by the passage in 2003 
of a new family code (Reftel), pregnant 
unmarried women in Morocco still face 
intense social alienation and economic 
hardships. Contraception is widely 
available and heavily subsidized by the 
government of Morocco (GOM), but abortion 
remains illegal except in cases endangering 
a woman's life.  Because of stringent 
limits on abortion and the shame associated 
with unwed pregnancies, women frequently 
turn to risky and illegal abortions.  For 
the moment, neither women's advocacy groups 
nor the body politic is willing to discuss 
liberalization of abortion laws or the 
condition of single mothers.  This report, 
prepared by Consulate intern, examines 
reproductive healthcare in Morocco, the 
dangers of illegal abortions, and 
challenges faced by unwed mothers.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Family Planning, Contraception and 
Healthcare 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2. Contraceptives are widely available and 
heavily subsidized with GOM funded Centers 
for Family Planning present throughout the 
country. According to a 2007 UNCIEF study, 
contraceptive use has increased drastically 
within the last decade, with a nearly 63 
percent prevalence rate in 2007. However, 
while the Democratic Association of Women 
in Morocco (ADFM) found in a recent survey 
that 98.6 percent of Moroccan women have a 
basic understanding of contraceptive use, 
they noted that contraception promotion 
campaigns rarely target men. The onus is 
often put on women to guard against 
pregnancy with birth control pills, IUD 
devices, and spermicide being the preferred 
methods of protection.  Dr. Zoubida 
Ellorhaoui, a gynecologist in Casablanca, 
recalled an incident in which boxes of free 
condoms in front of pharmacies were 
destroyed in protest of a governmental push 
to increase their use amongst the general 
population. Because of men's antipathy 
towards condoms this cultural view on 
contraception, women are not adequately 
protected from sexually transmitted 
infections. In addition, the ADFM also 
reported that many women regard abortion as 
a birth control option despite its 
clandestine and illegal nature. 
 
¶3. Although contraceptives are widely 
available in urban areas many of the rural 
areas have limited or no access to 
healthcare, despite GOM efforts to provide 
mobile health clinics to many rural areas. 
A 2000 GOM study showed that over 33 
percent of the rural population must spend 
more than one hour to reach the nearest 
health facility. Morocco has some of the 
highest maternal mortality rates in North 
Africa, and these figures reflect the 
country's many social inequities. According 
to a 2004 UNDP study, the maternal 
mortality rate, deaths of women related to 
childbirth, was twice as high in rural 
areas as urban ones.  The same study also 
found that in rural areas only 48 percent 
of women received pre-natal care, and 60 
percent did not have a doctor present at 
birth. 
 
--------------------------- 
Stigma of Single Motherhood 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4. While Moroccan policies acknowledge the 
importance of family planning and 
contraception, sex outside of marriage is 
both culturally forbidden and illegal; 
 
though the prohibition is rarely enforced. 
Women face numerous obstacles both judicial 
and social to establishing the paternity of 
a child born out of wedlock and hence the 
ability to sue for child support.  Even in 
cases where the father is known to the 
mother, the hospital will only record the 
father's name if the father acknowledges 
paternity.   Aicha Channa, president of 
Solidarite Feminine, a non-governmental 
organization that works with single 
mothers, explained that a child with no 
father listed on the birth certificate will 
face a lifetime of discrimination and 
hardship as the child moves through the 
bureaucracy of the state.  In addition, 
unwed mothers and their illegitimate 
children are often ostracized by their 
families and communities, leaving them with 
even fewer economic options. Many single 
mothers turn to prostitution or begging to 
support themselves and their children. 
 
¶5. Groups such as Solidarite Feminine have 
estimated that the majority of the single 
mothers that have benefited from their 
services are former child domestics, or 
"petite-bonnes". Petite-bonnes are young 
girls, usually from poor, rural areas, who 
are trafficked by intermediaries to work in 
the houses of wealthy urban families. They 
are paid very little, and the money they do 
receive typically goes directly to their 
families. Once they reach adolescence, they 
are often dismissed with no economic 
resources and are particularly vulnerable 
to sexual exploitation.  These young women 
have few options should they become 
pregnant outside of marriage. 
 
----------------------- 
Abandonment or Abortion 
----------------------- 
 
¶6. Because of social and financial burdens, 
child abandonment has been a significant 
problem in Morocco. In the past, single 
mothers were pressured by hospitals and 
relatives to give the child to the 
government orphanage.  While Channa 
stresses that this attitude has changed 
significantly in the last decade, putting a 
child up for adoption abandonment still 
remains prevalent, particularly in large 
cities. Abortion is another option that 
many women turn to in lieu of facing the 
harsh social consequences of pregnancy 
outside of marriage. 
 
¶7. Abortions are legal in Morocco only to 
safeguard the health of the mother. The 
practical measures to garner permission for 
a legal abortion, however, are especially 
difficult.  In addition to written consent 
by the spouse, the region's chief medical 
officer must approve all pending abortions. 
These stringent procedures mean that legal 
abortions are rarely approved beforehand. 
However, according to Dr. Ellourhaoui, 
doctors routinely perform clandestine 
abortions which cost between 400 and 700 US 
dollars on average, but can cost as much as 
2000 dollars.  In some cases the doctors 
justify the abortion to a hospital by 
falsely claiming an emergency intervention 
was necessary.  In other instances the 
operation is performed in private clinics 
and is not reported.  According to 
Professor Chafik Chraibi, head of the 
maternity ward at the Central University 
Hospital in Rabat and president of Moroccan 
Association for the Fight against 
Clandestine Abortion (AMLAC), the price of 
an abortion would drop to 150 or 200 USD if 
it were legalized. 
 
¶8. Dr. Chraibi estimates that nearly six 
hundred clandestine abortions are performed 
daily in Morocco. However, only 250 of 
these procedures are performed by doctors. 
 
While the Moroccan Association for Family 
Planning (AMPF) has confirmed these 
figures, both organizations acknowledge 
that it is impossible to determine the 
precise number of abortions taking place 
outside of hospitals and consider 600 a 
conservative estimate. Data collected by 
the AMPF in Agadir and Fez determined that 
of the 473 women interviewed, 35 percent 
had undergone at least one abortion. 
However, statistics on this topic are often 
hard to corroborate, and this particular 
survey only represented a small sampling of 
women. 
 
¶9. Although it is hard to say how many 
illegal abortions are performed by 
unqualified practitioners, it is widely 
known that many women choose to undergo 
clandestine abortions outside of hospitals. 
Women often turn to herbalists or 
unlicensed doctors for abortion remedies 
that range from herbal concoctions to the 
physical penetration of the fetus with, 
often unsanitary, household items. 
According to a recent WHO study, nearly 13 
percent of the maternal mortality rate is a 
direct result of clandestine abortions. The 
lack of hospital accessibility has 
especially exacerbated the dangers of 
clandestine abortions in rural areas, 
leaving women who are unwilling or unable 
to travel with fewer options. 
 
¶10. COMMENT: The GOM has taken a relatively 
liberal approach to family planning, 
particularly with the subsidized 
distribution of contraception, but has 
failed to target men in their awareness 
raising campaigns.   Women are expected to 
bear the responsibility of protection 
against pregnancy, and are expected to 
accept the consequences alone should she 
fail to protect herself. Additionally, the 
government has done very little to 
safeguard single mothers against social 
stigmatization or economic burden. Because 
of conservative social pressures and a lack 
of general awareness on the topic, many 
women turn to clandestine abortion as a 
method of birth control. However, the 
illegality of the procedure has led to high 
costs for safe abortions and a complete 
lack of regulation for the majority of 
abortions performed. Reforms of abortion 
laws and the overall improvement of 
reproductive healthcare are not popular 
topics for debate in Morocco's political 
sphere. The most vocal proponents of the 
liberalization of abortion have been 
private organizations, such as AMLAC. Even 
women's organizations such as Solidarite 
Feminine and others are reluctant to raise 
the issue admitting that it is 
controversial and low on their list of 
priorities.