Rights activist Beatrice Mateyo has revealed that she was raped in the past.
Mateyo made the revelation during a Media Ease Inc debate on the abortion bill on Sunday.
The proposed termination of pregnancy bill provides a choice for a woman to abort in cases where the pregnancy came due to a rape.
Mateyo expressed support for the provision saying if she had conceived after being raped, she would have wanted to have a choice whether to undergo abortion or not.
According to Mateyo, she would not want to keep even one minute of the thing the rapist left in her.
“I wouldn’t want to have a reminder of somebody that raped all. It does not matter whether I will love the child or not but I would want to have a choice. I don’t want the government to tell me to keep the baby whether I like or not,” said Mateyo.
Pastor Nick Chakwera who was also part of the debate said he opposes the killing of a human being.
He noted that a woman may be in a trauma and is being shown compassion but there is no compassion for the innocent baby.
“We are taking it out on the baby, I would prefer if anyone was going to die let it be the rapist and not the baby,” said Chakwera.
He also feared that the bill may provide a loophole for some people to undergo abortion without justification.
However, Mateyo argued that many women are excited when they get pregnant and wouldn’t want remove the pregnancy even when it is legal, but she stressed that it is important that they should have a choice whether to abort or not.
