CAIRO: A mother of three, 35-year-old Maha (not her real name) was shocked when she found out she was three months pregnant. Poor and desperate, she knew that her only way out of this crisis was an abortion. "I begged a relative of mine to help me have an abortion, she told Daily News Egypt. A few weeks later, her relative books her a room in one of Egypt's top private hospitals, where she was falsely admitted for surgery to have her appendix removed, but actually had the abortion. That was 10 years ago, and despite the fact that Maha's financial situation has improved tremendously since her husband got a job in Dubai, she doesn't regret the abortion and believes that if she were to go back in time, she would make the same decision. Although abortion is illegal in Egypt according to the Penal Code section 260 - which prohibits it under any circumstances - the procedure is often undertaken in big hospitals illegally. According to Sheikh Mahmoud Ashour, member of the Islamic Research Center, "abortion is not permissible according to Islam, except in emergency cases. Ashour told Daily News Egypt abortion is permitted if the pregnancy is a threat to the mother's life, or if there is strong medical evidence indicating that the baby could be physically or mentally disabled. When asked if dire financial circumstances are considered an emergency, Ashour said that it was, "as long as the family suffers economic burdens and will not be able to provide for the newborn. If the baby will make the family suffer in any way, he added, then having an abortion is acceptable as long as it is done during the first 120 days of pregnancy. Last week, Daily News Egypt reported that MP Mohamed Khalil Kwaitah filed a motion to the PA requesting legalizing abortion for rape victims who are no more than four months pregnant. Ashour agrees with Kwaitah's request, emphasizing that rape is one of the top cases where exceptions to the general rule must be accommodated. However Dr. Abdel Rahman Shahin, media spokesman at the Ministry of Health, told Daily News Egypt that the Ministry of Health was not aware of Kwaitah's request. "As far as I know abortion under any circumstances is banned by Egyptian law, but exceptions to the rule should be granted by religious scholars not by any other authority, Shahin said.
