CAIRO: Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Mohamed Sayed Tantawy said that rape victims are allowed to undergo abortion if the pregnancy is unwanted, and provided that she is not "comfortable with what happened, referring to the rape. During a press conference at the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs this week, Tantawy said that for rape victims to undergo abortion, they must be known to have a "good reputation. Yet he said that if the victim is comfortable with having a child conceived in a rape incident and wishes to keep it, she can. Currently the People's Assembly (PA) is discussing a new law that would legalize abortions for rape victims. Mahmoud Hamdy Megahed, PA member in the religious affairs committee, is one of the draft law's advocates but believes that the law should be applied to all rape victims regardless of their reputations. "How can you prove if a person has a good reputation? Megahed asked. He predicts that Tantawy's opinion will stir controversy, saying it will open the door to rumormongers, "which is not acceptable in Islam and can cause rifts within the community. Last year, Tantawy issued a fatwa allowing rape victims to undergo abortion. However, Sheikh Ibrahim Negm, media consultant of Dar Al-Ifta had told Daily News Egypt at the time that they released no official fatwa on the matter. Also last year, MP Mohamed Khalil Kwaitah, affiliated with the National Democratic Party, was the first to propose a new draft law to amend Section 260 of the Penal Code that prohibits abortion under any circumstances unless the pregnancy threatens the mother's life. According to Kwaitah, both the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and Dar Al Ifta (the Islamic authority responsible for issuing religious opinions) have agreed on the condition that the abortion be carried out only within the first 120 days of pregnancy.
