Sierra Leone abortion bill blocked by President Bai Koroma again

Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma has again refused to sign a bill legalizing abortion, saying it should be put to a referendum.

It was unanimously passed by MPs in December 2015, but Mr Koroma refused to sign it after protests by religious leaders.

After consultations, MPs returned the bill to him last month, unaltered.

The law would allow women to terminate a pregnancy in any circumstances up to 12 weeks and in cases of incest, rape and foetal impairment up to 24 weeks.

Abortion is currently illegal in Sierra Leone under any circumstances.

Human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and five Sierra Leonean organisations, wrote to President Koroma in February urging him to give the bill his assent.

President Koroma has now referred the controversial legislation to the Constitutional Review Committee, which is currently reviewing the constitution.

Under Sierra Leone's current constitution, the president cannot veto a bill which received a two-thirds majority in parliament

The World Health Organization estimates that Sierra Leone has the world's highest maternal mortality ratio at 1,360 deaths per 100,000 live births last year