33. 34. 35. 36. Article 15.1.b) of the ICESCR states that every individual must benefit from scientific progress and its applications. Women see themselves denied the right to benefit from the fruits of this progress as soon as they are denied the means to interrupt an unwanted pregnancy safely, using effective modern services. For women who have the right to therapeutic abortion services, being subjected by health care providers, police and/or judicial authorities to an interrogation on the reasons why they want to interrupt a pregnancy that meets the criteria listed in Article 14. 2.c) or being charged or detained for suspicion of illegal abortion when they seek post-abortion care constitutes a violation of their rights to privacy and confidentiality. WHO recommends to the Member States to end the practice of extortion of confessions from women seeking emergency medical care as a result of an illegal abortion and to remove the obligation imposed by law to physicians and other health care providers to denounce cases of women who have undergone abortions. States are required to ensure, immediately and unconditionally, the treatment required for anyone seeking emergency medical care. UN human rights bodies have also condemned such practices which constitute a human rights violation. Article 5 of the African Charter prohibits cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments, a prohibition reiterated in Article 4 of the Protocol. State parties must ensure that women are not treated in an inhumane, cruel or degrading manner when they seek to benefit from reproductive health services such as contraception/family planning services or safe abortion care, where provided for by national law and the Protocol. The grounds for abortion stated in the Protocol 37. 38. The Protocol provides for women’s right to terminate pregnancies contracted following sexual assault, rape and incest. Forcing a woman to keep a pregnancy resulting from these cases constitutes additional trauma which affects her physical and mental health, as evidenced by the UN bodies responsible for ensuring compliance with the treaties, which advocate for women's access to therapeutic abortion in cases of pregnancy resulting from sexual assault. Apart from the potential physical injuries in the short and long term, the unavailability or refusal of access to safe abortion services is often the cause of mental suffering, which can be exacerbated by the disability or precarious socioeconomic status of the woman. When assessing the risks to a pregnant woman’s health, health must be interpreted according to the WHO definition, namely: "state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". The reasons put forward by the woman seeking an abortion must be taken into account, and States are required to ensure that the legal frameworks in place facilitate access to medical abortion when the pregnancy poses a threat to the health of the pregnant mother. This implies 11