By Socrates Smythe Saywon| Smart News Liberia
MONROVIA – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Liberia (CABICOL) has strongly rejected portions of the proposed New Public Health Bill of Liberia, particularly provisions relating to sexual and reproductive health, warning lawmakers against what it describes as attempts to legalize or justify abortion under national health reforms.
In a firm statement issued on June 7, 2026, and signed by senior leaders of the Catholic Church in Liberia, the bishops made clear that while they respect collaboration with other religious bodies on issues of justice, peace, reconciliation, and human dignity, they cannot support the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia’s endorsement of the bill in its current form.
“The attention of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Liberia (CABICOL) has been drawn to a statement issued by the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia, endorsing and requesting the passage of the New Health Public Bill of Liberia in its entirety,” the statement noted.
However, CABICOL swiftly distanced itself from that position.
“While the Catholic Church shares important values like justice, peace, reconciliation, human dignity, etc. with our Brothers and Sisters of other faiths, we want to categorically state that we are not in agreement with the Inter-Religious Council in endorsing and requesting the passage of the New Public Health Bill of Liberia in its entirety,” the bishops declared.
The Church reminded lawmakers that it had previously raised concerns about the bill’s reproductive health provisions, specifically Part X, Chapter 49, which deals with sexual and reproductive health rights. CABICOL referenced its August 29, 2023 statement, in which it urged the National Legislature to reconsider those sections.
Reaffirming its position, the bishops grounded their objection in religious doctrine and moral teaching, insisting that human life must be protected from conception to natural death.
“In line with the dictate of Divine Mandate, ‘Thou shall not kill’ (Exodus 20:13), and in line with the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church which states that every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and holy God (CIC 2319), we once more unequivocally reject the concept of justified abortion as contained in the New Public Health Bill,” the statement emphasized.
The bishops further called on Catholic health institutions across Liberia, as well as all people of goodwill, to uphold the sanctity of life in all circumstances.
“We call on all our Catholic health institutions, and all men and women of goodwill, to respect life, from the moment of conception to its natural end,” CABICOL stated.
The statement concluded with a spiritual appeal for divine guidance in the ongoing national debate.
“May Christ, who came that all may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10), be our strength. May Mary, Mother of the Church and the Mother of the Unborn, continue to pray and intercede for us all. Amen,” the bishops added.
The statement was signed by Most Rev. Anthony Borwah, President of CABICOL and Bishop of Gbarnga; Most Rev. Andrew Jagaye Karnley, Bishop of Cape Palmas; and Most Rev. Gabriel Blamo Jubwe, Metropolitan Archbishop of Monrovia.
The release, issued at the National Catholic Secretariat in Gaye Town, Old Road, Sinkor, on the Solemnity of Corpus Domini, is expected to intensify national debate over the Public Health Bill as lawmakers continue consultations on its provisions.
Meanwhile, following the CABICOL statement, religious commentator James Anderson noted on his Facebook page that the Catholic Church’s strong opposition places it at odds with the Inter-Religious Council’s earlier endorsement. He said this signals a widening divide among religious bodies over one of Liberia’s most sensitive legislative proposals in recent years.
