Liberia, June 24 -- In a major boost to efforts to pass a health bill that would expand access to abortion in Liberia, the Inter-Religious Council, the umbrella body representing the country's major Christian and Muslim institutions, has called on lawmakers to pass the legislation, breaking with years of religious opposition that has helped stall the bill in the Senate.

"The health, safety, and dignity of individuals within families constitute a core component of family strengthening," the Council said in a statement released last week.

The Council's intervention is significant because religious opposition has been one of the strongest barriers to passage of the Public Health Bill, a sweeping reform measure intended to modernize Liberi...