A LOCAL feminist movement, Katswe Sistahood, has urged Zimbabwean authorities to expand circumstances under which pr3gnancies can be terminated stating that it is sad that lives continue to be lost due to unsafe ab0rtions.
The remarks come at a time debate over the country’s ab0rtion law has increased with some surveys conducted so far showing that the majority of youths wish for relaxation of ab0rtion laws.
Abortion in Zimbabwe is available under limited circumstances.
The current Termination of Pregnancy Act, permits ab0rtion if the pr3gnancy endangers the life of the woman or thr3atens to permanently impair her physical health, if the child may be born with serious physical or mental defects, or if the fetus was conceived as a result of r@pe or inc3st.
In an interview on the sidelines of a media engagement on Friday, Katswe Sistahood Senior Programmes Officer, Otilia Chinyani said unsafe ab0rtions were rampant and women and girls continue to d!e.
“We have heard a lot of tales from women. Some use traditional concoctions, some use herbs and roots to terminate pr3gnancies.
“They also give various reasons for termination of pr3gnancy. Some will be considering their age, some will still be in school and others say that they did not get access to contraceptives for them to avoid falling pr3gnant,” Chinyani said.
“In the end they opt for unsafe ab0rtions and the result, in serious scenarios women and girls d!e or get physically impaired.
“Given this background, we are working with other stakeholders, and we are pushing to have the law adjusted so that circumstances under which can terminate pr3gnancy are expanded.
“The present law was enacted in the 1970s and what was evolving during that time is different from what is prevailing.
“Still on that, our main purpose and expectation is that these unwanted pr3gnancies should be avoided in the first place,” she added.
It is reported that an estimated 70,000 plus illegal ab0rtions are performed in Zimbabwe each year.
In Zimbabwe, an ab0rtion may only be performed by a medical practitioner in an institution designated by the Ministry of Health and Child Care, with written permission of the hospital superintendent or administrator.
Feminist movements also complain that the process is cumbersome and time-consuming.
For instance, in order for the ab0rtion procedure to be performed, two medical practitioners who are not from the same medical partnership or institution must certify that the requisite conditions indeed exist.
In cases of unlawful int3rcourse, (r@pe, inc3st, or int3rcourse with a mentally handicapped woman), a court magistrate of the jurisdiction in which the ab0rtion would take place must issue a certificate certifying that the pr3gnancy was probably the result of unlawful int3rcourse as defined in the Act.
SOURCE : NEW ZIMBABWE
