By Mary Taruvinga
The Women and Law in Southern Africa (WILSA) is concerned with maternal mortality and other complications arising from unsafe abortions among adolescents and women which has seen them celebrating a recent landmark ruling outlawing the prohibition of safe abortions.
Addressing the media in Harare on Tuesday WILSA National Director Isheanesu Chirisa disclosed alarming statistics that studies from 2019 show that 219 abortions take place daily in Zimbabwe.
Chirisa also said studies have revealed that 40% of pregnancies in Zimbabwe between 2016 and 2017 were unintended.
She said “25% of such unwanted pregnancies end up in illegal abortion that also takes place in unsafe and unhealthy conditions.
“In 2019 according to Parliament, there were 80,000 abortions in Zimbabwe and of the 80 000 abortions they translated to 219 abortions per day or nine abortions every hour.
“Of these abortions, about 185 are abortions that take place within adolescents.
“Without safe abortions being allowed under the law, adolescents often find themselves resorting to backstreet abortions.
Chirisa said at times this is due to the medical costs involved.
Recently, WILSA won a case in which they sued the Health Minister, Douglas Mombeshora, the Parliament of Zimbabwe and Attorney General Prince Machaya seeking to overturn the existing laws.
The applicants were represented by their lawyer Tendai Biti.
In his ruling High Court judge Maxwell Takuva noted that the matter was significant in light of the massive instances of teenage pregnancies in Zimbabwe, and consequently illegal teen abortions and teenage mortalities.
WILSA had also mentioned that marital rape having been criminalised, the victims should also have access to legal abortion.
Biti said it is their hope that the Constitutional Court confirms the judgement so that it becomes operational.
The lawyer said it is unfortunate that children are dying during these unsafe abortions.
He said children should be protected by the law however noting that more still needs to be done since the law works against women only who are victims in most cases while silent about men.
“The Termination of Pregnancy Act is a very harsh law because it imposes custodial sentences for women who choose to abort. It is a fundamentally discriminatory law. It criminalises the victim and that on its own is problematic so you (women) must grab the bull by the horns and confront the courts on a real argument,” he said.
Edna Masiiwa the director of Women Action Group said the law is outdated having been enacted in 1977.
“It is a law that does not serve today’s woman,” she said.
Zimbabwean abortion law is currently highly restrictive, with stringent requirements for the limited grounds on which abortion is allowed, based on very archaic legislation enacted in Rhodesia with no contemporary proven benefit for women and society at large.
Despite the existence of permissible circumstances for abortion outlined in the Termination of Pregnancy Act, access to safe and legal abortion remains a challenge for many women, especially the rural and poor given the strenuous legal and administrative barriers.
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