Zimbabwe parliament members of the committee on Health and Child Care are pushing for the legalization of abortion, reports the Herald.
The members of parliament are learning on the fact that 16 percent of maternal deaths are due to unsafe abortions, a majority being adolescent girls.
Chairperson of the Health and Child Care portfolio committee Dr. Ruth Labode said that is only fair to allow safe abortions for unwanted pregnancies.
“We cannot continue denying these young women access to safe abortions, yet we know they will still proceed to abort, whether we allow it or not,” said Dr. Labode.
Dr. Labode expressed concern for the high number of teenagers engaging in unprotected sex which result in pregnancies that lead them to unsafe abortions, ranging from traditional concoctions to logs.
“Complications of unsafe abortions include excessive bleeding and infections, which may all lead to hysterectomy (complete removal of the uterus) or death in worst case scenarios,” said Dr. Labode.
Zimbabwe government policy only provides for post abortion care something the committee thinks can be extended to safe abortions.
Zimbabwe’s Termination of Pregnancy Act provides abortion for women that have been raped, victims of incest and if the pregnancy puts the mother or the child at risk or the viability of the foetus was not certain according to the former deputy Minister of Health and Child Care in Zimbabwe, Dr. Paul Chimedza.
“Only women who fall pregnant under these circumstances are permitted by law to abort and if you are going to take that into parliament, some of us are going to thwart it,” he said.
Ministry of Health and Child Care director for Family Health Dr. Bernard Madmzima, the decision to legalize abortion was beyond the Ministry’s control since it takes all stakeholders, including traditional and religious communities.
