Chronicle Editor
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
HEALTH sector stakeholders have called for the amendment of the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1977, arguing that the legislation is outdated and fails to address the contemporary needs of women and their health rights.
They emphasise the importance of revising the law to better align with current societal expectations and healthcare requirements.
Originally enacted under the colonial government and retained after independence in 1980, the Act currently allows abortion only under restricted conditions, requiring the procedure to be performed by a certified medical practitioner with a court order.
Executive Director of Women’s Action Group Mrs Edinah Masiyiwa said the act now needs to be amended to address current issues being faced in contemporary times.
“When we look at the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1977, this law has been in place for over 40 years and what we are seeing is that sometimes it is difficult to implement it. Firstly, because communities are not aware of the law because generally people in Zimbabwe think that abortion or termination of pregnancy is illegal, yet it is legal under various circumstances,” said Mrs Masiyiwa.
Under the Act, termination is permissible if the pregnancy endangers the life of the woman and could result in permanent impairment to her physical health.
An abortion may also be authorised when there is a risk that the child will be born with severe physical or mental defects.
The third ground upon which pregnancy can be lawfully terminated in Zimbabwe is when there is a reasonable possibility that the pregnancy was conceived as a result of unlawful intercourse such as rape, other than rape within a marriage, and sexual intercourse within a prohibited degree of relationship (incest).
“But when it comes also to issues of rape, the major challenge is that women generally report late when they are raped and most of the time the pregnancy will be beyond the 22 weeks where abortion is allowed,” said Mrs Masiyiwa.
She said another major setback that hinders the successful legal termination of pregnancies in Zimbabwe are the administrative procedures to allow a termination.
“In the case of rape one has to report to the police, then they go to the courts where they are issued with a certificate to terminate. The observation is that this process takes too long for women and girls who are in remote areas where there are no services readily available.
“There have been challenges whereby the certificate to terminate is issued after the permissible 22 weeks. In some cases, they may have challenges of transport to reach the courts or health centres for examinations or the distances may be too long for the victim to reach as often as they are needed.
“So, we are proposing that this law be reviewed to respond to the needs of women and girls in Zimbabwe who need abortion services,” she said.
She said a review of the Termination of Pregnancies Act will ensure that barriers to access are addressed in their entirety.
Asked on why women do not report cases of rape as soon as they occur, she said it is because rape is stigmatised.
“Rape is stigmatised at the community level in this country, women fear they will be blamed if they say they were raped. Issues also around what they were wearing at the time of the rape, what time of the day the rape occurred or if it was at night, why was she walking alone and so on also hinder the free and voluntary reportage of rape cases. They only do so, in many cases, when they discover they are pregnant,” said Mrs Masiyiwa.
She said they are advocating for rape survivors to access safe abortion services without facing many time consuming delays.
“We want women to be able to access services without going through long court processes, they should be able to report that they were raped and go to a health institution and access safe termination as soon as they can,” she added.
The limited availability of qualified medical practitioners in rural and remote areas is a barrier to access.
Furthermore, she said other qualified medical personnel like midwives were able to carry out the procedure who are available in rural clinics unlike relying on the medical doctors who may not always be available in these areas.
“We are saying this law has served its purpose and needs to be reviewed because it is not serving the current woman in Zimbabwe,” she added.
One case in point is that of Mildred Mapingure who successfully won a nine-year legal battle where she sued the State for emotional stress and damages after she gave birth to a child from a rape incident.
She failed to access medication that prevents pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections in the required 72 hours which led her to falling pregnant due to delays by the police.
Furthermore, the rape trial took very long and she failed to get the termination by 22 weeks of pregnancy as the State could not allow for the termination before the rape trial was concluded and she eventually gave birth.
The lack of knowledge about the Termination of Pregnancy Act and its provisions has been highlighted by Mrs Masiyiwa as a challenge as women and the population in general do not have adequate knowledge about it and how it can assist them on time.–@NyembeziMu
Online Reporter