Online Reporter
Mashudu Mambo
The media has been urged to educate the public on the Termination of Pregnancy Act (TOP) to reduce the number of mortalities that result from unsafe abortion.
In a workshop hosted by the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) in Bulawayo last week, a graduate fellow Sipho Moyo stated that there is a need for the media to educate the public on the provisions of the TOP Act.
“The Act was passed on 1 January 1978 and its purpose is to define the circumstances on which a pregnancy may be terminated. There are three instances in the current legislation that allow for termination of pregnancy and these include cases where the continuation of the pregnancy endangers the life of the woman concerned or constitutes a serious threat of permanent impairment.
“The Act states that in cases where there is a serious risk that the child to be born will suffer from a physical or mental defect of such a nature that he or she will be permanently handicapped,” he said.
He added that the Act states that termination of pregnancy can be done in cases of rape or incest.
“The section states that a pregnancy can be terminated when there is a reasonable possibility that the foetus is conceived as a result of unlawful intercourse.
“In this case, the termination can be lawful when the medical superintendent has received a certificate from a magistrate that states that the victim relating to the unlawful intercourse in question has been lodged with the authorities.
“This is usually after the examination of the evidence presented that there is a reasonable possibility that the pregnancy is as a result of such intercourse,” he said.
Moyo added that in all these different instances, two medical practitioners are needed to determine if the termination is safe.
“In these different instances, the pregnancy can be lawfully terminated under the certification of two registered medical practitioners who must certify that the termination is necessary and safe,” he said.
