Health Rights Activists calls government to expedite the enactment of Abortion bill
As the world commemorates World Safe Abortion Day which falls on 28th September every year, Health rights activists in Malawi have urged government to expedite the enactment ofTermination of Pregnancy (ToP) bill to reduce martenal morbidity and mortality in the country.
Centre for Journalism Solutions (CJS) Chairperson, Josephine Chinele said in a statement that statistics show that medical facilities receive a number of women and girls experiencing complications from unsafe abortion.
According to him, Malawi passed the abortion law in 1930 which is not only out of date but has also utterly failed to lower the number of unsafe abortions.
“As seen by the rising number of women seeking post-abortion care in government health facilities, the current law has only succeeded in pushing over 141,000 women and girls seeking abortion from herbalists, witchdoctors and other traditional birth attendants where they suffer grave complications,” she said.
Chinele said, on Lilongwe alone 1041 women and girls required treatment for complications related to unsafe abortions, Dedza had 830 while Dowa provided 381.
“This alarming trend of women sustaining injuries from clandestine abortions and subsequently arriving at the hospitals in critical conditions some with raptured uteruses is evident across all districts and cities in Malawi,” she observed.
Adding that the issue if unsafe abortion remains significant and establishment of Post Abortion Care Units in every district hospital is one of the testimonies of this problem.
According to her the solution to the problem of martenal mortality and morbidity caused by unsafe abortion is well-known and is articulated in Law Commission Report No.29, ” Report on the Review of the Law on Abortion,” published in the Malawi Gazette in 2016 saying the solution is to enact the proposed bill.
Chinele further urged government to walk the talk on the commitment it made by signing and ratifying the Maputo Protocol where they committed to draft and enact the law that make provision for unsafe abortions atleast on the grounds of risk of danger to the life of the woman or foetus, risk of harm to the physical or mental health of the woman, in the case of rape or sexual assault and incest.
She therefore called on the National Assembly to allocate adequate resources to support the prevention of unsafe abortion by scaling up the provision of contraceptives and to continue scaling up post abortion care services.
“The Executive, Judiciary and the National Assembly, state human rights Institutions and civil society organizations should should use their power and mandate to protect the realization of sexual and reproductive health rights,” she said.
Chinele however requested religious and community leaders to vigorously promote abstinence among their members and subject so that unwanted pregnancies some which result in unsafe abortions are reduced.
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