By Nevison Mpofu
Women and Law in Southern Africa (WILSA) has over the years taken significant steps to remove barriers affecting women and adolescents. The organisation, which provides legal services and support to vulnerable women and adolescent girls, including survivors of rape and incest, has now taken further steps to ensure that women and girls can access safe abortion services within the confines of the law.
“We are taking steps to ensure women and adolescents who are legally entitled to a termination of pregnancy can access health services safely and without barriers,” said Bianca Mahere of WILSA Zimbabwe.
Mahere made the remarks during a media engagement, highlighting the importance of strengthening the legal framework to protect women and adolescents across the country.
This comes at a time when the Government of Zimbabwe is pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to improve access to lawful termination of pregnancy services through strengthened guidelines, decentralisation of services, public awareness campaigns and strategic partnerships.
The developments follow the removal of Clause 11 from the Medical Services Amendment Bill. Clause 11, which dealt with termination of pregnancy, provided that no person would be required to participate in or assist with a termination of pregnancy.
The provision had raised concerns about its potential to hinder women and adolescents seeking medical and legal services. It was also associated with confusion, inadequate information, stigma and discrimination, further complicating access to lawful services.
Concerns were also raised about the provision’s implications for Section 76 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to access basic healthcare services.
The Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1977 provides for termination of pregnancy under specific legal circumstances. Women and adolescents who meet the prescribed requirements must be able to access the necessary healthcare services and information, while regulatory and procedural improvements are pursued to eliminate unnecessary administrative barriers.
“Barriers persist under the current law, which permits abortion only in cases of rape, incest and/or where the life of the mother is at risk,” Mahere reiterated.
Following the removal of Clause 11, the Government is expected to strengthen implementation measures to ensure that women and adolescents who qualify under the law can access services without unnecessary delays.
The Minister of Health and Child Care was recently quoted as saying that the Government was working to improve the availability and accessibility of lawful termination of pregnancy services.
“We are revising national clinical guidelines to ensure that health workers at district and provincial hospitals are fully aware of the legal grounds for termination of pregnancy.
“Training is being rolled out to improve providers’ capacity to manage lawful access without unnecessary referrals or delays.
“We have decentralised post-abortion care and lawful termination services to more facilities to prevent women from travelling long distances to access services,” the minister said.
The Harare engagement is part of a series of media training programmes that WILSA is conducting across Zimbabwe.
In addition to engaging journalists, the organisation is undertaking awareness campaigns, community sensitisation programmes and advocacy initiatives to promote informed discussions on abortion and improve public understanding of the legal provisions governing termination of pregnancy.