Activists remember abortion ruling
Pro-Choice Campaigners meeting in Dedza last week hailed the government for rubber-stamping the court ruling that affirmed women’s rights to safe abortion if a pregnancy threatens her mental health.
The 18 sexual and reproductive health rights groups from Malawi, Kenya and Uganda urge health workers against a narrow interpretation of colonial laws that only allow them to terminate a pregnancy to save a woman’s life.
Their media statement marks the third anniversary of the court ruling that clarified the country’s sole ground for safe abortion.
It describes the June 15 2021 verdict as a significant step for women’s right to access legal abortion.
Backstreet abortion claims the lives of one in five pregnant women nationwide, Ministry of Health assessments show.
Both healthcare staff and advocates say many complications of unsafe abortion go unreported.
In 2017, reproductive health researchers at the University of Malawi and Guttmacher Institute in the US reported that about 141 000 abortions were performed in 2015.
“This number translates to a rate of 38 abortions per 1 000 women aged 15–49,” they reported.
This confirms that restrictive laws, like religious and cultural protests against demands for more exceptions to the law, do not stop women from seeking abortion.
The restrictive law came under court scrutiny when health workers at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital’s one-stop centre denied a sexually assaulted 18-year-old girl safe abortion.
In the judicial review supported by Women in Law Southern Africa (Wilsa) Trust, the High Court of Malawi reserved its ruling on her guardian’s petition to order the hospital’s director and Minister of Health to remove the unwanted pregnancy.
However, Judge Mzonde Mvula upheld that both mental and physical health are crucial to preserving the lives of pregnant women and girls.
He clarified that while sections 149 to 151 of the Penal Code outlaw induced abortion, Section 243 permits abortion when a woman’s or girl’s life or health is at risk.
“We are particularly pleased that this judicial affirmation of the conditions under which abortion is legal in Malawi has been acknowledged by the Government of Malawi before the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights,” reads the activists’ commemorative statement.
They quote the government as telling the UN watchdog committee: “A 2021 High Court ruling upheld this exception, requiring women seeking abortion to consult a doctor and explain the threat to their life or health.
“The court emphasised that safeguarding mental and physical health is part of preserving life.”
The SRH rights defenders, including Wilsa and its lawyer Godfrey Kangaude’s Nyale Institute, commend the government for affirming the legal clarification that every woman or girl who believes a pregnancy threatens her health has the right to consult a health provider.
“Health providers also have a critical duty to safeguard the mental and physical health of those seeking legal abortion,” they say in the statement.
It clarified that everyone seeking safe abortion to protect their life or health has the right to consult a health provider, who must provide a clear pathway to legal abortion.
The pro-choice, reeling from mass protests convened by conservative religious groups, say the ruling marks “a significant step forward” in protecting and prioritising the reproductive rights of women and girls in Malawi.
“As we celebrate this milestone, we reaffirm our commitment to continue advocating for comprehensive reproductive health rights and ensuring that all women and girls in Malawi can access the healthcare they need without fear,” reads the statement.
Other notable signatories include Malawi Sexual Reproductive Health and Right Alliance, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, the Family Planning Association of Malawi, Kenya’s Centre for Reproductive Rights and Uganda’s Afya na Haki.
