US president Donald Trump has announced his return to the White House by banning federal funding for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, including safe abortion.
Campaigners fear the return of the global gag rule will smother the rising movement for safe abortion in developing countries like Malawi.
The lobby exposes the huge burden and cost of backstreet abortion, including preventable deaths, injuries, disabilities and hospitalisations.
Civil society organisations, backed by donor support, are advocating a liberal law to replace a colonial penal rule that only permits abortion when a pregnant woman’s life is in grave danger.
The Termination of Pregnancy Bill proposed by the Malawi Law Society in 2015 faces resistance from some religious groups.
However, pro-choice activists say neither restrictive laws nor religious sermons have deterred women from seeking clandestine abortions that reportedly kill up to 18 in every 100 pregnant women nationwide.
The Bill, which partly seeks to extend safe abortion to survivors of sexual assault, was scraped from Parliament business in 2021 when Chiradzulu West legislator Mathews Ngwale moved the house to debate it.
The Trump effect
However, concerned activists, chiefs and lawmakers have continued to engage communities on the ills of clandestine abortion, throwing their weight behind the push for law reform.
As Trump’s executive order threatens to roll back the fragile strides, some campaigners fear that the loss of US funding may embolden the opposition voices who use religious teachings and cultural norms to silence calls for safe abortion.
However, Coalition for Prevention of Unsafe Abortion (Copua) chairperson Emma Kaliya sounds unfazed.
She argues: “With or without Trump’s order, the movement in Malawi will neither die nor slow down.
“I know that those opposed to the movement will use Trump’s order to their advantage, but we can do our advocacy with or without Trump so long it serves our people well.”
However, Malawi Sexual Reproductive Health Rights Alliance national coordinator Hastings Saka says the country may be hit hard “unless the global north steps in to close the gap” created by the closure of US aid taps.
“Malawi will indeed be affected by reductions in resources going to government and partners,” he says.
Nyale Institute executive director Godfrey Kangaunde concurs: “The funds partner organisations had been receiving through USAid have already dried up and will likely continue to diminish, limiting the resources available for advancing the safe abortion campaign in the country.”
The lawyer urges pro-choice organisations to engage an extra gear to find sustainable funding in the wake of the global gag.
Malawi Human Rights and Rehabilitation executive director Michael Kaiyatsa says restricting non-governmental organisations’ ability to provide abortion services and information creates “a chilling effect on SRH advocacy and support”.
Focus on resillience
Last Friday, activists met in Lilongwe to discuss the impact of the Trump order on SRH rights.
During the meeting, Kaiyatsa said: “Instead of focussing on Trump’s negative energy, we should draw inspiration from the resilience shown by [pro-choice] advocates globally.
“The gag rule reminds us of the urgent need to amplify our voices and stand firm in our commitment to reproductive health justice.”
Reproductive Equity Now president Rebecca Hart Holder told The Guardian that Trump’s order may result in more women losing lives to pregnancy complications.
Next month, the US will host a global stock-take on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action of 1995. The 12-point declaration promotes SRH rights which Trump is ironically trumping.
Last week, the Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre and Power to Youth convened government and activists to evaluate the implementation of the declaration locally.
Kaliya says the US conference is likely to discuss the Global Gag Rule “if it’s a common concern”.
“At that meeting, you negotiate as a bloc and Malawi aligns with the African Union. What is sad is that Trump’s order affects women the most,” she stated.
The Ministry of Health reports that unsafe abortion accounts for 18 percent of maternal deaths nationwide, with 60 percent of the survivors seeking medical treatment for costly complications. Health workers say many patients arrive in critical conditions.
