28 September is commemorated worldwide as international Safe abortion day. The day is set aside to advocate for access to safe abortion throughout the world. Katswe Sistahood joined the rest of the world in commemorating this day, which was running under the theme “Normalising abortion-its part of our lives”. As part of the commemorations Katswe Sistahood held discussions with participants at the event to see how abortion is viewed in society.
Several key issues came out of the discussions held at Katswe Sistahood, particularly issues to do with abortion le gislation. The abortion law was unpacked thereby exposing the gaps in the policy and why abortion should be legalised. Currently abortion is covered under the termination of pregnancy act of which the law provides for termination of pregnancy for medical reasons (where carrying the pregnancy to full term is at the risk of either the mother or the child`s life), in cases of incest or where the pregnancy is as a result of rape. However there are several factors and gaps which are not covered under this act.
The first gap is that reported cases of rape or incest take up to 5 months without being taken to court, to an extent that the foetus develops to a child. The process of taking a case to court is dragged for a long time, by which time the abortion may be impossible to perform without the risk of complications.
The second gap is that a rape survivor is required to visit two medical practitioners, who then certify the need for an abortion. This process takes time and money to be processed as the has to foot costs in consulting the two practitioners for the abortion to be carried out. Costs such as transport are incurred. In some cases, superintendents must be bribed to speed up the process. The fact that one must pay their way up, proves that there is no justice for the poor in Zimbabwe.
The third gap is that the law does not consider the economical aspect as a reason under which an abortion can be carried out. Many women are afraid to take up responsibility of bringing a child to life because they are economically unstable, and the country’s economy is in turmoil as well. Taking care of a child is expensive and if one fails to provide for the child there is no social welfare to help the individual to take care of the child. If the mother wants the father to pay maintenance the process is very long to an extent that the mother might give up.
The abortion law should consider the issue of age as a factor that can be considered for an abortion to be carried out because the pregnant mother might be too young or too old to take care of a child. If they are too young their body is not mature physically and mentally to succumb to the pressures that come with giving birth. Another fact that should be considered in the policy is the issue of education because most of the young women want to settle first before they start their families. They would rather finish their education first than bring a child into the world of instability. The policy makers should draft the policy in a way that allows women to choose whether they should have a child or not.
A key speaker at the event Dr Ruth Labode a member of parliament who was part of the health parliamentary portfolio committee in the last parliament advised the audience not to expect abortion to be legalized in a short space of time. She said legalization of abortion is a process and every milestone should be celebrated. She gave an example of Zambia and South Africa who have both gone a long way in relaxing conditions under which an abortion can take place. She said they progressed in terms of abortion because they embraced the process. Zambia allows abortion in the case that someone proves that they are not financially stable to take care of a child while South Africa having legalised it.
Most of the participants in the discussion said the government must consider changing the conditions under which abortions should be carried to include economic, political and social reasons for carrying out an abortion when drafting or reviewing the policies. Age, education, financial instability and drug addiction are some of the factors that can be used to justify carrying out an abortion. In addition the termination of pregnancy should be legalized so that women can have the ability to choose.
The discussion was attended by members of the diplomatic community, civil society, young women, religious groups and other stakeholders.