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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
WOMEN’S rights lobby groups have called on Government to legalise general abortions saying this will reduce maternal mortality that are fuelled by illegal termination of pregnancies.

The Termination of Pregnancy Act criminalises abortion and termination of pregnancies is allowed in circumstances such as when a woman or a girl child is abused.

The Termination of Pregnancy Act

It is also allowed when a foetus is detected to have extreme abnormalities that reduce its chances of survival at birth.

But even the legal termination process is said to be too cumbersome leading to some girls and women having unwanted babies.

Speaking on the sidelines of a sexual reproductive health rights workshop, women’s group lobbyists and sexual rights activists said there is a need to review the law on termination of pregnancies.

It also emerged that 40 percent of pregnancies in Zimbabwe were unplanned and as a result 25 percent of women try to terminate them, the officials said.

Women’s Action Group director Mrs Edinah Masiyiwa said the nation cannot continue to ignore the abortion issue.

“In as much as we can continue using this current law, the evidence on the ground shows that women are dying from unsafe abortions.

And from the work we have done it has shown that even if the law says that abortions are illegal, if a woman decides to terminate pregnancy, they will still go ahead and do it using unsafe means.

We have noted that it is cheaper to offer safe abortion than to offer safe abortion care,” said Mrs Masiyiwa.

She said it has been proven that from a total number of pregnancies recorded, 40 percent are unwanted ones which 25 percent of women end up trying to terminate using unsafe means.

“In the process, someone can bleed to death while others can have severe infections and it can also result in rejection by a family,” she said.

Mrs Masiyiwa said it is not only teenagers who are terminating pregnancies but the risks become more pronounced among minors who may not have finances to get safer treatment.

She said there is also a need to educate women in communities about the existing law which is hardly used by abuse victims.

Ms Mthandazo Maphosa of the Sexual Rights Centre (SRC) said many abused women fail to terminate pregnancies as the processes required were too long.— @nqotshili