WAG wants Termination of Pregnancy Act review

The Women’s Action Group (WAG), a local non-governmental organisation sweating for the recognition of human but more specifically women’s rights is of the opinion that young and adolescent girls who fall pregnant should be allowed to safely abort.

By the way, the Zimbabwean constitution allows for termination of pregnancy if you did not know.

The Termination of Pregnancy Act was signed into law in 1977 by the Rhodesian government of Ian Smith and enacted in January 1978.

The Government of Zimbabwe inherited the act on Independence up to now.

The law allows for pregnancy termination under the circumstance that the pregnancy can result in the death of the pregnant lady or seriously affect her physical health.

It also applies to; when there are dangers that one could give birth to a physically abnormal or dead foetus.

It again accommodates victims of rape and incest relationships.

According to Mrs Edna Masiyiwa, WAG Executive Director, of late there have been multiple cases of teen pregnancies and teen mothers that were reported.

She said the law should open up to accommodate these young ones and allow them to go for safe abortion.

Mrs Masiyiwa said there was a need for the act to be revised after serving a good four decades.

“What l think is that the law no longer serves the woman of today, it needs to be revised and expanded so that it accommodates more.”

She said the law is also punitive to women in the context that it is at times, time and resource consuming.

“The law again says while safe abortion is allowed; it can only be done at designated hospitals by doctors and after getting court clearance.

“Where do we find a magistrate or a doctor down in Mbire, in some remote and hard-to-reach communities?

It was our thinking that the law expands and cut short the clearing process before one sees a doctor. We are also of the thinking that midwives can do the terminations if empowered so that we can save lives,” said Mrs. Masiyiwa.

She also called for the law to be specific on which are the designated hospitals where pregnancy termination can be done.

Meanwhile, the organisation is also moving around communities trying to educate them about the Termination of Pregnancy Act.

Mrs Masiyiwa said they have seen that several people out there are not aware of the act hence they are carrying and giving birth to pregnancies they could have terminated.

She said they are carrying out awareness campaigns across communities educating them about the act.

She however called parliament to revise and expand the law to accommodate teen pregnant girls as well as HIV/AIDS victims.

She said she was optimistic the new parliamentarians would look at the “archaic” law, expand and mend it.