Ed’s Note: Debate on legalizing abortion needed

We have heard it all; the pros and cons of safe abortion. The debate, of course, arises from alarming figures put forward by activists in a bid to move government into reforming abortion laws without which they claim girls and women will continue dying en masse.
A study was carried out by the Reproductive Health Unit of the Ministry of Health with technical support from Ipas and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Malawi to gauge the scale of abortion in the country. It said there were 70 500 induced abortions in 2009 alone, with almost half of these younger than 25 years old, four out of five being married and almost two-thirds living in rural areas. Countless more are alleged to die on daily basis from such induced abortions to terminate unwanted pregnancies, leading to 30 percent of gynecological admissions. Government in turn spends K300 million annually in post-abortion care complications.

Various civil society organisations (CSOs); hence, continue to advocate changes in abortion laws to make them more flexible. They believe that leaving the law in accordance to Section 243 of the Penal Code remains restrictive as it only legalises procurement: “for the preservation of the mother’s life, if the operation is reasonable, having regard to the patient’s state at the time and to all circumstances of the case.”
I shall not attempt to dissect the laws as a point of analysis. The last time I checked, the battle to reviews the laws begun 15 years ago, but was only given a jump start in 2013 when the Malawi Law Commission set up a special commission to review all abortion related laws. Expectedly, comments and views have sprung up from various quarters in regard to the direction the country should take. Most religious circles in particular believe terminating a pregnancy is far from considerable, in spite of circumstances.
Other quarters argue that the alteration of the laws could open up a world of recklessness and abuse if done arbitrarily. Meanwhile, deaths and admission are occurring at the hands of quacks. Pressure mounts and the debate rages on.
I look at it this way; maybe the focus has been too much on the law revision. We do not want to return to the drawing board sometime in future to review the revised laws because of some omissions. I don’t even know whether there is a guarantee that once the laws are availed, women and girls will rush to health facilities to seek a procurement as they would with any other disease because believe me, the abortions so far surveyed have been a result of personal preferences for the simple reason of not wanting to keep the child, nothing medical or complicated. What with the attitudes and hostility of care givers there, what are the chances of presenting a legitimate abortion case without discrimination and hostility many patients in such institutions are subjected to? Has a survey been conducted to ascertain that perceived laws will end the practices of quacks found at the click of fingers?
Isn’t the detergent, clothes hanger, broken glass, punching of the womb to ‘flush’ out a conception or herbs readily available in the privacy of women and girls homes rather than gathering the courage to face they accusatory eye of a health personnel? Has the provision or availability of family planning been as intensified and the law revision? What is driving our advocates really? Their pay checks, passion or fame?
Without taking a stand, I call for a healthy debate towards this endeavour lest we be caught with a bomb in our hands— either way.

Ed’s Note feedback: carso@mwnation.com