‘Let’s act now to curb unsafe abortions’

A religious leader has appealed to stakeholders including the church, to scale up sensitisation on unsafe abortion in a bid to reduce the levels of maternal mortality in Zambia.

Unsafe abortion is a procedure for terminating an unintended pregnancy either by a person lacking the necessary skills or in an environment lacking the minimal medical standards or both.

Pastor Janet Phiri says there is also need to strengthen mechanisms that will ensure eradication of unintended pregnancies that are a reason for many young girls to seek illegal and unsafe abortions.

She says, “regardless of the controversy surrounding abortion in Zambia and the arguments advanced by proponents and opponents, our preoccupation should be to save life and the church must join the fight and act promptly to save the lives of young people.”

“The burden of unwanted pregnancies is so huge that it requires collective effort and we should play a role in saving a woman’s life because unsafe abortions have not spared our churches and we shouldn’t fold our arms and watch,” she says.

According to the Zambia Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS), about 30 percent of maternal mortality results from unsafe abortions.

A research titled, ‘These things are dangerous’: understanding induced abortion trajectories in urban Zambia, conducted at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) revealed some glaring statistics of young people that undergo post-abortion care (PAC).

Post-abortion care is the treatment given to a woman who presents herself at a clinic with complications, usually due to an incomplete abortion.

About 37.8 per cent of adolescents seek post abortion care (PAC) at UTH as a result of incomplete abortions conducted elsewhere while those aged between 20 and 24 years account for 33 per cent.

In terms of religious affiliation for PAC clients, the Catholics stand at 31 percent, Protestants 8.9 percent, and Adventists at 17 percent with Muslims at two percent.

The study was conducted last year by Dr Ernestina Coast, Associate Professor in Population Studies at the London School of Economics, Dr Susan F Murray, a Professor of Health, Society and Development at the Kings College in London, and Dr Bellington Vwalika, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gyneacology at the University of Zambia (UNZA).

According to the 2009 Ministry of Health’s Standards and Guidelines for reducing unsafe abortion morbidity and mortality, incomplete abortions among women younger than 20 were estimated at 23 percent, 25 percent of maternal deaths due to induced abortions were in girls younger than 18.

About 50 percent of acute gynaecological admissions were the result of abortion complications, a big proportion being from unsafe abortion.

Pastor Phiri says inadequate knowledge about women’s rights specifically those related to sexual and reproductive health is one of the factors giving rise to unsafe abortions in Zambia.

The Zambian legal system allows for the termination of pregnancies, provided such is done within the laid down conditions of the law.

Under the termination of pregnancy Act of 1972, an abortion in Zambia can be conducted where the pregnancy constitutes a risk to the life or of injury to the physical or mental health of any existing children of the pregnant woman, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated.

Another ground that would warrant a legal abortion is if there is substantial risk that if the child should be born, it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be severely handicapped.

A legal abortion must be performed by a registered medical practitioner. However, it requires consent of three physicians for the procedure to be carried out.

Violation of the provisions of the Act is subject to the penalty of fourteen years’ imprisonment for a person who, with intent to procure a miscarriage, unlawfully administers a noxious thing or uses any means.

A woman who undertakes the same act with respect to herself or consents to such an act is subject to seven years’ imprisonment.

This complicated procedural requirements and inadequate services limit the number of legal abortions performed in Zambia hence there is continued dependence on illegal abortion due to logistical, financial, social, and legal obstacles to access safe abortion services. In the reproductive health policy, the government committed itself to the concept of reproductive health, which encompasses, safe motherhood, including safe abortion care, family planning, adolescent health, STD/HIV/AIDS, and gender issues throughout the life of individuals, within the context of population and sustainable development, and reduction of poverty. While there has been increased talk from political players and traditional leaders on ending early marriages, there is need to create awareness and promote reproductive health rights of women. Unsafe abortion is a social issue in Zambia, and therefore, requires the involvement of all stakeholders including the church so as to reduce abortion-related maternal deaths.