‘I’ve seen women suffer’: Malawi’s religious leaders fight for legal abortions

Deaths from backstreet abortions have united pro-choice Christian and Muslim clerics around ending the strict ban

Sarah Johnson
Thu 9 Jan 2025

Throughout his ministry, the Rev Cliff Nyekanyeka has led funeral services for women who died after an illegal abortion in Malawi. He has visited hospitals where doctors have shown him the aftereffects of such procedures, including pictures of what he describes as “rotting uteruses”. And he has seen women struggling with unwanted pregnancies.

It is this lived experience that has led Nyekanyeka to advocate for a woman’s right to choose, and to campaign for change in a country with one of the world’s strictest abortion laws. In Malawi, women seeking an abortion can be imprisoned for up to seven years and anyone administering an abortion to a woman could face 14 years in prison; it is permitted only to save a woman’s life. The law was introduced by the British under colonial rule.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jan/09/women-malawi-religious-leaders-legal-abortion-ban-maternal-mortality-christian-muslim

Why Civic Engagement for Abortion Advocacy Matters

8/24/2023
by EVE BRECKER

Last year, Americans lost their federal right to abortion, despite polls that suggest favorable public opinion for abortion access is as high as 85 percent. In a country where legislation is supposed to reflect the demands of its people, this dissonance with public opinion is outrageous.

After all, democracy hinges on effective civic engagement: mechanisms that enable the public to express their concerns, and individual and collective actions designed to address these issues. While polls show the majority of the American public consistently supports abortion rights, 24 states have passed abortion bans so far. Given this landscape and the failure of our country to adopt laws that are widely supported, we must look outside the U.S. for models of strong civic engagement in order to restore abortion rights here at home.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2023/08/24/abortion-support-civic-engagement-advocacy-ban-laws/

Malawi – 669 unsafe abortions out of 4123 teenage pregnancies raise alarm in Phalombe

Apr 19, 2022
Chikondi Magalasi

Phalombe North East Parliamentarian Dennis Namachekecha has bemoaned an increase in unsafe abortions among teenage girls in the district as health office’s report indicate that 669 unsafe abortions were conducted in 2021 alone.

The district’s Youth Friendly Health Services (YFHS) office report indicate that in 2021 there were 4123 teenage pregnancies that were registered out of this 669 unsafely aborted their pregnancies.

Continued: https://malawi24.com/2022/04/19/669-unsafe-abortions-out-of-4123-teenage-pregnancies-raise-alarm-in-phalombe/

Malawi MPs debate bill to liberalise abortion laws as churches oppose

Law would widen strict rules in country where thousands suffer complications from unsafe terminations

Charles Pensulo in Lilongwe
Thu 25 Feb 2021

A bill to liberalise Malawi’s abortion laws will be debated by MPs on Thursday in the face of opposition from faith groups.

If passed, the termination of pregnancy bill would allow abortions when a woman’s mental or physical health is in danger, in cases of rape and incest, and when there are serious foetal abnormalities.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/25/malawi-mps-debate-bill-to-liberalise-abortion-laws-as-churches-oppose

Malawi’s Liberalized Abortion Bill Sparks New Debate

By Lameck Masina
September 15, 2020

BLANTYRE - Anti-abortion activists in Malawi are protesting plans by the National Assembly to debate a bill that would allow abortion in cases of rape and incest. Malawi's abortion rights activists argue the Termination of Pregnancy Bill would help prevent the 12,000 deaths annually from illegal, unsafe abortions.

Abortion is currently illegal in Malawi and punishable by a maximum of 14 years in prison except in cases where pregnancy threatens the life of a woman.

Continued: https://www.voanews.com/africa/malawis-liberalized-abortion-bill-sparks-new-debate

Women are dying from backstreet abortions. But reforms to Malawi’s 157-year-old laws are stuck

Women are dying from backstreet abortions. But reforms to Malawi's 157-year-old laws are stuck

By Lameck Masina for CNN
Sep 25, 2018

Blantyre, Malawi — David Minyatso holds the voter registration card of his late wife, Selina.

The last time he saw her, she had just found out she was pregnant with their fourth child.

"She told me she was feeling symptoms of pregnancy. She left for her home village two days later to visit her parents," 36-year-old Minyatso said, standing in the doorway of their thatched-roof home in Kaseleka village, his daughters playing in the dirt yard outside.

continued: https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/26/health/malawi-abortion-law-as-equals-africa-intl/index.html