It’s women’s rights versus religion in Malawi abortion fight

Privilege Musvanhiri
Nov 6, 2025

Until recently, abortion in Malawi was only permitted when a woman's life was in danger. But, recently, the country's High Court ruled that survivors of sexual violence who end up pregnant are entitled to the procedure.

According to Malawi's Gender Equality Law, every person has the right to adequate sexual and reproductive health and, subject to the law, the right to choose whether or not to have a child.

For more than 15 years, women's rights organizations have lobbied for a Termination of Pregnancy Bill. Although a draft bill exists, it has yet to be tabled in parliament.

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/its-womens-rights-versus-religion-in-malawi-abortion-fight/a-74576001

Malawi: Breaking the Barriers On Access to Safe Abortion to Reduce Maternal Mortality

28 SEPTEMBER 2023
Centre for Solutions Journalism (Blantyre)

28 September marks the annual International Safe Abortion Day. As Malawi joins the rest of the world in commemorating the day, it is important for the government to fulfill the commitment made in the National Postabortion Care Policy that 'no woman should suffer or die from complications of abortion in Malawi.'

Despite making the commitment, the reality is that many women and girls continue to die from unsafe abortion.

Recent data from the Ministry of Health shows an upsurge of unsafe abortions in several districts in Malawi, as reflected in the number of women and girls seeking post-abortion care in health facilities.

Continued: https://allafrica.com/stories/202309280103.html

Mozambique: 20 Years After Maputo, It’s a Long Road Ahead to Gender Equality

Two decades on from a landmark treaty advancing the rights of African women, gender equality remains alive on paper, elusive in practice.

12 JULY 2023
By Madalitso Kateta

Magret Kawala of Mponela in Dowa district, central Malawi had always experienced the joys of motherhood and married life. But when she became pregnant while nursing a nine-month-old child Kawala's fortunes changed.

When it was confirmed that she was three months pregnant, her instinct told her she had to go for an abortion. She discussed the issue with her husband, but since surgical abortion in Malawi is illegal and only permissible when a pregnancy pauses a threat to a woman, the couple opted for a backstreet abortion.

Continued: https://allafrica.com/stories/202307130009.html

Unsafe Abortions Derail Malawi’s Progress on Maternal Health

With unsafe abortions contributing to 18% of maternal deaths, Malawi finds itself facing a dilemma in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030.

Jun 23, 2023
Brian Ligomeka

Sitting on the veranda of her house in Bangwe Township, located in the southern Malawian city of Blantyre, 56-year-old Manesi Kamolo sheds tears as she recounts in an interview how her 17-year-old daughter died.

According to Kamolo, her daughter became pregnant after being raped while returning from school. “My daughter revealed to me that she was pregnant as a result of the rape,” she explains. “The discovery of the pregnancy haunted her. She told me she never wanted to keep the pregnancy as she wanted to continue with her education.”

Continued: https://malawi24.com/2023/06/23/unsafe-abortions-derail-malawis-progress-on-maternal-health/

Thousands of women dying ‘like chickens’ as efforts to change Malawi’s strict abortion laws stall

Roughly 12,000 women die from back street abortions each year in Malawi, yet continuing efforts to relax strict laws face heavy opposition

By Henry Kijimwana Mhango, MANGOCHI, MALAWI
19 February 2021

It was Angrita's only choice: to terminate a pregnancy by any means necessary and save her family from shame. But the procedure took her to the grave.

The 14 year old orphan was rejected by a man who she says impregnated her. Dorothy Fundai, her grandmother, hides tears as she recalls how Angrita’s fear of being a “laughing stock” in her remote village near Mangochi, at the southern tip of Lake Malawi, drove her to adopt dangerous methods to terminate her pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/thousands-women-dying-like-chickens-efforts-change-malawis-strict/

Malawi Government asked to reform abortion law

Malawi Government asked to reform abortion law

By Martha Chikoti
on Aug 28, 2018

Different stakeholders came together on Saturday to push government to ensure that the Termination of Pregnancy Bill is tabled in Parliament in order to change abortion laws in Malawi.

Participants at a capacity building training workshop on reporting abortion in Lilongwe said the law has to be reformed in order to give power to health workers to terminate pregnancies in accordance to the law without facing challenges.

Continued: https://malawi24.com/2018/08/28/malawi-government-asked-to-reform-abortion-law/

Malawi: Slow march to reduce unsafe abortion

Slow march to reduce unsafe abortion
James Chavula
October 27, 2017

Living in a grass-thatched hut near Mponela in Dowa, Magret Kawala knows why rural women will keep dying of backstreet abortions unless laws are relaxed.

The village heads, who reigns over almost 50 households and 250 people, counts herself “lucky to be still alive” having survived deadly complications of clandestine abortion eight years ago.

“My lastborn was only two months old when I started vomiting and feeling dizzy. I couldn’t eat. I went for checkups and a nurse confirmed that I was pregnant. I felt bad. The baby was still lactating. I didn’t know what to do really,” she recalls.

Continued at source: http://mwnation.com/slow-march-reduce-unsafe-abortion/

Malawi: Activists ask government to enact new abortion law

Malawi: Activists ask government to enact new abortion law

April 6, 2017
Ligomeka says women should have freedom, autonomy and control over their bodies

Human rights activists in Malawi have urged authorities to enact new Termination of Pregnancy legislation following revelations that 141,000 abortions occurred in the southern African nation in 2015.

According to research conducted by the US based Guttmacher Institute and the Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Malawi’s College of Medicine, the majority of the abortions were performed under clandestine and unsafe conditions and most of them resulted in complications.

Continued at source: CSJ News: http://csjnews.org/2017/04/06/malawi-activists-abortion-law/

Malawi: Activist says hypocrisy derailing tabling of abortion bill

Activist says hypocrisy derailing tabling of abortion bill
By Malawi24 Reporter
Feb 17, 2017

A gender rights activist has expressed dissatisfaction over Parliament’s failure to table and discuss the Termination of Pregnancy bill.

Gender activist Emma Kaliya said Members of Parliament (MPs) had agreed to one thing during the training on the bill and they change tune in other forums.

She said the MPs always say that they love their voters but in actual sense that’s not true because they could not have left women in their constituencies to be dying due to archaic laws on abortion.

Continued at source: Malawi24.com: https://malawi24.com/2017/02/17/activist-says-hypocrisy-derailing-tabling-abortion-bill/

17.02.2017

Malawi: Chiefs, MPs and faith leaders tussle over Termination of Pregnancy Bill: Lunguzi ‘clarify’ her stand

December 22, 2016 Alfred Chauwa – Nyasa Times

Traditional authorities, Members of Parliament and leaders of political parties have been meeting in Salima to discuss on the way forward and current status of a bill that would change the law to allow women to terminate a pregnancy known as Termination of Pregnancy or TOP.

The bill is currently generating a lot of debate due to cultural, religious and economic aspect attached to it.

Recently the Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM) and Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) petitioned Parliament where the influential bodies openly told them “don’t discuss the bill”.

But speaking in Salima some traditional leaders expressed surprise that the stand was taken without their consultation.

"We just saw them demonstrating,” Senior chief Kasakula said.

He said the bill is very important because once it is passed into law, it will help to save women as it wwould also allow abortion in cases of incest, rape and foetal impairment .

The chief said women should decide what happens to their bodies because they are the ones who suffer.

[continued at link]
Source: Nyasa Times