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Paidamoyo Chipunza Senior Health Reporter
Some members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care are pushing for legislation on abortion amid revelations that 16 percent of maternal deaths were due to unsafe abortions, with over half of the deaths occurring among adolescents.

According to the 2016 national adolescent fertility study, nine percent of adolescents between 10 and 19 years had ever been pregnant, majority of whom were girls from rural areas.

Speaking during the parliamentarian’s advocacy workshop on HIV and Aids in Gweru recently chairperson of the Health and Child Care portfolio committee Dr Ruth Labode, who is also legislator for Matabeleland North province, said given the above statistics, it was only fair to allow safe abortions in unwanted pregnancies.

Dr Labode said it was a fact that teenagers were engaging in unprotected sex, resulting in them falling pregnant and wanting to terminate the pregnancy, unfortunately using unsafe means since abortion is illegal in Zimbabwe.

“We cannot continue denying these young women access to safe abortions, yet we know they will still proceed to abort, whether it is allowed or not,” said Dr Labode.

She said the women use a number of methods to abort unwanted babies.

Details to follow….