By Slyvester Kumwenda

Dowa, August 16, Mana: Chairperson for the Parliamentary Committee on Health, HIV and AIDS, and Nutrition, Dr Matthews Ngwale has stressed the need for the country to pay much attention to what he described as alarming deaths of women due to unsafe abortions.

He made the remarks Monday in Dowa during an inception meeting of a new project called Breaking the Barriers: An Advocacy for Social Justice.

The project seeks to empower women and girls to seek safe abortion services when faced with unwanted and unplanned pregnancies.

“The number of women dying monthly in some districts due to unsafe-abortion-related cases is very alarming. Some districts record up to 30 deaths monthly.

“Women continue to face complications, losing their ability to conceive again. This affects them socially for the rest of their lives. As a nation, we cannot continue to sit down and allow this to go on. That is why we need to do something about this,” he said.

Ngwale further said one of the ways to avert this is to let Parliament table an Abortion Bill, saying legalising abortion is not a guarantee to abortion, but only provides a choice to a woman depending on circumstances.

He, however, said some parliamentarians cannot advocate for this law because they are afraid of religious leaders in their areas.

“But if you investigate, you will find that some of the religious leaders are also involved in making women pregnant and abandoning them, so everyone is involved.

“However, we do not need to look at who is wrong or right, but to look at the problem. The problem is that women are having unwanted pregnancies every day and resort to unsafe abortions,” Ngwale said.

According to Ngwale, if the law is changed, the trained nurses, clinicians and doctors in hospitals can safely make the operations and save lives.

Breaking the Barriers Project is being financed by Amplify Change.

It is being implemented by a consortium of Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre (MHRRC), Sexual and Reproductive Health Alliance (SRHR), Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHHR), and Centre for Solution Journalism (CSJ).

In her remarks, MHRRC Executive Director and Chairperson of Coalition for Prevention of Unsafe Abortions (COPUA), Emma Kaliya said the continued calls for an Abortion Bill is a call to protect women.

She said since the motion was rejected in parliament about two years ago, there is need to raise awareness on grass-root level.

“People can then encourage their Members of Parliament who have always said that they are afraid of their people to table the bill.

“The hope is to come to an understanding that the issue we are advancing for is not for us, but there is a real issue that needs to be addressed,” she said.

Senior Chief Kayembe said many women continue to die due to unsafe abortion related issues which are usually done in secret.

“Some even go to traditional healers for this, and you will only learn of it during the funeral, but you will find out that the man responsible for the pregnancy ran away.

“That is why this issue needs to be openly discussed, then raise awareness on grass-root level. Through Parliament, we should also look again at our laws governing abortion,” she said.