This was the picture in 2016… In 2020, it hadn’t improved…
Police in Bulawayo arrested a 16-year-old girl and a 26-year-old registered nurse for unlawfully terminating the girl’s six-month pregnancy. According to the Inspector, the incident occurred on July 6 when neighbours heard screaming from Dlodlo’s residence. They found the girl bleeding and discovered a fetus in the toilet. The girl confessed to seeking Dlodlo’s help to terminate the pregnancy using unknown drugs. The fetus was later found in a nearby bush (sic). Inspector Ncube condemned the illegal termination and warned that the law will address such actions. He stressed the risks involved in unsafe abortion practices and underscored the importance of legal and safe reproductive healthcare services.
Unfortunately, Zimbabwe does not have legal and safe abortion services. A brutal description of the backstreet abortion situation there can be found in this report, “Backstreet abortions in appalling conditions”, published in the ICWRSA Newsletter on 28 January 2020.
SOURCES: Bulawayo 24 News, from the Chronicle, 9 July 2024 ; Clandestine abortion in Zimbabwe contributes to maternal medical complications. Guttmacher News Release, 25 October 2018.