Pressure is still mounting on Malawi’s President Joyce Banda to reconsider her recent decision of signing into law the Gender Equality Bill which religious leaders and other civil society organizations says is ungodly. The centre of the controversy is Section 19 (1) of the legislation, which gives “every person a right whether or not to […]
Introductory Remarks From the earliest days of the Church, it has been clear that the Bishops have a unique role in passing on the faith and applying the teaching of Christ to the circumstances of the day. Catholic teaching is authenticated by the Church’s teaching office that mirrors and transmits the revelation of Christ under […]
Malawi parliament this week passed a government bill which critics say will make abortion legal in the country and bishops of the influential Catholic church in Malawi in a pastoral statement—expected to be read on Sunday—they have spoken against abortion and artificial birth control measures. When Gender, Children and Social Welfare Minister Anita Kalinde tabled […]
About 70,000 women have abortions in Malawi every year translating into 24 abortions for every 1000 women aged between 15 and 44. This is according to a survey report by the Coalition for the Prevention of Unsafe Abortion (COPUA) in Malawi. The report says about 31 000 Malawian women are treated for complications of unsafe […]
As usual, I do not take pen to paper for fun, though I love so much fun. But hey, I was ready for those demonstrations come January 17 2013. One Kapito, is that late Davies Kapito? Nope, I mean one John kapito who leads the country’s consumers through the Consumer Association of Malawi (CAMA). The […]
Leaders of Malawi’s biggest Christian church movement, the Malawi Council of Churches (MCC), has spoken against moves to legalise abortion for all women. Currently, abortion is outlawed except in cases where pregnancy threatens the life of the mother. According to the laws, any person who administers an abortion faces 14 years imprisonment and any woman who solicits […]
A newly born baby was found dumped in a pit latrine in Lilongwe’s Area 49 Dubai location on Wednesday. The morning of 5th December a child heard the baby crying and alerted an old woman of the house. Residents and passersby wept as they found a newborn baby dumped. “Neighbours, community police and the block […]
Malawi Police Service in Mzuzu are keeping in custody a 28-year-old woman for allegedly aborting a four-month pregnancy she got outside wedlock. Mzuzu Police Spokesperson Morrice Chapola indentified the woman as Glades Gama who is married to Lanken Mbale. He said the husband currently lives in South Africa where he went in 2009 in search […]
Aida, 31, is a mother of four and married. When she gave birth to her last child, the pregnancy was unplanned. Aida, of Bwelero in Traditional Authority (TA) Mankhambira, Nkhata-Bay District, says her husband had agreed to terminate the pregnancy when it was two months old. But when Aida went to Nkhata-Bay District Hospital, medical […]
Members of the community from the area of Traditional Authority Kalembo in Balaka district have called upon members of parliament to review the anti abortion laws in the country. The request was made during an advocacy meeting organized by Youth Net and Counseling (YONECO) at Masongola in Zomba. According to Group Village Headman Mkamwana, who […]
Police in Mzuzu have arrested a 20 year old woman for allegedly aborting her six month old foetus, Nyasa Times has learnt. Passerby found the lifeless body of the foetus during the early hours of Saturday on the road side junction to Sungawana Rest House along the M1 road to Karonga. It was wrapped in […]
Some countable months ago, Seodi White, the Executive Director of Women in Law in Southern Africa (WILSA) dragged the Malawi government to court over abortion rights. White simply wanted the government to give women freedom to abort at their own choice. In her own words White said, “It’s a pity that government has shown some […]
University students from several constituent colleges in Malawi have been called up to mull over an idea on the need for Malawi to liberalize laws on abortion which is currently restrictive. The call was made after a panel discussion on abortion held on Saturday in Lecture Theatre One at Malawi College of Medicine which was […]
The United States-based reproductive rights organization Ipas in collaboration with the Malawi’s Ministry of Health recently conducted the study entitled Abortion in Malawi: Results of a Study of Incidents and Magnitude of Complications Due to Unsafe Abortions. Godfrey Kangaude was one of the researchers of Ipas. He said the study wanted to find out how […]
Religious leaders continue reacting negatively towards the campaign that seeks to push government authorities to soften the abortion laws in Malawi. Women rights activists are asking government to consider liberalizing abortion laws which are currently restricted to a pregnant mother whose life is in danger. The campaign is premised on the basis that more women’s […]
Malawi’s abortion laws deny women their reproductive health rights on a large scale and that the women bear a disproportionate burden resulting in high rates of unsafe abortions (unplanned and unwanted pregnancies). Grace Tikambenji Malera, Executive Secretary for the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) made the observation during a media workshop on unsafe abortion held […]
Religious women rank high on the list of women who opt for unsafe abortions in Malawi, a Ministry of Health report says. According to The Weekend Times the report is as a result of a research, the first of its kind in Malawi, which was carried out in 2009 in conjunction with UNFPA but was […]
By Arkangel Tembo, Panos When 16- year old Tendai (not her real name), from Chinkhota Village, Traditional Authority Simphasi in Mchinji district got pregnant, she sought the assistance of a herbalist from a nearby village to terminate the pregnancy. The Standard 8 pupil sneaked out of her home in the company of three closest friends […]