Dr Munyaradzi Murwira Due to the restrictive abortion laws in Zimbabwe, both medical and non-medical individuals clandestinely perform most of the abortions. Legal and administrative barriers coupled with stigma among both women and health service providers, and fear of social repercussions as well as risking imprisonment are barriers to access legal abortion in Zimbabwe. The legal termination of pregnancy is performed only in public health facilities at district, provincial and central hospitals, after authorisation from the magistrate. Rather than reduce abortion incidence, the restrictive abortion laws result in women pursuing…
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Unpacking Zimbabwe’s post abortion care responsibility and gaps
By Memory Pamela Kadau Across the world, abortion related complications constitute part of the major reasons women seek emergency obstetric care. According to the Post Abortion Care Consortium, Post abortion care (PAC) consists of emergency treatment for complications related to spontaneous or induced abortions. It also includes family planning and birth spacing counseling, and provision of family planning methods for the prevention of further mistimed or unplanned pregnancies that may result in repeat induced abortions. Comprehensive PAC also includes services such as medical assessment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.…
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