Dying to Terminate: The High Cost of Zimbabwe’s Abortion Laws

HARARE — In Chitungwiza, 16-year-old Tatenda (not her real name) slowly recovered after surviving a harrowing, life-threatening ordeal that nearly cost her life. Too afraid to seek help and with nowhere safe to turn, she resorted to an unsafe abortion carried out in secrecy, an experience that left her in severe pain and fighting for survival.

In her own words, she was lucky to survive.

“I saw my life flash before my eyes, as they say. But I had to keep it a secret because I was at the mercy of my uncle, who took me in when my parents died. Any ‘mischief,’ I might have found myself homeless because who would take me in again? My boyfriend was long gone.”

Community health workers and sexual reproductive health advocates in Zimbabwe say her situation is by no means isolated.

For “Precious,” the nightmare began at age 13. She did not even realise she was pregnant until older girls noticed her changing body while bathing. Terrified and uninformed about safe abortion options in Zimbabwe, she followed dangerous advice on how to terminate a pregnancy by ingesting ballpoint pen ink and a local plant believed to induce abortion.

According to her, it worked, but not without a painful ordeal.

“It was really painful, but I could not tell my parents,” she recalls. “They did not know why I was so sick... but even now, that pain haunts me.”

Zimbabwe’s Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1977 remains one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Africa. Abortion in Zimbabwe is only legal if the mother’s life is in danger, there is risk of severe fetal impairment, or the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. However, even women who legally qualify face major administrative hurdles. The law requires written authorisation from a hospital superintendent, certification from two independent medical practitioners and, in rape cases, authorisation from a magistrate.

Recent attempts to reform Zimbabwe's abortion laws through Clause 11 of the Medical Services Amendment Bill were removed following political and social pressure. The clause proposed allowing terminations on request up to 20 weeks, permitting minors to access abortion services without parental consent, removing spouse notification requirements, and allowing approval by a single medical practitioner.

The gap between law and reality continues to cost lives. Globally, six in 10 unintended pregnancies end in abortion. In Zimbabwe, an estimated 65,300 induced abortions occur annually, translating to 17 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age. According to the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS 2023-2024), Zimbabwe’s maternal mortality rate stands at 212 per 100,000 deliveries. Health experts estimate that nearly 25 percent of maternal deaths are linked to unsafe abortion complications, including hemorrhage and infection.

Peggy Dube, a nurse and midwifery consultant with over 40 years’ experience, says many girls and women arrive at hospitals when it is already too late.

“They come to the hospital too late,” Dube explains. “Usually when they are already in hemorrhagic shock or suffering from severe infections related to the unsafe means of termination used.”

Dube stressed the importance of Post-Abortal Care (PAC), which remains a critical reproductive health service in Zimbabwe.

“Even if a fetus is expelled, the products of conception, that is the placenta and membranes, often remain. Without professional evacuation of the uterus, fatal bleeding can occur.”

Mildred Mushunje, Country Director for Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Africa Trust (SAT), highlighted what she called a contradiction within Zimbabwe’s healthcare system.

“This implies that the health system does not want to offer you medical services but is prepared to offer you Post Abortion Care after a clandestine abortion,” Mushunje said.

Medical practitioners argue that treating complications from unsafe abortions is far more expensive than providing safe, regulated abortion services.

“It is less costly on human lives to offer safe abortions than to treat the effects of unsafe ones,” said one midwife who requested anonymity. “Some women lose their lives and others lose their wombs. All of this is avoidable.”

Itai Rusike, Director of the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH), said restrictive abortion laws do not stop abortions from happening.

“Although Zimbabwe has achieved many public health successes in areas once deemed controversial, too many Zimbabwean women are still dying from unsafe abortion,” Rusike said.

For many women and girls in Zimbabwe, the cost of silence, stigma and restrictive abortion laws is measured not just in statistics, but in trauma, blood and lost futures. Behind every unsafe abortion case lies a story of missed opportunities, inadequate sexual reproductive health education, and limited access to family planning services. Until the gap between Zimbabwe’s abortion laws and lived realities is addressed, more young girls will continue risking their lives in secrecy, and more preventable deaths will continue to occur.

unsafe abortions in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe Health, Unsafe Abortion, Reproductive Rights, Maternal Health, Women’s Health, Public Health, Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe Politics, Sexual Reproductive Health, Healthcare Zimbabwe