Churches In Malawi Set To Support Abortion Under Certain Conditions

Whenever the word “Abortion” comes up, it stirs up a lot of conversation and controversies, especially in religious circles.

This is how ever not the case in Malawi, as the The Malawi Council of Churches (MCC),  has backed an amendment of the abortion law that allows for the termination of unwanted pregnancies under certain conditions

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of teenage and unwanted pregnancies recorded in Africa, these group of churches have come together to back the amendment of a current law in Malawi, which states that  abortion is illegal Under Malawi’s penal code.

It is also prohibited to use contraceptives in Malawi,  which means that more young women are likely to have unwanted pregnancies.

Chief Chikumbu from Mulanje in southern Malawi backs the idea of allowing safe abortions. In a report by Dw, the chief said that Health officials should be allowed to carry out abortions when girls’ lives are in danger. He confirmed that most women go to traditional healers to abort pregnancies and some die in the process because the quack doctors use unsterilized utensils and a lot of times do not know what they are doing.

Another leader, Chief Lukwa of the Chewa tribe thinks that men who impregnante women and abandon them should also be made to feel the wrath of the law.  Malawi’s laws are still very archaic and lacks the equality of men and women that the 21st century preaches.

The chair person of the council of churches, Reverend Alex Benson Maulana had this to say in an interview with Dw:

“We will continue to preach that abortion is a sin but we appreciate government efforts to address maternal mortality caused by unwanted pregnancy,”