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Sheena Rodriguez
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International·By Isabella Childs
Zimbabwe Constitutional Court upholds prohibition on abortion for mental health reasons
The Zimbabwe Constitutional Court has overturned a High Court ruling that would have allowed abortions for mental health-related reasons in the largely pro-life African nation. The basis for the Constitutional Court’s decision rested on the fact that the High Court had failed to complete a proper analysis before declaring provisions in the nation’s pro-life law unconstitutional.
The Zimbabwe Constitutional Court overturned a ruling that would have allowed abortion to be expanded to include mental health-related reasons.
The nation's Termination of Pregnancy Act protects preborn children from abortion with some exceptions, including rape, incest, when the mother's life is at risk, and prenatal diagnosis.
A lawsuit argued that the law's exclusion of mental health reasons for abortion was unconstitutional.
The High Court ruled that sections of the TOP Act were unconstitutional; however, the Constitutional Court declined to confirm the High Court’s ruling and overturned it.
Under its 1977 Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) Act, Zimbabwe protects preborn children from abortion, except in cases of rape and incest, when the mother’s life is determined to be at risk, and in cases when the preborn child has a health condition.
An abortion activist challenged the law’s exclusion of mental health reasons as an abortion exception, as well as the law's lack of indication that women with intellectual disabilities who are pregnant have been subject to “unlawful intercourse.”
The case argued that the pro-life protections were unconstitutional because pregnancy could potentially worsen the conditions of women with serious mental health ailments. The case also argued that current abortion law denies women legally protected abortion for mental health conditions by not recognizing them as victims of sexual misconduct.
The Zimbabwe High Court ruled in favor of the abortion activist plaintiff, stating that sections of the TOP Act were unconstitutional. However, on October 14, the Constitutional Court declined to confirm the High Court’s declarations and set aside the lower court’s ruling.
Zimbabwe’s law has been under attack for years by abortion activists looking to expand abortion. International abortion funders, including the Gates Foundation and MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes International), invest in the abortion lobby in Zimbabwe and other African nations.
Earlier this year, Zimbabwe lawmakers considered legislation that could overhaul the existing abortion law by permitting abortions on request through 12 weeks of pregnancy, or up to 20 weeks, depending on the woman's health, mental state, or economic situation. Thus far, that legislation has not been passed. Christians in the nation have posed opposition to attempts by the abortion industry to corrupt the nation’s pro-life law.
One Christian woman from Zimbabwe, Maria Shingi, has spoken out against abortion expansion. Shingi underwent an illegal abortion procedure a decade ago after conceiving a child through an affair. She suffered devastating physical and emotional effects from the abortion, even succumbing to alcoholism.
“When abortion is legalized, what is legalized is not only a procedure but a lie: that abortion resolves crisis, that it liberates women, that it averts mental health, that it leaves no permanent mark,” Shingi told Christianity Today. “I am here as living evidence that this is untrue.”
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Sheena Rodriguez
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International
Rebecca Oas, Ph.D.
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International
Bridget Sielicki
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International
Bridget Sielicki
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Human Interest
Angeline Tan
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International
Bridget Sielicki
·
Human Interest
Isabella Childs
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Activism
Isabella Childs
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Issues
Isabella Childs
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Human Interest
Isabella Childs
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Politics
Isabella Childs
·International·By Isabella Childs
Zimbabwe Constitutional Court upholds prohibition on abortion for mental health reasons
The Zimbabwe Constitutional Court has overturned a High Court ruling that would have allowed abortions for mental health-related reasons in the largely pro-life African nation. The basis for the Constitutional Court’s decision rested on the fact that the High Court had failed to complete a proper analysis before declaring provisions in the nation’s pro-life law unconstitutional.
The Zimbabwe Constitutional Court overturned a ruling that would have allowed abortion to be expanded to include mental health-related reasons.
The nation's Termination of Pregnancy Act protects preborn children from abortion with some exceptions, including rape, incest, when the mother's life is at risk, and prenatal diagnosis.
A lawsuit argued that the law's exclusion of mental health reasons for abortion was unconstitutional.
The High Court ruled that sections of the TOP Act were unconstitutional; however, the Constitutional Court declined to confirm the High Court’s ruling and overturned it.
Under its 1977 Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) Act, Zimbabwe protects preborn children from abortion, except in cases of rape and incest, when the mother’s life is determined to be at risk, and in cases when the preborn child has a health condition.
An abortion activist challenged the law’s exclusion of mental health reasons as an abortion exception, as well as the law's lack of indication that women with intellectual disabilities who are pregnant have been subject to “unlawful intercourse.”
The case argued that the pro-life protections were unconstitutional because pregnancy could potentially worsen the conditions of women with serious mental health ailments. The case also argued that current abortion law denies women legally protected abortion for mental health conditions by not recognizing them as victims of sexual misconduct.
The Zimbabwe High Court ruled in favor of the abortion activist plaintiff, stating that sections of the TOP Act were unconstitutional. However, on October 14, the Constitutional Court declined to confirm the High Court’s declarations and set aside the lower court’s ruling.
Zimbabwe’s law has been under attack for years by abortion activists looking to expand abortion. International abortion funders, including the Gates Foundation and MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes International), invest in the abortion lobby in Zimbabwe and other African nations.
Earlier this year, Zimbabwe lawmakers considered legislation that could overhaul the existing abortion law by permitting abortions on request through 12 weeks of pregnancy, or up to 20 weeks, depending on the woman's health, mental state, or economic situation. Thus far, that legislation has not been passed. Christians in the nation have posed opposition to attempts by the abortion industry to corrupt the nation’s pro-life law.
One Christian woman from Zimbabwe, Maria Shingi, has spoken out against abortion expansion. Shingi underwent an illegal abortion procedure a decade ago after conceiving a child through an affair. She suffered devastating physical and emotional effects from the abortion, even succumbing to alcoholism.
“When abortion is legalized, what is legalized is not only a procedure but a lie: that abortion resolves crisis, that it liberates women, that it averts mental health, that it leaves no permanent mark,” Shingi told Christianity Today. “I am here as living evidence that this is untrue.”
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Sheena Rodriguez
·International
Rebecca Oas, Ph.D.
·International
Bridget Sielicki
·International
Bridget Sielicki
·Human Interest
Angeline Tan
·International
Bridget Sielicki
·Human Interest
Isabella Childs
·Activism
Isabella Childs
·Issues
Isabella Childs
·Human Interest
Isabella Childs
·Politics
Isabella Childs
·