Malawi Churches Say No To Abortion, Same Sex Marriage: Petition Parliament

Thousands of Christians, Muslims, Rastafarians and others from various denominations have held national wide peaceful march this Thursday asking the Malawi National Assembly to throw off proposed abortion bill and same sex marriage legalisation once they happen to find their way in the House for deliberation.

There Is No Justifiable Grounds for Abortion Maintains Catholic Church in Malawi

Catholic Bishop Arch Bishop Ziyaye and Priests 

The Catholic Church teachings on abortion are not shaken even with the recent announced proposed grounds for legal abortion,  are unacceptable in the Church.

The Church has publicly announced its stance on the issue few weeks after pronouncement of findings and recommendations by the Special Law Commission on the Review on Abortion Law.

Secretary General for the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) Fr. Henry Saindi in his speech during commemorations for the Communication Day at Mtima Woyera Parish in the Arch Diocese of Lilongwe, said the Catholic Church stance on abortion will never change adding that Malawi Catholic Bishops will continue to uphold the church teaching on abortion.

The Special Law Commission on review on Abortion Law, findings and recommendations states that, termination of pregnancy be performed only for certain justifiable instances through an operation.

Recommendations propose that termination of pregnancy be done ‘only’ to save the life of pregnant woman, or if there is malformation of the foetus which will affect its viability or compatibility with life as well as where the pregnancy is as a result of rape, incest or defilement.

Fr. Saindi delivering speech

“Catholic Church already addressed this issue.” Said Fr. Saindi to the congregation “The position of the church has never changed and it will never change”

Fr. Saindi stated that issue of legalizing abortion has come in different way now as recommendations by the Special Commission allows termination of pregnancy for ‘only’ justifiable instances. However, he said nothing is “new” because the same issue was addressed in 2013 Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letter in which they tackled issues concerning Homosexuality and legalizing Abortion.

Fr. Henry Saindi

“Abortion in these instances cannot be tolerated or permitted by the Catholic Church.” He said and emphasized that “The position of the church is that Abortion is the killing the unborn child because we know that the life of a person begins when a child is conceived.”

“The unborn child has a right to live and must always be protected by the society.” Continued Fr. Saindi

He then explained that the Catholic Church on abortion advocates and always emphasize the role counseling of women and girls found in a situation of terminating pregnancy.

“For example those who have been raped and found to be pregnant, they have to be counseled, they have to be helped to accept their situation and the gift that God has given to them.”

COPUA releases Amayi Akuferanji Music Album; Launch Saturday This Week

COPUA releases Amayi Akuferanji Music Album; Launch Saturday This Week

The Coalition for the Prevention of Unsafe Abortion (COPUA) is set to release 11 track music album entitled ‘Amayi Akuferanji’ highlighting problems of unsafe abortions and advocating for change of current abortion laws

The album has different genres of music featuring eleven artists among them a famous poet Joseph Mazeze who are in their message highlighting the problems of unsafe abortions which affects the health and lives of women and girls in Malawi.

The Malawi Ministry of Health recorded in 2009 that the magnitude of unsafe abortions was over 70,000 women and girls who induce abortions every year. Out of these, over 30,000 women and girls end up with complications that require to be treated at the hospital and all this is happening since abortion remains a criminal act.

As a Special Law Commission is in the process of reviewing the current Abortion laws, COPUA hopes this to be a right time to come up with ‘Amayi Akuferanji’ music album to raise awareness and educate the public about the need for laws that will promote reproductive health of women.

“We hope to gain support for law reform, through music,” said Godfrey Kangaude and continued “Music is a mode of communication that is effective in spreading messages to large audience.”

He added “COPUA thought that it could use this channel of communication to engage as many Malawians as possible with messages supporting reproductive health and rights of girls and women.”

“We urge all Malawians, through the music in this album to reflect on the lives of girls and women that we lose every day due to complications of unsafe abortions, and those that are living with its negative consequences. We call upon all Malawians to unite and support the reform of abortion laws in order to save the lives and protect the health of our mothers, sisters, daughters, nieces, relatives and friends” pleaded Kangaude

The free show for album launch of Amayi Akuferanji is on 22 November afternoon at Airstrip in Mangochi district and COPUA says the album will be free.

COPUA is a network of over 40 Civil Society Organisations and Individuals in partnership with various government institutions and partners to find lasting solutions to the challenge of unsafe abortions in Malawi.

The underlying cause of unsafe abortions is in Malawi is failure to access safe abortion since current laws restrict access to abortion only to conditions where the life of the pregnant women is in danger. This forces women and girls to terminate their pregnancy through unsafe methods which sometimes results in permanent disability or death.

Studies have estimated that 17% of maternal deaths are a result of unsafe abortions. And the most marginalized girls and women bear the greatest burden of unsafe abortion as those who are more privileged can afford relatively safe abortions.

There is hope that where girls and women are allowed to access safe abortion, the incidence of unsafe abortion is very low.