‘I have seen women suffer’: Malawi’s religious leaders fight for legal abortions

TThroughout his ministry, Rev. Cliff Nyekanyeka has conducted funeral services for women who died after illegal abortions in Malawi. He has visited hospitals where doctors have shown him the after-effects of such procedures, including photographs of what he describes as “rotting uteruses.” And he has seen women struggle with unwanted pregnancies.

It is this lived experience that has led Nyekanyeka to advocate for women’s right to choose, and campaign for change in a country with one of the strictest abortion laws in the world. In Malawi, women seeking an abortion can be jailed up to seven years and anyone who provides an abortion to a woman faces a prison sentence of fourteen years; it is only allowed to save a woman’s life. The law was introduced by the British under colonial rule.

“I’ve seen women struggle; I have seen them suffer and I sympathize with them,” he says. “I am pro-choice because I have seen what it means (to not be), and I think I should contribute to the movement.”

Nyekanyeka, 45, coordinates the Religious Leaders Network for Choice, a group founded in 2019 with about 15 members that now has more than 1,000 Christians and Muslims.

They first came together after attending training sessions with the Coalition for Prevention of Unsafe Abortion, which educates the public about unsafe abortion and builds momentum for legal reform. The network conducts research into the intersection of religion and sexual and reproductive health and rights; and advocates access to safe abortion for policymakers, lawyers, judges, the media and parliamentarians.

Despite the law, tens of thousands of women in Malawi undergo abortion every year. Research from the Guttmacher Institute, which advocates for sexual and reproductive health, and the University of Malawi College of Medicine, published in 2017 – the latest date for which figures are available – estimates that 141,000 women in Malawi had an abortion in 2015, and that 60% of these resulted in complications requiring treatment.

Unsafe abortion is among the top five direct causes of maternal mortality in the country, accounting for 18% of maternal deaths.

The reality of women dying from unsafe abortions has prompted the network and civil society organizations to call for legislative reform. In 2016, a bill was introduced to liberalize abortion laws in Malawi, but it never made it to parliament strong opposition. The termination of pregnancy law would allow abortions when a woman’s mental or physical health is at risk, as well as in cases of rape, incest or serious fetal abnormalities.

In 2021, the bill went a step further when it was introduced in Parliament by MP Matthews Ngwale. After strong opposition, it was never discussed and later withdrawn. Henry Saindi, Secretary General of the Bishops’ Conference, said at the time: “Only God can give or take life, regardless of whatever circumstance has happened. Human life remains sacred and must be preserved, promoted and defended. The bill does not reflect our values, our culture and our aspirations as a nation.”

The passage of the bill into Parliament was “a very big milestone” and was due to the influence of some religious leaders who advocated for wider access to abortion, said Simeon Thodi, advocacy manager at MSI Malawi, a non-profit organization in the field of abortion. sexual and reproductive health care. services.

“The involvement of religious leaders with members of parliament led to the bill appearing in parliament for the first time,” he said. “That’s how effective they are.”

Religious leaders wield enormous influence in Malawi, where according to the most recent 2018 census 77% of the population identifies as Christian and almost 14% is Muslim.

Nyatuwe Emma Phiri, from the Center for Human Rights and Rehabilitation in Malawi, has seen this in action. When she goes into communities to advocate for sexual health and reproductive rights, people are less likely to listen to her.

She says: “It’s like, ‘Oh no, these are the gender guides, the ones who want us to talk about men sleeping with other men. We don’t want to hear about it.’ So it is a shutdown, an immediate shutdown.”

But when a religious leader comes to speak, Phiri says, people tend to listen. “They know that this person has some kind of authority over what they’re saying, and that doesn’t come from a lack of knowledge,” she says. “They’ve studied these things extensively, they have the data and they’ve experienced it.” Women often confide in religious leaders and seek advice, she adds.

Despite recent changes in opinion among Malawians, strong opposition to abortion remains. Nyekanyeka says some anti-abortion organizations spreading misinformation are heavily funded by American and British groups. “They say: ‘This is not your phenomenon in Africa. You don’t need abortions because this is a Western thing,’” he says. “But these people dying here in Malawi are Malawians.”

Some members of the network must remain anonymous because their beliefs run counter to those of their church, he added.

But the impact of the network is undeniable. “We have seen young people go to their MPs and ask them to talk about abortion,” says Nyekanyeka. “We have seen a number of organizations making press statements. We’ve seen people who know what we’re talking about.

“We have a mass movement that can explain the bill, check misinformation, present facts and contribute to advocacy (for abortion access).”