…As Senate prepares to meet religious groups concerning the Bill

Ngoni Dapira

A COALITION of girls’ rights and health advocates on Thursday denounced the removal of Clause 11 in the Medical Services Amendment Bill by the Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Douglas Mombeshora. Clause 11 focused on revising the current legal restrictions on abortion in Zimbabwe.

Clause 11 proposed allowing abortions up to 20 weeks on request for adults whilst for minor’s it proposed abortion without parental consent due to the growing rate of teenage pregnancies in the country. It also proposed removing spousal notification requirements for abortion and permitting medical practitioners to authorize the procedure without any retrains.

Pro-abortion activists advocate for women rights to abortion only until viability – the point at which a foetus is able to live outside the womb, generally by the start of the third trimester, 20 to 28 weeks into a pregnancy.

In a press statement released on Thursday the coalition said the move was influenced by a campaign of ‘misinformation’ and should be viewed as a major step backward for reproductive justice and a failure to comply with the Constitution of Zimbabwe and recent High Court rulings.

The coalition further emphasized that Clause 11 is an administrative reform intended to remove outdated, colonial-era barriers that obstruct timely access to medical services already legal under the Termination of Pregnancy Act (TOPA). They urged the government and the public to move past the “moral referendum” propagated by some religious groups and focus on the health and lives of Zimbabwe’s women and girls. This comes at a time when conservative anti-abortion groups have put their weight behind bringing in more restrictive abortion legislation.

“It’s deletion preserves a status quo of excessive paperwork and delays, effectively rendering constitutional rights meaningless for vulnerable women and girls,” read the press statement.

According to the Senate Hansard of 19 February 2026 Vol. 52 No. 20, the Senate met on Thursday afternoon in Harare and one of the issues tabled on the Order Paper was the Medical Services Amendment Bill. Clause 11 failed to pass the Second Reading in the Senate.

In the Senate meeting, the deputy president of the Senate Honourable Lt. Gen. (Rtd) Michael Reuben Nyambuya read that Clause 11 had been removed and called for a motion to be moved in support of the erasure. “I am sure you have seen the amendment which has been expunged, Clause 11. So, my finger is preserved. The Thirteenth Order read Clauses 1 to Clause 10 be put and agreed to, but not Clause 11,” read the deputy president of the Senate.

The deputy Minister of Health and Child Care Honourable Sleiman Kwidini moved the motion that Clause 11 be deleted from the Amendment Bill. “Maybe it could be discussed at a later stage if it is to be discussed, but for now, I move for it to be deleted. I thank you,” read the motion by the deputy Minister of Health.

The amendment to Clause 11 was as a result put and agreed to delete it and to report without amendments the Medical Services Amendment Bill.

The Third reading of the Medical Services Amendment Bill was done and the deputy Minister of Health again moved that the Bill be read the third time with the motion put and agreed to. The Senate is expected to meet next week Tuesday at a breakfast meeting with the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, together with members of the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations, who will present their views on the Medical Services Amendment Bill.

However, in the press statement issued shortly after the Senate meeting, the coalition group underscored that Clause 11 was not an attempt to ‘liberalize’ the abortion law, but rather to ensure humane and timely care for survivors of sexual violence and those facing life-threatening complications.

“We are disappointed that falsehoods about the Bill have been believed. Clause 11 was never a ‘backdoor’ to abortion on demand. It did not legalize abortion on request, nor did it expand the grounds for termination,” said Loveness Rukuni, a girls rights advocate. Adding, “It was purely a technical provision to operationalize our existing law for victims of rape, incest and those whose lives or health are at risk, as our courts have already mandated.”

A women health advocate Ednah Masiyiwa said the deletion of Clause 11 from the Medical Services Amendment Bill disregards clear judicial guidance on the systemic and administrative barriers women and girls face in accessing lawful abortion in the country.

She referenced the landmark cases like the Mildred Mapingure case and WLSA v Minister of Health and the Mildred Mapingure v Minister of Home Affairs & Ors. The cases exposed how bureaucratic delays can deny rape survivors timely care, underscoring the need to treat abortion as a medical service rather than a rigid procedural process.

“More recent judgments, including WLSA Zimbabwe v Minister of Health & Child Care and Community Working Group on Health & Anor v Minister of Health & 2 Ors, have further highlighted gaps affecting minors, survivors of marital rape, and the exclusion of mental health as a ground for termination. Despite these rulings, lawmakers and the Ministries of Health and Child Care and Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs have failed to enact comprehensive reforms to address these constitutional and practical deficiencies. Removing Clause 11 therefore represents a missed opportunity to align the law with judicial findings and adopt a survivor-centred, health-based approach,” said Masiyiwa.

The executive director of My Age Africa Trust, Onward Chironda, said the debate over the Medical Services Bill should come from empirical research based evidence. “We cannot ignore the reality of 70 000 unsafe abortions occurring annually in Zimbabwe because the law remains trapped in 1977. A right that exists only on paper is not a real right. Those rights should be a reality,” said Chironda.

Despite this setback, the coalition said it remains steadfast in its commitment to securing the highest attainable standard of care for women and girls on abortion concerns.

The coalition said it will continue to engage the Senate and Parliament to ensure the 18-month window provided by the High Court is used to amend the Termination of Pregnancy Act with dignity and health as its focus. It will also redouble efforts to educate the public, unpack the law, and dispel the myths used to incite public emotion and misinformed pressure.

It will also await confirmation from the Constitutional Court on recent rulings, which is expected to mandate Parliament to align health legislation with a contemporary medical understanding of health, including the mental and psychological well-being of women and girls.

Since the beginning of February, the debate surrounding Clause 11 of the Medical Services Amendment Bill in Zimbabwe has become highly contentious. The Senate early this month postponed debate on the Bill due to the absence of the Health Minister Dr Mombeshora who had to attend a Cabinet meeting.

Clause 11 aims to amend the Termination of Pregnancy Act [Chapter 15:10] of 1977 to remove procedural barriers such as the need for a Magistrate approval for legal abortions in cases of rape, incest, fetal abnormality or risk to the mother’s health.

Supporters argue that Clause 11 does not create “abortion on demand,” but rather regulates access to services already permitted by the Constitution.  The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) also endorsed the clause, arguing it reduces unsafe abortions and aligns with Constitutional rights to health, dignity and bodily integrity.

The clause remains a pivotal point in shaping Zimbabwe’s reproductive health laws, and its fate depends on the outcome of the Senate debates and the stance of the Minister of Health and Child Care.