Catholic Lawyers urge senate to reject ‘Abortion Clauses’ in Medical Services Bill

The Catholic Lawyers Association in Zimbabwe has called on senators to reject proposed “abortion clauses” linked to the Medical Services Amendment Bill, 2024, warning that the changes are unconstitutional and were introduced without public consultation.

In a legal critique dated 15 December 2025, the association said the Senate vote comes amid “massive turbulence,” arguing that while the original Bill includes “welcome developments in the nation’s health sector,” it also poses “fundamental risks to the fountain of all rights, the right to life” due to late-stage amendments.

The lawyers stressed that the Bill gazetted in July 2024 “says nothing about abortion or termination of pregnancy,” and that the public debated it in that form.

“The public thoroughly debated the contents of the Bill in the form in which it was presented,” they said, citing parliamentary records.

They said it was only at the Committee stage, during a sitting on 23 October 2025, that proposed changes were introduced to amend the Termination of Pregnancy Act, including provisions that would allow abortion “on demand until 12 weeks” and on grounds of “mental health,” as well as access for minors without parental consent in emergencies.

The association criticised both the content and the process, saying abortion is “a deeply important issue in Zimbabwe’s social, legal, and religious fabric” that requires full public consultation.

Introducing such changes without it, they warned, “betray[s] the principle of public consultation and threaten[s] the very fundamental values that underpin Zimbabwean society.”

Citing the Constitution, the lawyers said the right to life is absolute. “Section 48… guarantees the right to life,” they said, adding that unborn children are constitutionally protected and that abortion law can only be amended through the Termination of Pregnancy Act itself.

“It is therefore not permissible to amend the Termination of Pregnancy Act through another Bill.”

In a direct appeal, the association said: “We implore the Senate to reject all amendments that speak to the termination of pregnancy in the Medical Services Amendment Bill,” arguing the proposals were never put to the public and undermine democratic governance.

They concluded that while the original Bill advances health care, “none of that matters if the right that is essential… is severely compromised,” reaffirming that “every person, including an unborn baby, has a right to life.”

Source: NewZimbabwe