Illegal abortion industry thriving in Zimbabwe

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AA) - A decade after his medical was license revoked, 47-year-old Jaison Hove of Zimbabwe is now allegedly involved in facilitating backdoor abortions -- an accusation he denies.

While many who know the former doctor say his is now richer than he was while practicing medicine, he has vehemently rejected claims that he has had any part in helping local women get the illegal abortions.

"I stopped practicing more than 10 years ago when I was accused of facilitating backdoor abortions, which wasn't true. I don't do illegal abortions," Hove told Anadolu Agency.

Diana Musindo, a 27-year-old resident of the Zimbabwean capital Harare's Mabvuku high density suburb, where Hove allegedly operates, said she has seen many local women getting help for their abortions from Hove.

"Obviously, Hove can't tell you he does abortion work because he knows it will land him in trouble," Musindo told Anadolu Agency.

- Abortion in Zimbabwe

Under Zimbabwe's 1977 Termination of Pregnancy Act, abortion is only legally permitted under certain circumstances. If conducted illegally, it carries a penalty of up to five years in jail and or a fine.

Yet many women, and even minors like 16-year-old Lindiwe Muswere, seek the procedure illegally.

For Muswere, who says she is sex worker and has had numerous abortions, the procedure has gone smoothly.

However, backyard abortion facilities are often run by unlicensed midwifes and deregistered medical practitioners and carry the risk of severe complications.

Four out of 10 women who undergo abortions in Zimbabwe experience such complications, including hemorrhages or infection, with some even dying in the process, according to a survey of health professionals conducted by a local journal known as PLOS ONE.

- Ballooning abortions

While about 66,800 abortions were performed in Zimbabwe in 2016, according to a 2018 study by PLOS ONE, authorities have said that this figure has risen to 80,000 by 2019.

"Illegal abortions in Zimbabwe have increased from 60,000 to 80,000 per annum -- which is very unsustainable," Ruth Labode, chairwoman of parliament's Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care has told lawmakers.

Labode has pushed for the country to review the Termination of Pregnancy Act, which only permits abortion if there is a serious threat to the mother's life, a risk of permanent impairment to her physical health or grave physical or mental defects that may lead to severe handicap in the child, or if the fetus was conceived as a result of rape, incest, or intercourse with a mentally handicapped woman.

- Economic hardships

Poverty has also seen many underage girls like Muswere resorting to abortion.

"How do I keep doing my job as a sex worker if I allow myself to have a baby? How do I look after the baby if I have no reliable source of income?" Muswere said.

Many like her are jobless and apparently represented in the country's unemployment rate, which the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions says is as high as 90%.

Under the country's punitive abortion laws, for women and girls like Muswere who want to terminate their pregnancies, they must find their own means -- legal or otherwise.

- Backyard abortions the way to go

The only alternative for many has been to go underground, consulting a network of unregulated midwifes and deregistered doctors who claim that the pills and herbs they sell lead to abortion.

So, on the sidewalks in many Zimbabwean cities, including Harare, fruits and vegetables are not the only things for sale as vendors like 51-year-old Muchineripi Gumbo also hawk illegal abortion pills or herbs believed to end unwanted pregnancies.

"These herbs I sell are harmless and within a short space of time, one can terminate her pregnancy with no issues at all. This costs just $25," Gumbo told Anadolu Agency as she held up a bottle of a herbal concoction in downtown Harare.

- Fueling abortions

Apart from deregistered doctors, public hospital staff are also in on the illegal abortions trade, helping them smuggle out abortion drugs.

"Staff in public hospitals sell us abortion drugs ... which when used, forces the uterus to contract, allowing it to eject any pregnancy-related tissue during or following an abortion," one illegal doctor in Harare, who declined to be named fearing reprisal, told Anadolu Agency.

"Per abortion, I make roughly $150 to $200 and in a good month I make sure I attend to about 15 to 25 abortion cases. It's a lot of money if you make your calculations," said the backyard doctor.

However, this has placed many lives at risk, with the Demographic Health Survey in Zimbabwe saying 30% of maternal mortalities are due to unsafe abortions.

The maternal mortality rate in Zimbabwe currently stands at 614 deaths per 100,000 live births, one of the highest worldwide, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).