Malawi: Amnesty International calls for abortion law reform
Amnesty International has published a report highlighting the deadly consequences of Malawi's restrictive abortion laws, urging immediate legislative reform to prevent maternal deaths and injuries.
The report, authored by Amnesty researchers Mandipa Machacha and Tshidi Leatswe, documents how approximately 141,000 abortions occur annually in Malawi, with the vast majority performed unsafely and accounting for 6-18% of maternal deaths, according to the Malawi Ministry of Health and the Guttmacher Institute.
Malawi's current abortion legislation, inherited from colonial-era law and enshrined in the Penal Code, permits abortion only to save the mother's life, with no exceptions for rape, incest, or severe fetal anomaly. Amnesty argues this framework violates international human rights standards, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights' General Comment on the Maputo Protocol.
The report cites the case of a 21-year-old woman who resorted to dangerous methods using household substances after becoming pregnant in secondary school. While she survived after receiving post-abortion care, Amnesty notes that many others are not as fortunate.
The publication follows an October 2025 High Court ruling in Blantyre that found denying a 14-year-old rape survivor access to safe abortion violated her rights under the Gender Equality Act. The court's decision underscores the conflict between existing criminal law and newer human rights protections.
Amnesty's report criticizes the prolonged delay in passing the Termination of Pregnancy Bill, which has been stalled in Parliament for nearly a decade despite support from medical professionals and civil society organizations. The proposed legislation would expand abortion access in limited cases including rape, incest, and severe fetal anomaly.
The human rights organization attributes the legislative impasse to misinformation and religious opposition that frames abortion as a moral issue rather than a public health and human rights imperative.
The report references the October 2025 UN Human Rights Council resolution on preventable maternal mortality, which urges states to eliminate barriers preventing women and girls from accessing life-saving sexual and reproductive health services.
Amnesty argues that Malawi's restrictive laws violate the country's obligations under multiple international treaties, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The World Health Organization identifies pregnancy complications as the leading cause of death among girls aged 15-19 globally. In Malawi, adolescent pregnancies carry heightened risks of obstetric complications, school dropout, and social exclusion.
"Every unsafe abortion is a failure of justice," the Amnesty researchers write, calling on Malawi to act immediately. They emphasize that maternal deaths from preventable causes violate the fundamental right to life, with the cost of inaction measured in lives lost and futures denied.