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Malawi: Abortion-up-to-birth bill rejected

Lawmakers in Malawi have rejected a proposal to permit abortion up to birth.

On 11th March, Mathews Ngwale, head of the Parliamentary Health Committee in Malawi, advanced a bill which would expand abortion access considerably. 

In late February, the Guardian reported that “Pro-choice campaigners believe almost half of the 193 MPs in the national assembly back the bill”.

When the proposals were brought before the National Assembly on 11th March, opposition was so strong to the Bill, that MPs voted down a motion to even discuss proposals to change abortion laws in the region.

The bill was drawn up nearly five years ago and has received strong and sustained opposition since then, both from within the parliament and wider society, including the large Christian population.

De facto abortion on demand, up to birth

The Termination of Pregnancy Bill outlines that abortion would be available without a time limit on grounds that “the termination of pregnancy is necessary to prevent injury to the physical or mental health of a pregnant woman”.

While this language appears to provide abortion on only narrow grounds, in practice it will likely allow for de facto abortion on demand to be available up to birth in Malawi through a broad interpretation of the term “health”.

Malawi’s Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship expressed ‘grave concern’ after a similarly worded bill was introduced in 2016, stating it “has led other countries to effectively practice abortion on demand”.

The group noted that 98% of the UK’s abortions take place under equally permissive language.

However, unlike the UK’s 24-week limit, Malawi’s Termination of Pregnancy Bill has no time limit attached to the clause, which allows abortion on mental health grounds and would likely allow de facto abortion on demand, up-to-birth.

The proposals will also allow children to procure an abortion without parental consent and could result in doctors who don’t want to be involved in the abortion procedure, nor provide a referral, receiving five-year prison sentences.

Funding for abortion – not for healthcare

Abortion activists with ‘She Decides Malawi’ were outside Parliament on 11th March urging lawmakers to pass the pro-abortion bill. Chimwemwe Mlombwa, an abortion activist with the group, claimed the bill would be life-saving because women are dying “every single day” in unsafe abortions.

However pro-life advocates argue that pro-abortion groups are spending money on promoting abortion rather than attending to basic medical needs, including maternity care.

Obianuju Ekeocha, president of Culture of Life Africa, criticised She Decides for ignoring Africans’ true needs.

In 2017, Ekeocha said: “Many countries in the West, including Canada and the Netherlands have decided to come together to raise funds. Not funds for food in Africa. Not funds for water in Africa. Not funds that the Africans can use as they want. Instead, they are gathering together to raise millions of dollars that they are dedicating to the so called safe abortion. What is actually most disheartening is that these western countries have not even thought of asking the Africans what they want!”

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said: “Supporters of abortion typically couch their position in terms of concern for the health of women and present apparently moderate legislation to achieve their ends. It seems as though lobbyists for abortion in Malawi are no different. Ngwale’s bill, whilst presenting itself as a moderate change to the law, is an extreme proposal that would permit abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy if continued gestation could be thought to harm the mother’s mental health”.

“As in the UK, mental health is typically defined so broadly that it effectively makes abortion available on demand up to 24 weeks. Ngwale’s bill, however, has no such time limit and would make abortion available up to birth. MPs in Malawi were right to reject this extreme bill”.

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Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help fight the next phase of our battles against major assisted suicide and abortion up to birth threats.

Dear reader,

We are facing two major threats in the Lords - an extreme assisted suicide Bill and an abortion up to birth amendment.

THE GOOD NEWS - OUR STRATEGY IS WORKING

At Second Reading of the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill in the House of Lords, a record number of Peers spoke, and of those who took a position, around two-thirds opposed the assisted suicide Bill. That is more than double the number who supported it.

Our side also secured a significant win, with the establishment of a dedicated Lords Select Committee to further scrutinise the Bill’s proposals – and Committee Stage has been delayed until it reports.

This momentum has been built by tens of thousands of people like you. Thanks to your hard work, Peers are receiving a very large number of emails and letters by post, making the case against the Bill. 

Thanks to your support, we have been able to mount a major campaign in Parliament, in the media and online – alongside your own efforts – to keep us on course for our goal: that this dangerous Bill never becomes law.

BUT MORE CHALLENGES LIE AHEAD

We cannot become complacent. Well-funded groups - Dignity in Dying, My Death My Decision and Humanists UK - have poured millions into pushing assisted suicide. They can see support is slipping and will fight hard to reverse that.

This is not the only fight we are facing in the House of Lords.

At the same time, the Antoniazzi abortion up to birth amendment, which passed in the House of Commons in June, is moving through the House of Lords as part of the Crime and Policing Bill.

Second Reading will take place in a matter of weeks. It will then go on to Committee and Report Stages, where we will be up against the UK’s largest abortion providers – BPAS and MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes) – who are expected to lobby for even more extreme changes to our abortion laws.

If the Antoniazzi amendment becomes law, it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason – including sex-selective purposes – at any point up to and during birth.

Thousands of vulnerable lives - at the beginning and the end of life - depend on what happens next. We must do everything in our power to stop these radical proposals.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Our campaign against the Leadbeater Bill in the House of Lords is working, but the work we have already done has significantly stretched our limited resources.

We are now stepping up our efforts against the assisted suicide Bill while launching a major push to stop the abortion up to birth amendment in the Lords. 

To fight effectively on both fronts, we aim to raise £183,750 by midnight this Sunday (5 October 2025).

Every donation, large or small, will help protect lives, and UK taxpayers can add 25p to every £1 through Gift Aid at no extra cost.

Will you donate now to help protect vulnerable lives from these two major threats?

URGENT
APPEAL
to protect vulnerable lives

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help fight the next phase of our battles against major assisted suicide and abortion up to birth threats.