Zimbabwe court rules against restrictive abortion laws [Video]

HARARE, Zimbabwe –

A law prohibiting abortion services for women raped by their husbands and girls under the age of 18 is unconstitutional, Zimbabwe’s High Court has ruled.

In his ruling handed down on Nov. 22 and made public this week, Judge Maxwell Takuva said since Zimbabwe’s laws already criminalize marital rape and sex with a minor, victims should be allowed to abort if they become pregnant.

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The ruling is significant, given Zimbabwe’s restrictive abortion laws that often lead women and girls into illegal and unsafe backstreet abortions that in many cases turn fatal.

Abortion is allowed in very few circumstances in Zimbabwe, including such as if the pregnancy endangers the life of a woman, or if there is a risk of a physical or mental defect “of such a nature that (the child) will permanently be seriously …