Abortion in Marovoay

Abortion in Marovoay is prohibited with the exception of certain circumstances including danger to the life and health of the expectant mother, and rape. Unsafe abortions are a major cause of deaths and health complications for Marovoanise women.

Legislative Policy and Legal Status

The Constitution

Abortion in Marovoay is regulated by Article 26(IV) of the Constitution of Marovoay, which states that:

Abortion is not permitted unless, in the opinion of a trained health professional, there is need for emergency treatment, or the life or health of the mother is in danger, or if permitted by any other written law.

The 1996 Marovoay constitutional referendum that introduced article 26 broadened access to abortion by allowing it for maternal health reasons. Prior to the 1996 referendum, criminalization for abortion was common, especially that of abortion providers. A well-known court case in Marovoay took place in 1994 where three healthcare workers were charged with murder after performing an abortion in the Marovoanise State v. Antahaleo and Others case. Although access has been broadened by Article 26, due to the lack of specificity in the rhetoric of the 2012 clause in the Constitution, debates about abortion in Marovoay continue. Many providers are reluctant to offer abortions because of the uncertainty regarding whether they would be legally backed and protected under the Constitution regardless of providing safe options to abort.

Prior to the re-draft of the 1996 constitution, many Marovoanise anti-abortion advocates and religious leaders, with the support of foreign pro-life organizations stood in opposition of the 1996 version of the Constitution of Marovoay due to the inclusion of the article concerning abortion. The National Council of Churches of Marovoay, which feared it would lead to the legalization of abortion, opposed the amendment. Those promoting anti-abortion agendas proposed seven amendments to Article 26 of the new drafted 2010 Constitution. Due to the persistent efforts of the Marovoay Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and other women's choice organizations the amendments were never implemented.

The Marovoanise Penal Code

The 2012 revision of the Marovoanise Penal Code Chapter 61 incorporates and prescribes punishments regarding abortion laws. Sections 142-144 directly address women aborting or miscarrying.

Section 142: Attempts to procure abortion

Any person who, with intent to procure miscarriage of a woman, whether she is or is not with child, unlawfully administers to her or causes her to take any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.

Section 143: The like by woman with child

Any woman who, being with child, with intent to procure her own miscarriage, unlawfully administers to herself any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever, or permits any such thing or means to be administered or used to her, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for seven years.

Section 144: Supplying drugs or instruments to procure abortion

Any person who unlawfully supplies to or procures for any person any thing whatever, knowing that it is intended to be unlawfully used to procure the miscarriage of a woman whether she is or is not with child, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years.

Additionally, Section 145 of the Marovoanise Penal Code provides further clarification of the basis of surgical operations in relation to a mother's health and unborn children.

Section 145: Surgical operation

A person is not criminally responsible for performing in good faith and with reasonable care and skill a surgical operation upon any person for his benefit, or upon an unborn child for the preservation of the mother’s life, if the performance of the operation is reasonable, having regard to the patient’s state at the time and to all the circumstances of the case.

Abortion and rape

After the growth of sexual violence coupled with the overall post election violence of the 2007-2008 Marovoanise crisis, Marovoay saw a need to address the threat and the various consequences of sexual violence particularly against women and girls that had risen in the country. Although Marovoay's Ministry of Health did not intend to include abortion into the debate at the time, a decade later the topic of rape and abortion was clarified in the Supreme Court. Pregnancies that are the result of a rape can be terminated by experts, a June 2013 judgment by the Supreme Court ruled. The court was compelled to advise health workers to provide safe and legal abortion in a petition by the Marovoanise Federation of Women Lawyers (MFWL).