The High Court in Blantyre has today, 28th October 2025, delivered a landmark ruling in favour of a 14-year-old girl who took to Court the Ministry of Health, the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC), and others for denying her access to safe pregnancy termination services.
The girl, identified as AC in the proceedings, became pregnant after being defiled by a man who was convicted and is now serving a 14-year sentence. When she sought a safe termination due to her deteriorating physical and mental health, as provided under Section 19 of the Gender Equality Act, she was denied the service.
Her case, presided over by Justice Mike Tembo, was jointly handled by the Legal Aid Bureau, Mlauzi Legal Solutions, and the Nyale Institute.
In the judgment, the Court held that:
“It is harsh and inhumane to insist that such a girl keep the pregnancy in such circumstances. It is therefore only logical and in accord with her sexual and reproductive health rights that such a girl be allowed…to demand if she so wishes upon exercise of her free will, access to abortion services so that her life be preserved from ruin by either mental or physical challenges associated with such an unwanted pregnancy”.
The Court has therefore affirmed that such minors have an automatic right to seek an abortion once it is established that the pregnancy resulted from a sexual offence.
The Court also faulted the Ministry of Health for failing to develop clear and comprehensive guidelines to ensure access to safe abortion services for survivors of sexual violence, especially minors impregnated through defilement. The Court observed that the absence of such guidelines left a clinician at Chileka Health Centre, Jenala Solomon, in a difficult position that resulted in the unlawful denial of care to AC.
The MHRC was also found to have failed in its duty to protect AC’s reproductive rights.
The Court further ruled that AC is entitled to all the declarations and reliefs sought, including costs, acknowledging the severe psychological and physical distress she endured from being forced to carry a risky and unwanted pregnancy.
Significantly, the Ministry of Health has been ordered to amend its Post-Abortion Care Guidelines within 180 days to provide clear directions for healthcare providers to offer on-demand access to legal pregnancy termination services for survivors of sexual violence, particularly minors impregnated through defilement.
The Nyale Institute worked in close collaboration with the Legal Aid Bureau, which was represented in the matter by Senior Legal Aid Advocate, Luntha Chimbwete.
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