Rwanda wants to authorize contraception from the age of 15

The Rwandan Minister of Health has tabled a bill aimed at allowing adolescent girls aged 15 and over to have access to reproductive health services, particularly contraception, to limit unwanted pregnancies.

The “law regulating health services”, presented to Parliament on Tuesday, must be discussed and voted on in the coming days. It should come up against voices opposing it in this conservative country.

“Inaccessibility to adolescent sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception, leads to high rates of unwanted pregnancies,” Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana said while presenting the project to MPs.

Its supporters also argue that the current law discriminates against adolescent girls by denying them the right to make decisions about their reproductive health, as the age of sexual majority in Rwanda is 18.

“Some are still not open to the idea”

In 2022, Parliament rejected a similar initiative, nevertheless underlines Aflodis Kagaba, executive director of the NGO “Initiative for the Development of Health”, which participated in the drafting of the bill.

“Unfortunately, some people are still not open to the idea,” he told AFP, while indicating that he had shared “a lot of research and facts showing that young people are sexually active and that we need to protect”.

“I will not vote for this bill. At 15, you are still a child, but with such a law, adults will easily exploit and sexually abuse him without consequences,” MP Christine Mukabinani, from the PS Imberakuri party, told AFP.

According to the Ministry of Health, Rwanda is recording more and more early pregnancies. Between January and June 2024, more than 10,000 early pregnancies were recorded.

Abortion in Rwanda is only legal if it results from rape, incest or forced marriage.

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