A new bill that was tabled before parliament on Tuesday, November 5, proposes among other things, to allow reproductive health services including contraception to teens aged from 15.

The draft law regulating healthcare services comes amid the rampant issue of teenage pregnancies in Rwanda, according to the Minister of Health, Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, who presented the relevance of the bill, on behalf of the government, to lawmakers.

Lawmakers approved the relevance of the bill during a plenary sitting of the Chamber of Deputies held on Tuesday, and it will be analysed by a responsible parliamentary committee before being put to a vote into law.

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According to an explanatory note of the new bill, the law of May 20, 2016, relating to human reproductive health defines reproductive health as a state of human physical, mental, and social well-being in all matters relating to the reproductive system and its functions and processes.

It further recognises that "every person has the right to access education and medical services related to human reproductive health” and that "no person shall be denied such rights based on any form of discrimination.”

However, contrary to these affirmations, the legislation provides "every person having attained the majority age has the right to decide for oneself in relation to human reproductive health issues.”

This, according to the explanatory note of the bill, clearly discriminates against adolescents by denying them the right to make decisions about their reproductive health since the age of majority in Rwanda is 18 years, as stipulated under the current law governing persons and family.

This is the threshold of legal adulthood or the moment when a person ceases to be considered a minor.

While imposing this restriction, it added, the legislation is silent on how adolescents can access the reproductive health information and services that it affirms everyone has the right to access.

Inaccessibility to adolescent sexual reproductive health services including contraception results in high rates of unintended pregnancy, the explanatory note of the bill pointed out.

"In this draft law, we have lowered the age of consent for healthcare services,” Nsanzimana.

The bill defines majority age – or age of majority – as 15 years of age and above.

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Given that these services are going to be available to teens, MP Cécile Murumunawabo asked whether research was carried out to come up with an informed decision to set the age at which contraceptives among teens should be allowed.

"Until now, there are divergent views about family planning [contraceptives] in the community,” she said, referring to a bill on reproductive health that was rejected by Parliament [Chamber of Deputies] over falling short of requirements including research on aspects including the age at which contraceptives can start being used, and related effects.

ALSO READ: Parliament rejects bill on contraceptives for 15-year olds

Addressing teenage pregnancies, mortality rates

In response, Nsanzimana said that research was carried out regarding the issue, indicating that in the last 12 months, health facilities in Rwanda received about 8,000 girls under 18 who were seeking pregnancy services.

Teenage pregnancies, the minister observed, were found to be associated with stunting and maternal and child mortality, among other effects.

Nsanzimana said that 70 per cent of maternal and [under five] child deaths in Rwanda occur among those [teens] who have not yet attained the age of majority [the current 18].

"This is associated with the risks of the age of their pregnancy, the way their body is not yet ready [for that], or many of them have tried various ways of abortion and it has an adverse impact on them,” he said, citing some of the underlying reasons.

Also, he indicated, 35 per cent of all children who are stunted in Rwanda, were born to teen mothers.

He told lawmakers that an analysis that was done showed that the [teenage pregnancy related] numbers did not reduce in the last five years, yet there are ways in which people invested efforts in an attempt to solve the issue they were not effective.

It was realised that lack of access to such services [contraceptives] at the age during which they are exposed to the cited risks, leads to the observed effects.

Available data, he said, indicates that "lack of access to such services is an issue that has effects on all of us as a society.”

MP Deogratias Bizimana Minani said that while the age of majority proposed in the bill is 15, the current law governing persons and family, provides that the age of majority is 18.

He said that, on that provision, the bill is contravening the family and persons law, and wanted to know why that is the case.

Nsanzima said that setting 15 as the age of majority is only intended for reproductive health services that teens need.