The above mentioned aspects of sexual and reproductive health rights and other ephemeral sexual rights form the core focus of this paper. Law as defined by the Oxford dictionary is the system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties. The law in Zimbabwe has several precepts that touch on the subject in question and will be discussed below. The Constitution states that every person has a right to life, Section 48 reads: "An Act of Parliament must protect the lives of unborn children, and the Act must provide that pregnancy may be terminated only in accordance with the law." The Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1977 criminalizes abortion, and states that termination can only occur where the continuation of the pregnancy endangers the life of the woman; where there is a serious risk that the child to be born will suffer from a physical or mental defect of such a nature that he/she will permanently be seriously handicapped; or where there is a reasonable possibility that the fetus is conceived as a result of unlawful intercourse. This is of great benefit to both mother and child as the mother is spared the trauma of caring for the child. The baby may as well be unable to access health care suiting its needs.
Zimbabwe, a party to ICPD and is mandated to provide safe and accessible post-abortion care where legal. The legality of abortion in Zimbabwe has already been spelt out above therefore this means except on the above mentioned conditions; the availability of post abortion care is selective. According to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), governments and legislators should address the reality and consequences of unsafe abortion by revising and modifying laws and policies which perpetuate damage to women's health, loss of life and violation of gender equality in health care.