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April 8, 2026African Studies Review0 citationsOpen Access

Navigating Ambiguity: Reproductive Justice and the Restriction of Abortion Rights, LGBTI+ Rights, and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Zambia

NMNomthandazo MalamboSBStephen Brown

Key Points

  • This research examines how legal and policy ambiguities affect reproductive justice in Zambia.
  • Conducted forty-five in-depth interviews with Zambian stakeholders and international aid officials.
  • Analyzed the impact of religious nationalism on abortion and LGBTI+ rights.
  • Explored the role of advocacy coalitions in promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights.
  • Identified the delegitimization of abortion and LGBTI+ rights as un-Zambian.
  • Outlined how ambiguity in laws constrains reproductive justice.
  • Demonstrated that activists are effectively building coalitions to promote health service access.

Abstract

Abstract In Zambia, religious nationalists exploit legal and policy ambiguities to construct abortion and LGBTI+ rights as un-Zambian and un-Christian. This delegitimization narrows the scope of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) to family planning. Drawing on forty-five in-depth interviews with Zambian stakeholders and international aid officials, we argue that while these ambiguities constrain reproductive justice, they also allow activists to advance SRHR by building coalitions that connect advocacy for abortion rights, LGBTI+ rights, and reproductive justice to promote health service access and bodily autonomy for all. In Zambia and elsewhere, such activism and coalition building merit greater attention and support.

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Cite This Study

Malambo et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69d5f14b74eaea4b11a7ae0ehttps://doi.org/10.1017/asr.2026.10213
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Also Consider

Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context:

  1. 1Sexual and reproductive justice for LGBTQI youth in policy responses across Eastern and Southern Africa2025
  2. 2Identifying Profiles of Support for Legal Abortion Services in Zambia: A Latent Class Analysis2024
  3. 3Exploring Knowledge, Attitudes and Perceptions of Young Women, Community Members and Health Care Providers on Legal Abortion in Lusaka District, Zambia2024
  4. 4LGBTQ+ Rights in Africa: Criminalisation, Persecution, and International Human Rights Norms: Community-Based Perspectives2022
  5. 5Understanding inequalities in the coverage of adolescent sexual and reproductive health services: a qualitative case study of the selected regions of Zambia2024 · 2 citations