The legal age for accessing reproductive health services has been lowered from 18 to 15 in Rwanda following the approval of a law by parliament, a decision welcomed Tuesday by human rights groups.

According to Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana, who initiated the "law regulating health services," the inaccessibility of certain services to minors was responsible for the high rate of unwanted pregnancies among teenagers - more than 22,000 in 2024 according to official data.

Although adolescent birth rates have declined globally, the decline has been slowest in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the WHO.

Thanks to the approval of the law by the deputies on Monday, Rwandan teenage girls will have access to the pill, although they insisted on giving priority to condoms.

"It's good that they (Parliament) approached the issue from a progressive perspective," John Scarius, program director of the Great Lakes Initiative for Human Rights and Development, told AFP the following day.

He hopes the law will lead to a decrease in teenage pregnancies, a reduction in school dropouts and illegal abortions, and a decrease - or even an end - to abortion-related deaths.

Others expressed fears that the law would open "a very dangerous door."

"The idea of seeing your 15-year-old child going to school with packets of condoms in their bag is inconceivable. It amounts to openly encouraging immorality," Charlotte Karemera, a mother and retired health worker in Kigali, told AFP.

"In a way, this will encourage abortion," she also said.

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

The country has a population of around 13 million, 40% of whom are under 15 years old.

The law has been under consideration by MPs since last year, and a similar proposal was rejected by Parliament in 2022, where it was opposed by conservative voices.