Ads for abortion clinics in East London, South Africa

Abortion in South Africa is legal on request during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and under certain conditions afterwards. Abortion is provided free at government hospitals and a tele-medical or 'pills by post' service is provided b
Marie Stopes South Africa
an
Women on Web International Foundation
partnered with Abortion Support South Africa. Abortion was legal only under very limited circumstances until 1 February 1997, when the

Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1996 (Act No. 92 of 1996) is the law governing abortion in South Africa. It allows abortion on demand up to the twelfth week of pregnancy, under broadly specified circumstances from the thirteenth to t ...

(Act 92 of 1996) came into force, providing elective

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

for a variety of cases.

History

The Abortion and Sterilization Act, 1975 (Act No.2 of 1975) legalized abortion under certain circumstances.

Legal position

In South Africa, a woman of any age can get an abortion on request with no reasons given if she is less than 12 weeks pregnant. If she is between 13 and 20 weeks pregnant, she can get the abortion if (a) her own physical or mental health is at stake, (b) the baby will have severe mental or physical abnormalities, (c) she is pregnant because of incest, (d) she is pregnant because of rape, or (e) she is of the personal opinion that her economic or social situation is sufficient reason for the termination of pregnancy. If she is more than 20 weeks pregnant, she can get the abortion only if her or the fetus' life is in danger or there are likely to be serious birth defects. A woman under the age of 18 will be advised to consult her parents, but she can decide not to inform or consult them if she so chooses. A woman who is married or in a life-partner relationship will be advised to consult her partner, but she can decide not to inform or consult him/her. An exception is that if the woman is severely mentally ill or has been unconscious for a long time, where consent of a life-partner, parent or legal guardian is required. The

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

does not explicitly mention abortion, but two sections of the

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

mention

reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows: Reproductive rights rest on t ...

. Section 12(2)(a) states that, "Everyone has the right to bodily and psychological integrity, which includes the right ... to make decisions concerning reproduction," while section 27(1)(a) states "Everyone has the right to have access to ... health care services, including reproductive health care." In the case of ''

Christian Lawyers Association v Minister of Health ''Christian Lawyers Association v Minister of Health'' is a case in which the Transvaal Provincial Division of the High Court of South Africa ruled on the constitutionality of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, the law which governs abor ...

'' an anti-abortion organisation challenged the validity of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act on the basis that it violated the

right to life The right to life is the belief that a being has the right to live and, in particular, should not be killed by another entity. The concept of a right to life arises in debates on issues including capital punishment, with some people seeing it as ...

in section 11 of the Bill of Rights; the

Transvaal Provincial Division The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law which has general jurisdiction over the South African province of Gauteng and the eastern part of North West province. The main seat of the division is at Pretoria, ...

of the High Court dismissed their argument, ruling that constitutional rights only apply to born people and not to fetuses. In general, only medical doctors may perform abortions. Nurses who have received special training may also perform abortions up to the 12th week of pregnancy. A medicine-induced abortion can be performed by any medical doctor at his/her premises up to 7 weeks from the first day of the last menstrual period. The usual method is a dose of an antiprogestin, followed by a dose of a prostaglandin analogue two days later. Health workers are under no obligation to perform or take active part in an abortion if they do not wish to; however, they are obligated by law to assist if it is required to save the life of the patient, even if the emergency is related to an abortion.Choice On Termination Of Pregnancy
A health worker who is approached by a woman for an abortion may decline if they choose to do so, but are obligated by law to inform the woman of her rights and refer her to another health worker or facility where she can get the abortion.Termination of Pregnancy (TOP)
/ref> Abortion can be had for free at certain state hospitals or eve
private clinics
although sometimes only if the woman is referred by a health worker. Most abortion centres will insist on providing pre- and post-abortion counselling, and the woman can legally demand it, but it is not a legal requirement that abortion centres provide it.

Statistics

Since the legalisation of elective abortion care, there has been a decrease in deaths from clandestine abortions (those provided outside of designated facilities), but the number of deaths following abortions are still quite high according to statistics gathered in

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

province—5% of maternal deaths following childbirth are abortion related, and 57% of these are related to illegal abortions.Dawes, A. (Ed.) (2003)
''The state of children in Gauteng. A report for the office of the Premier, Gauteng Provincial Government.''
Pretoria: Child Youth and Family Development, Human Sciences Research Council. Page 82, 157, 161 A 2003 study in Soweto showed the following: the rate of abortions for women older than 20 years decreased from 15.2% in 1999 to 13.2% in 2001, the rate for women aged 16–20 decreased from 21% to 14.9%, and the rate for women aged 13–16 decreased from 28% to 23%. In 2001, 27% of abortions were second-trimester.

History

Legal position

Statistics

See also

References

Further reading