''Christian Lawyers Association v Minister of Health'' is a case in which 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 of South Africa The High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law in South Africa. It is divided into nine provincial divisions, some of which sit in more than one location. Each High Court division has general jurisdiction over a defined geographical ...

ruled on the constitutionality of 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 ...

, the law which governs

abortion in 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 bMarie Stope ...

. The Christian Lawyers Association claimed that abortion violates section 11 of 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 entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

, which provides that "Everyone has the right to life." The government noted an exception (a

demurrer A demurrer is a pleading in a lawsuit that objects to or challenges a pleading filed by an opposing party. The word ''demur'' means "to object"; a ''demurrer'' is the document that makes the objection. Lawyers informally define a demurrer as a de ...

) on the grounds that constitutional rights do not apply to fetuses and that there was therefore no case to answer. The court accepted the government's argument and the case was dismissed.

References

* Abortion case law Abortion in South Africa Gauteng Division cases South African persons case law 1998 in South African law 1998 in case law {{SouthAfrica-case-law-stub