Gynopedia needs your support! Please consider contributing content, translating a page, or making a donation today. With your support, we can sustain and expand the website. Gynopedia has no corporate sponsors or advertisers. Your support is crucial and deeply appreciated.
Johannesburg: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
→Laws & Social Stigmas
| Line 178: | Line 178: | ||
You should be aware that South African health workers are not legally required to assist abortions. If they have any personal, professional or moral objections, they can decide to take no part in an abortion. However, they are required by law to assist in abortions that are performed to save the life of a woman. Furthermore, if you approach a health care worker in order to obtain an abortion, they may decline to offer you services but they are legally required to inform you of your rights and refer you to health care workers/facilities where you can obtain an abortion.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_South_Africa Abortion in South Africa]</ref> | You should be aware that South African health workers are not legally required to assist abortions. If they have any personal, professional or moral objections, they can decide to take no part in an abortion. However, they are required by law to assist in abortions that are performed to save the life of a woman. Furthermore, if you approach a health care worker in order to obtain an abortion, they may decline to offer you services but they are legally required to inform you of your rights and refer you to health care workers/facilities where you can obtain an abortion.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_South_Africa Abortion in South Africa]</ref> | ||
When a legal abortion is performed, cannot be performed by any of the consulting physicians. During the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, a physician or midwife may perform the abortion. After twelve weeks of pregnancy, only a medical practitioner can perform the abortion. The abortion must be performed at a government hospital (or another approved institution) by a physician. The hospital superintendent must approve the abortion. | When a legal abortion is performed, it cannot be performed by any of the consulting physicians. During the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, a physician or midwife may perform the abortion. After twelve weeks of pregnancy, only a medical practitioner can perform the abortion. The abortion must be performed at a government hospital (or another approved institution) by a physician. The hospital superintendent must approve the abortion. | ||
Historically, abortion law in South Africa was under Roman-Dutch Common Law until 1975, which only permitted abortion if the life of the woman was endangered by pregnancy. Then, in 1975, The Abortion and Sterilization Act of 1975 was passed, which expanded abortion availability to include women whose mental/physical health was endangered by the pregnancy, women who were victims of rape or incest or were intellectually-disabled (or, as the law called it "idiot or imbecile"), or if the fetus was at risk of being born with a mental/physical defect. The Act required that three physicians approve of the abortion. Since the Act was still fairly restrictive, most women at the time did not seek legal abortions and the majority of abortions (200,000 per year) were performed illegally. | |||
As written in a UN Report, "This legal situation was dramatically altered in 1994 after the transition from the apartheid regime to full democracy and the victory of the African National Congress (ANC) in the first fully democratic elections in South Africa. The ANC had campaigned on a platform of liberalized abortion and, once it came to power, it proceeded to fulfill its campaign pledge on this issue. After receiving the report of the Ad Hoc Select Committee on Abortion and Sterilisation, appointed to review this matter, the Government introduced draft legislation in Parliament to allow abortions to be performed on request during the first fourteen weeks of pregnancy. The proposed legislation provoked a heated debate between pro-choice and pro-life groups, and the latter held numerous rallies to protest suggested changes. Despite polls indicating that the great majority of the population did not support the legislation and considerable opposition among legislators both within and without the ruling ANC party, the legislation (the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act) was enacted in 1996, with almost one quarter of the legislators absent."<ref>[http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/abortion/profiles.htm UN Report: Abortion Law in South Africa]</ref> | As written in a UN Report, "This legal situation was dramatically altered in 1994 after the transition from the apartheid regime to full democracy and the victory of the African National Congress (ANC) in the first fully democratic elections in South Africa. The ANC had campaigned on a platform of liberalized abortion and, once it came to power, it proceeded to fulfill its campaign pledge on this issue. After receiving the report of the Ad Hoc Select Committee on Abortion and Sterilisation, appointed to review this matter, the Government introduced draft legislation in Parliament to allow abortions to be performed on request during the first fourteen weeks of pregnancy. The proposed legislation provoked a heated debate between pro-choice and pro-life groups, and the latter held numerous rallies to protest suggested changes. Despite polls indicating that the great majority of the population did not support the legislation and considerable opposition among legislators both within and without the ruling ANC party, the legislation (the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act) was enacted in 1996, with almost one quarter of the legislators absent."<ref>[http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/abortion/profiles.htm UN Report: Abortion Law in South Africa]</ref> | ||