by Tamar Zere
As South Africa paves the way for change, there is widespread belief that it is impossible to have a comprehensive family planning programme without legalizing abortion. If the new constitution is aimed at enshrining human rights and gender equality, then the current situation under the Abortion and Sterilization Act of 1975 cannot be allowed to continue, say medical experts.
The head of the Parliamentary Ad-hoc Committee in his report proposes that women have the freedom to choose abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy and under certain circumstances the first 24 weeks must be considered. The report also recommends that a range of health workers be trained to perform abortions and resources be improved to make abortions more accessible lo women.
Janet Williams, secretary of Abortion Reform Action Group argues that, “One of the most important problems and need being expressed by women at all levels, is that of control over one’s own body in terms of reproduction.”
The committee accepts the argument that education on contraception, abortion and related issues are intertwined with legalization. The committee plans to draft a proposal for parliament to vole on in
September before the Beijing conference. Yet the ANC fears that conservative and religious Members of Parliament want a vote of conscience on the abortion issue instead of voting according to the official pro-choice party line.
The major political reforms occurring in South Africa have critically called into question the importance of health, welfare .and the freedom of women. The regional implications of the possible legalization of abortion in South Africa are immense.
The current act prohibits an abortion except on limited grounds. An abortion may be procured on medical grounds where the continued pregnancy endangers, the life of the woman or constitutes a serious threat to her physical or mental health. It also applies where there is a risk that the child will suffer from a physical or mental defect of such a nature that she or he will be irreparably and seriously handicapped.
Secondly, an abortion may be procured where conception is alleged to be a consequence of rape or incest and thirdly where the pregnancy is conceived by a woman who is mentally handicapped or unable to understand the consequential implications or bear parental responsibility.
At present in South Africa, a woman who wants an abortion is required under the strict conditions of the Abortion and Sterilization Act of 1975 to fill an application form, find a doctor willing to take the case, get corroboration and certification by two other phycisians and a written authority of the physician in charge of the hospital. Such bureaucratic methods render most disadvantaged black women helpless and proves opposite to a system that should provide women with equal access.
In the case of an unwanted pregnancy, the act created a chasm between medical care for the rich and medical care for the poor. For while the poor had no option but the backstreets, the rich were travelling out of the country in increasing numbers intent on obtaining skilled medical care.
According to statistics in the United Kingdom, 800 South African women had abortions in England and Wales in 1984.
Many would say that abortion on demand exists for those with money and contacts. The result of this legislation is that very few women manage to get legal abortions. In most instances, only 40 percent of applications for abortion are successful. Influence and money appear to be key factors, statistics show that in 1990 from 868 legal abortions, 69 percent were for white women. A number of studies reveal that many women who are refused legal abortions resort to illegal abortions, with disastrous consequences.
There are approximately 300 000 South African women resorting to illegal abortions every year.
In 1992 Drs Shweni, Margolis and Monokoane published a study on 126 patients admitted to the King Edward VIII Hospital suffering from severe septic abortion; of these, 34 were admitted to intensive care where 47 percent said that they had interfered with the pregnancy. The health effects of illegal abortions are damaging. Besides death due to haemorrhage, shock and kidney failure, many women become infertile as a result and suffer trauma.
Inquiry into the origins of the 1975 Act points to the secret society of Broederbond and the Dutch
Reformed Church in which the final legislation was determined by the aim of the Afrikaaner minority. The 1975 Act is in direct corrolation with the belief that the Afrikaner nation’s growth was tied to the birth rate and racial dominance needed to selectively raise the numbers of the white population.
The abortion debate must be seen in light of human rights and equality in South Africa. The ANC’s constitutional policy document, Building A United Nation, states: •the Bill of rights shall protect the right to life and dignity of all. Such a right shall not preclude the legislation from providing for and regulating the right 10 abortion by legislation.”
Women’s groups and advocates argue that abortion laws should be supported under the Freedom
Charter and women are ultimately the final determinants. The liberalization and legalization of abortion laws is aimed at giving women the right to make their own choices about their lives. But the ANC is trapped in a difficult position as it remains sensitive to power of women lobbying groups and may find it impossible to strike an amicable accord with the more conservative members of its constituencies.
The ideological warfare between pro-choice and pro-life invariably share a common ground: concern for human life. Hence, for women, full and equal parenting combined with participation in the public sphere, according to the personal gifts of each, must become the presumed standard of social life. (SARDC)
