According to Marie Stopes` website, 95% of women do not regret their decision to have an abortion. 7. Fawcus S et al., Management of incomplete abortions at South African public hospitals, South African Medical Journal, 1997, 87(4):438-442. In addition, many healthcare workers need technical training in procedures such as manual vacuum suction, which is still a relatively new technology in South Africa. Currently, there are significant differences both in the methods used for first-trimester abortion and in the way some of these methods are used. Without proper training, hospitals will continue to be delayed before they can begin offering abortion services, which in turn will strain the few full-service hospitals. Recently, additional funding has been allocated to training programs aimed at improving the skills and technical knowledge of health care providers. Second, the South African Constitution grants people the right to privacy and guarantees the right to abortion in Article 27: “Everyone has the right to make decisions regarding reproduction” and control of their bodies. Women between the 13th and 20th week of pregnancy can have an abortion if a doctor believes that the pregnancy threatens the mental or physical health of the woman or fetus, if the pregnancy is due to rape or incest, or if it affects the woman`s socio-economic situation.

After the 20th. Week of pregnancy, an abortion is allowed if a qualified doctor or midwife determines that a continuation of the pregnancy would endanger the woman`s health or seriously impede the fetus. In the year following the introduction of the new law, about 30,000 abortions were performed, while the number of women who came forward to treat serious complications resulting from incomplete abortions decreased significantly.23 At the end of 1997, the first official report on maternal mortality in South Africa identified only nine deaths due to septic abortions, compared with more than 400 for the Medical Research Council in 1994.24 22. Reproductive Rights Alliance, Overview of new abortion legislation, Barometer, 1997, 1(1):1-2. Many South Africans are wondering: what are the implications for our country, where abortion is legal if the United States reverses its abortion rights? For example, would the United States limit aid to reproductive health programs in South Africa and say that funds cannot be used for abortion services? Will possible changes in U.S. abortion laws result in changes in our own legislation for terminating a pregnancy? One of the current threats to access to abortion in South Africa is the issue of the burial of the fetus. At the time of the decision, abortions were already available in parts of the United States — but that decision meant that states with policies that prevented layoffs had to be canceled. While changing abortion laws in the U.S. are unlikely to limit aid to developing countries, Cooper argues that “fear is not unfounded.” Since the legalization of elective abortion care, the number of deaths due to clandestine abortions (provided outside designated facilities) has decreased, but the number of deaths after abortion is still quite high, according to statistics collected in Gauteng province – 5% of maternal deaths after childbirth are related to abortion, and 57% of them are associated with illegal abortions. [8] 3. Bradford H, you call it democratic? Struggles for abortion in South Africa in the 1970s, lecture at the Wits History Workshop, University of Witswatersand, Johannesburg, May 1994. The demand to replace the 1975 abortion and sterilization law sparked heated debates between anti-abortionists and Prochoice`s advocates.

Opponents of change ranged from religious organizations representing the Christian and Muslim churches to professional groups such as Doctors for Life. Before the parliamentary vote on the 1996 abortion law, nearly two dozen anti-abortion groups joined forces under the aegis of the National Alliance for Life and staged protests. Groups such as The Women`s Health Project, the Reproductive Rights Alliance, Planned Parenthood of South Africa and ARAG have supported the ANC`s Prochoice position and advocated for access to abortion as a way to create greater gender equality and promote women`s rights. As in many other countries, abortion is a hot topic in South Africa.