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Safe abortion in South Africa: “We have wonderful laws but we don't have people to implement those laws”
Author(s) -
Favier Mary,
Greenberg Jamie M.S.,
Stevens Marion
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1002/ijgo.12676
Subject(s) - abortion , abortion law , medicine , law , unsafe abortion , independence (probability theory) , stigma (botany) , democracy , rural area , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , family planning , economic growth , pregnancy , population , family medicine , environmental health , political science , research methodology , psychiatry , statistics , genetics , mathematics , politics , economics , biology
In South Africa, abortion was legalized in 1996, during the nation's transition from apartheid to independence and democracy, under the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act ( CTOPA ). The law drew from both a public health and rights‐based framework. A coalition of advocates played a key role in passage. In the years after the CTOPA was passed, abortion services were expanded—in part through a 2008 amendment that allowed trained registered nurses to provide abortions—and deaths from unsafe abortions decreased. However, there have been hurdles to implementation, including competing health priorities such as HIV / AIDS , and a high number of conscientious objectors. There is a geographic disparity in accessibility of abortion services between provinces as well as between urban and rural areas. Women seeking legal abortions face a lack of accessible information on where to obtain an abortion, often experience stigma at facilities, and many obtain illegal procedures.