Abstract
In 1996 the South African government passed the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act (also known as the Choice Act), which legalized abortion in South Africa’s newly established democracy by making it available on demand up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, under specific circumstances from 12–20 weeks, and for particular medical reasons, after 20 weeks. The passage and implementation of the Choice Act has fuelled ongoing controversy. This chapter explores the judicial, political and moral controversies that surrounded South Africa’s legalization of abortion and investigates the strategies used by pro- and anti-choice advocates to improve, or eliminate, access to abortion. Twenty years after abortion was legalized in South Africa, it remains inaccessible to many. While the law reflects the state’s commitment to reproductive rights, the stigma and suffering that often accompany abortion reveal a chasm between the state’s legal commitment to abortion and its real-world, popular enactment.
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Notes
- 1.
For a discussion on xenophobia in post-Apartheid South Africa, see Michael Neocosmos, “From ‘Foreign Natives’ to ‘Native Foreigners’. Explaining Xenophobia in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Citizenship, Nationalism, Identity and Politics.” Dakar: CODESRIA, 2006.
- 2.
Similar arguments are made regarding the alleged absence of homosexuality in pre-colonial Africa. These have been refuted by the historian M. Epprecht.
- 3.
The ethical issues that arise in violations of medical confidentiality within South Africa’s health sector have received relatively little attention (Benatar 59). In the case of abortion in South Africa’s public health sector, the breach of confidentiality enacted by the architecture of the waiting and recovery rooms requires further exploration and analysis.
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Hodes, R. (2017). Abortion Politics in a State in Transition: Contesting South Africa’s ‘Choice Act’. In: Stettner, S., Ackerman, K., Burnett, K., Hay, T. (eds) Transcending Borders. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48399-3_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48399-3_11
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