8 May 1995
It is accepted that the statistics for "backstreet" abortions in South Africa cannot be recorded accurately because of fear of prosecution. There are approximately 7 to 10 million South African million births every year in South Africa. Thus, it seems likely that a figure of between 250 000 and 300 000 illegal abortions per year is not an exaggeration.
Figures relating to the removals at hospitals of residues of incomplete illegal abortions are highly inaccurate and thus believed to be well below the reality. There is a lack of control over the keeping of records, particularly in rural hospitals, and women patients are clearly far too frightened to provide truthful information. The Chairperson of the South African Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has backed the call for the scrapping of these statistics because of their obvious inaccuracies.
We need to take account of the rate of recorded abortions in other countries, if we wish to arrive at reasonably acceptable figures for our own reality. Five years ago, the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health released the figure of 70 000 abortions per year. It is important to note that Zimbabwe's population is about a quarter of South Africa's. At the same time, women of reproductive age in South Africa and Zimbabwe share common realities in a high illiteracy rate and poor access to family planning. It is likely then that South Africa shares a common ratio of annual abortions.
Countries with high literacy rates and systems which allow legal abortions, like the USA and Taiwan, have released figures for annual legal abortions of 1,2 to 1,6 million and 100 000 to 200 000 respectively. The "Pro-life" Lobby uses these kinds of statistics to argue against abortion as legal form of contraception. However, it is essential to realise that women turn to abortion usually as a last resort after the failure of contraception. Figures released by abortions cited failed contraception as the cause.
It is this issue which need to be considered carefully. Setting aside the exorbitant expense of research into new, more effective contraception, failure of contraception must be linked to low literacy rates an poverty, not to "laziness" of "immorality" on the part of women. A woman who does not have transport to a clinic, who is intimidated by the structures and language she does face when she is able to attend family planning clinics, who is unable to follow the complicated instructions accompanying the contraceptive pill, for instance, is likely to have neither the motivation nor the ability to use contraception effectively. It is clear then that abortion needs to be made available as a back-up to failed contraception.
In addition, under current South African legislation, only those women with access to reliable medical advice and a fair knowledge of the law are able to avail themselves of the right to legal abortion. Parallel to this is the fact that it is only those women with adequate financial resources who are able to seek safe, legal abortions in countries outside our borders. Clearly the current situation favours women from largely middle class or affluent backgrounds. Women who are working class, poor, illiterate or living in rural areas are unable to utilise the law as it now stands. Thus present abortion legislation is so deplorably inadequate that it does not cater for the vast majority of South African women.
Finally, the issue of abortion cannot be seen in isolation from its location in the holistic context of reproductive health issues. Until all South African women have access to education and facilities which guarantee the delivery of all requirements with regard to their full reproductive health, South Africa cannot claim to be a country which guarantees all its citizens their complete democratic rights.
The South African Communist Party believes that every woman has the right to control over her own body and thus the right to make independent reproductive decisions.
In addition, every woman therefore should have the right to choose whether or not she wishes to terminate a pregnancy.
Facilities for the termination of pregnancy should be provided by the state in such a manner that they are accessible, safe, hygienic and free.
Counselling services must be available to all women (and, if desired, their partners) so that they are able to exercise fully their freedom of choice. In addition, sympathetic, professional, non-judgemental counselling services need to be provided both before and after an abortion for any woman who requires them.
Women who choose to have an abortion also have the right to privacy and protection from its opponents, as do all professional staff providing any linked service.
It is essential that the issue of abortion is not dealt with in isolation from the general struggle for the full empowerment of women, both educationally and economically. It is only when women have the complete freedom of control over their own lives that they will be in a position to make educated and well-considered decisions regarding their own reproductive lives.
The South African Communist Party, noting that this is not an issue which should be relegated to the Constitutional Court, thus calls for the repeal of present abortion laws and the creation of new legislation entrenching the rights of women to abortion.
Issued by: SACP HQ