The Nation: InSouth Africa, A Liberal Abortion Law Doesn’t Guarantee Access, by JinaMoore and Estelle Ellis:
Seventeen years ago, as apartheid came to an end and ademocratically elected government took power, South Africa seemed ready tobecome an abortion rights pioneer. In 1996, the post-apartheid legislaturepassed the first law in sub-Saharan Africa legalizing abortion withoutrestriction in the first trimester, and with a doctor’s approval thereafter.The new rules allowed women to walk into a public hospital or clinic, confirmtheir pregnancy and gestation period, and receive a free abortion if they werefewer than thirteen weeks along in their pregnancy. Simple and straightforward,the law is “probably the most progressive [abortion] law in the world,” saysJane Harries, director of the Women’s Health Research Unit at the University ofCape Town. But sixteen years on, the promise of access, no matter how liberal,“doesn’t necessarily translate into services that are available.” In today’sSouth Africa, it is often faster and easier to get an illegal abortion than alegal one. . . .
Added by BS on 1/8/13