Christian MP wants to severely limit women’s right to abortion
Cheryllyn Dudley is proposing a bill that makes abortion after 12 weeks very difficult, actively dissuades abortion and requires doctors to show women photos of foetuses
An African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) MP is trying to limit the right to abortion. Cheryllyn Dudley introduced a private member’s bill that proposes a severe departure from existing law. Under current legislation‚ any woman may have an abortion up to 12 weeks into the pregnancy. From week 13 to 20‚ a woman may have an abortion if the pregnancy poses a risk to her or if it would "significantly affect" her "social or economic circumstances". This last reason makes South African abortion law different to many other countries and makes abortions accessible to almost all women up to their 20th week. If passed‚ Dudley’s bill would remove this option for women‚ making it more difficult to have an abortion after 12 weeks. Most women only discover an unplanned pregnancy between their eighth and 10th week‚ so this would be especially difficult for them. In essence‚ it would be illegal for women to get an abortion from week 13 unless the pregnancy endangers the woman’s life or the foetu...
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