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CPD Articles
Abortion reforms in South Africa: An overview of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act
South African Family Practice | Vol 62, No 1 : Part 4| a5240 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/safp.v62i1.5240
| © 2020 Ramprakash Kaswa, Parimalaranie Yogeswaran
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 06 October 2020 | Published: 10 December 2020
Submitted: 06 October 2020 | Published: 10 December 2020
About the author(s)
Ramprakash Kaswa, Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, South AfricaParimalaranie Yogeswaran, Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, South Africa
Abstract
Access to sexual and reproductive healthcare is a constitutional right and on a broader perspective is part of the universal right to health. The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy (CTOP) Act of 1996 was a major step towards commitment to providing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services in an equitable and rights-based approach. Despite abortion being legally available, unsafe abortion is still an avoidable factor of maternal deaths after more than two decades of abortion law reform in South Africa. The CTOP Act 92 of 1996, with its amendments, provides a legislative framework; however, more is needed to reaffirm the sexual and reproductive health freedom.
Keywords
abortion; amendment; counselling; CTOP Act; TOP
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