Prevalence of morbidity associated with abortion before and after legalisation in South Africa

Claiming and defending abortion rights in South Africa

“…The majority of cases had no signs of infection on admission (90.6%) and there had been a significant downward trend (from 5.7% in 1994 to 3.9% in 2000) in women dying from complications of unsafe abortion. Also, a significant finding was that there had been a 91% reduction in deaths from unsafe abortion (JEWKES et al, 2002;JEWKES et al, 2005a;IPAS, 2007). Although the decrease in mortality and morbidity became less dramatic over time (BUCHMAN et al, 2008), and these earlier studies demonstrated the profound impact of law reform on women's health and lives.…”

“…In a five-year review of the Act in 2002, the state recorded 220 888 terminations in the public sector, the majority (73%) in the first trimester, and 12% to minors (RRA Barometer, 2002). Although women continued to seek terminations outside the law, there was a significant reduction in maternal morbidity and mortality, especially amongst young women, who had been most at risk in 1994 (JEWKES et al, 2002;JEWKES et al, 2005a). The results of a study commissioned by the Department of Health found the number of patients with high morbidity had almost halved in 2000 (9.5% in 2000 compared with 16.5% in 1994).…”

Effective social justice advocacy: a theory-of-change framework for assessing progress

“…These rights are undermined by poverty as well as by discrimination on the basis of gender, race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and other bases of discrimination. 24 B Klugman / Reproductive Health Matters 2011;19 (38):146-162 deaths due to non-pregnancy-related infections, specifically HIV. [27][28][29] The situation has been exacerbated by a decline in access to abortions in the public sector -from 45% of community health centres providing services in 2008-09 to 25% in 2009-10, in part due to a shortage of nurses trained to perform first trimester terminations.…”

“…In the debates about the impact of unsafe and illegal abortions on women's health and lives, for example, the need for safe abortion became clear from a public health point of view and from the point of view of saving women's lives, because of high rates of death and illness caused by illegal abortions. 37,38 At the time, the overarching frame was the need to end discrimination on the basis of race. This provided a powerful motivation as, under the previous regime, only those with access to substantial resources -in effect, only white women -had access to safe abortions, whether legally or illegally.…”

“…This position was more a reflection of doctors' professional interests. In contrast, nurses and midwives B Klugman / Reproductive Health Matters 2011;19 (38): [146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154][155][156][157][158][159][160][161][162] participating in the process saw the opportunity of increasing their areas of responsibility and potential income. Women's rights groups recognized that the absence of doctors in rural areas would mean that rural and poor women would continue to have unsafe abortions.…”