Is there room for religious ethics in South African abortion law?

Abstract

Approximately 90% of African women live in countries with overly restrictive abortion laws. [1] While the vast majority of African countries strictly condemn abortion, proscription may be waived under certain conditions: to preserve life (out of necessity); for health preservation; if the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest; or if the fetus is impaired. [1] However, the aforementioned grounds for abortion are not available to all women. For instance, Nigeria, Uganda and Somalia condone abortion solely out of necessity. [1] Burundi and Cameroon extend the grounds to physical health, at the exclusion of mental health and fetal impairment, while Burkina Faso permits abortion on all three grounds, including cases of rape and incest. [1] Ghana, Algeria and Namibia also make provision for all of the aforementioned grounds. [1] Women are further required to seek parental or spousal consent to procure an abortion in Equatorial Guinea and Mauritius. [1] Abortion is strictly prohibited, without any legal exceptions, in 11 African countries, including Angola, Congo-Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo , Congo-Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo and Senegal. [1] Although these statistics are perturbing, as the majority of African women are being stripped of their human rights, they are to be expected, since Africa is the most religious continent in the world. [3] A recent world survey revealed that 'more than 8 out of 10' Africans identify as religious, actively participating in religious practices and traditions. [3] Approximately 95% of South Africans are religious. [2] Nevertheless, SA is one of only five African countries (along with Cape Verde, Mozambique, Tunisia and Zambia) that currently provide women with unrestrictive abortion services, within gestational limitations. [1] SA's liberal abortion laws are to be expected since it is a secular state, established upon a Constitution [4] that ensures that women are guaranteed rights conducive to their reproductive health, which is echoed in the country's laws governing abortion. [5] Although reportedly half of all African countries are considered secular, [6] most implement rigorous legal prohibitions on abortion that often coincide with religious ethical and moral views. SA's Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act (CTOPA) No. 92 of 1996 [7} is lauded as one of the most liberal abortion laws worldwide. [8] It encapsulates and endorses several constitutional rights that women were denied during Apartheid, [9] particularly the rights to reproductive health, bodily integrity, privacy and access to information. In light of the vast strides the CTOPA has contributed towards safeguarding and championing women's constitutional, sexual and reproductive rights, one might also ask whether SA's current abortion law is inclusive of religious ethics. This question entails an understanding of religious ethics, secular morality and SA abortion laws. This open-access article is distributed under Creative Commons licence CC-BY-NC 4.0.

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