Self-induced abortion in South Africa and Section 10 of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996

Section 10 of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996 (Choice Act) lists a number of offences relevant to '[a]ny person' who does not comply with the provisions of the Act when providing an abortion. Under s 10 it is an offence for an unqualified person to provide an abortion...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:South African journal on human rights 2017-09, Vol.33 (3), p.496-506
Main Author: Pickles, Camilla
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abortion
Courts
Criminal liability
Induced
Pregnancy
Reproductive rights
Self-induced abortion
Statutory interpretation
Termination
Women
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Summary:Section 10 of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996 (Choice Act) lists a number of offences relevant to '[a]ny person' who does not comply with the provisions of the Act when providing an abortion. Under s 10 it is an offence for an unqualified person to provide an abortion and/or to provide an abortion at an unapproved facility. To date, there is no case law interpreting the scope of s 10 and no academic commentary exploring this issue. A broad, text-based interpretation of s 10 may support the argument that a woman who self-induces an abortion can be held criminally liable under the Act and at the start of 2017 a young woman faced such charges at an Eastern Cape magistrate's court. In light of this development, I use this paper to inform the legal community that the Choice Act is being used against women who self-induce abortions and I offer a text-in-context interpretation of the Act which proposes that criminalising self-induced abortion is not the aim of the Choice Act and that prosecutions for self-induced abortion should cease.
ISSN:0258-7203
1996-2126
DOI:10.1080/02587203.2017.1394010