Women’s right to abortion is not under threat by Doctors for Life’s action in the Constitutional Court, the Department of Health said on Wednesday.
The main sections of the Choice of Termination of Pregnancy Act are not in dispute, said departmental spokesperson Sibani Mngadi.
Doctors for Life contended on Tuesday that four health Bills, including the abortion law, were rushed through Parliament, without public hearings, by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).
It is an amendment Bill — giving provincial health ministers the power to designate facilities where abortions were performed — that is being contested, Mngadi said.
The Bill also seeks to allow registered, trained nurses and midwives to perform terminations of pregnancy.
Other Bills affected by the case are the Sterilisation Amendment Bill, the Dental Practitioners’ Amendment Bill and the Traditional Health Practitioners’ Bill.
Mngadi said the only significant piece of legislation affected by the Doctors for Life challenge is the Traditional Health Practitioners’ Bill. The other Bills are ”minor amendments”.
The traditional health Bill has been in the public domain since 1997 when the provincial standing committees on health held public hearings on the matter.
It seeks to regulate traditional health practice and provide recognition to traditional health practitioners. — Sapa