Madam Chair, I give notice that I shall move at the next sitting of the Council:
That the Council -
(1) notes that, as the New NP predicted -
(a) many health workers refuse to assist with legal abortions; (b) more illegal abortions are now being performed than before the Choice on the Termination of Pregnancy Act; and
(c) nobody has been investigated, charged, prosecuted or found guilty in terms of the Choice on the Termination of Pregnancy Act, reflecting a free-for-all situation; and
(2) further notes that -
(a) abortion legislation is misused by corrupt health workers;
(b) Misoprostol, a medicine with known teratogenic effects, is widely used as an abortifacient, in state institutions, despite it not being registered for that purpose by the patent holder;
(c) the Minister of Health has urged health workers to put duty before their beliefs - which is nothing else but intimidation and a threat;
(d) it is the right of health workers not to participate in any form of abortion for whatever reason and they can therefore ignore the Minister of Health's call;
(e) the New NP reiterates its position that abortion on demand without considering other factors is doomed to fail; and
(f) the New NP therefore calls on the Minister of Health to refrain from urging health workers to put duty before their beliefs, as it serves no purpose other than to hide the ANC's embarrassment with the failure of the idealistic, controversial abortion legislation.