Madam Deputy Speaker, the termination of pregnancy issue essentially boils down to one's approach to life: when does it begin, what is a soul, how do we differentiate between the sacred and the profane?
True, life is a continuum. There is no one moment when a foetus becomes pain-sensitive or viable and science pushes back the limit daily. Some contraception causes fertilized eggs to be bled away. How is this different from termination of pregnancy in the first twelve weeks?
The procedure is simple. Misoprostil is given; it softens the cervix and begins contractions or bleeding. The practitioner dilates the cervix and inserts a sterile syringe to suck out the foetus and scrape the womb. It's so easy, we were assured time and again, and who wants a 12-year-old girl to be saddled with a baby?
In choosing between saving unborn babies from the pain of chemical or mechanical death, or women from the pain of backstreet abortions the choice between right and wrong is impossible to make. But it is the job of legislators to make difficult choices and to steer society in certain directions. So, the IFP will not sit on the fence and give our members a choice in this vote.
The IFP's core principles are to strengthen the family, recognise and promote the sacredness of life and to protect people from harm. We do not support the move in South Africa to talk about morality to let people do what they like, to protect the lives of heinous criminals or to let our children treat each other like sex toys.
This legislation entitles a girl who menstruates, from whatever age, to access abortion on demand, enacted by nurses with short training courses and facilities only with access to emergency or hospital facilities. We support termination of pregnancy under qualified circumstances; with parental input for minors; with mandatory counselling, in facilities with emergency equipment and managed responsibly in a decentralised fashion. This legislation does not cater to all of these.
Life is a wondrous gift and we are the custodians who must spread that message. Therefore, we oppose this legislation which moves to trivialise life.
But I must say that we did not come easily to this decision and we did benefit, in making it, from the hearings. Our chairperson, Mr Ngculu and the committee conducted them in a thorough, fair and respectful fashion, for which we congratulate them. No person or group can now claim that they have not been heard on this issue of termination of pregnancy. Thank you.