Chairperson, the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill was introduced as a section 76 Bill for consideration to the Select Committee on Social Services, and hon members will recall that both Houses deliberated and passed this Amendment Bill in 2004. As usual, there are the so-called "Doctors for Life" and their friends, who wanted to test our democracy, and thus delayed this legislation and further deprived women access to healthcare, due to what they claimed was no public participation.
The purpose of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill is to amend the definition and insert others in order to empower a member of the executive council to approve facilities where a termination of pregnancy may take place; to exempt a facility offering a 24-hour maternity service from having to obtain approval for termination of pregnancy services under certain circumstances; to provide for the recording of information and submission of statistics and to enable a member of the executive council to make regulations, and lastly, to provide for matters connected therewith.
Sizokhumbula ukuthi izifundazwe ziye zawuthobela umyalelo weNkantolo yoMthethosisekelo, lapho inkantolo ithole ukuthi, ngempela, ezinye izifundazwe azizange ziyenze imihlangano yokulalela imibono yemiphakathi, ngaphandle kwaseGauteng ngoba thina sayenza leyo mihlangano. Mangiphawule- ke ukuthi izifundazwe manje seziyenzile imihlangano yokulalela imibono yemiphakathi, ngoba iMpumalanga Kapa iyenzile, iFreyistata iyenzile, eGauteng baye baphinda futhi; neKwaZulu-Natali, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Nyakatho Kapa, Nyakatho Ntshonalanga naseNtshonalanga Kapa nabo sebeyenzile.
Mangiphawule-ke, Sihlalo, ukuthi kukhona ukudideka okuningi mayelana nalo Mthetho esiwuchibiyelayo. IsiZulu lesi engisikhulumayo, futhi ngiyethemba ukuthi utolika ungizwa kahle. Uma ulalela noma ulandela izizathu ezibekwa ngabo-Doctors for Life nabanye, bathi, ngiyabacaphuna:
This Bill does not contain a clause that recognises a doctor or a nurse's right to refuse abortion. Many healthcare workers face intimidation and unfair discrimination because they believe that abortion is wrong, even though many other countries have specific clauses protecting health professions in this regard. Also, the Bill does not recognise a scientific fact that human life starts at fertilisation.
Bayaqhubeka-ke futhi bakhulume nangokunye. Engithanda ukukuphawula ukuthi lo Mthetho ebesiwuchibiyela awuhlangene nhlobo noMthetho okuyiwona okhuluma kabanzi ngalolu daba, i-principal Act. Kukhona uMthetho esawemukela ngonyaka we-1996, obekuyiwona obuveza izizathu zokuthi umuntu angasikhipha ngaziphi izizathu isisu nokuthi kusuke kungamasonto amangaki noma izinyanga ezingaki. Kepha esikuthole kuvela ezifundazweni manje njengoba simatasatasa sichibiyela lo Mthetho, ngukuthi kugcwele ukudideka okuningi. Abaningi abadidekile yilaba abalandela amaphepha noma izindaba. Ngiyabona ukuthi kade belele, kodwa bavele bavuka nje nkathi thile. Kuthe uma sebephaphama bathola ukuthi sekuthiwa izingane ezineminyaka eyi-12 nazo sezivunyelwe ukuthi nazo zingakhipha izisu. [Ubuwelewele.] Yebo.
Manje into ebesizama ukuyichaza ukuthi lo Mthetho owemukelwa ngonyaka we- 1996 yiwona obukade ufaka abantwana abaneminyaka eyi-12. Sizokhumbula ukuthi kwenzekani kweminye imindeni. Kukhona le nto ebizwa ngeSingisi kuthiwe i-incest, ngamanye amazwi kusho ukuthi ilungu lomndeni lisuke lilale nomntwana omncane aze akwazi ukukhulelwa. Kwezinye izindawo kuba khona ukudlwengulwa kanti kwezinye kuba ngukuthi umuntu ubengazi ukuthi ukhulelwe. Kwi-principal Act besizama ukuthi sibhekele lezo zimo lapho kusuke kube khona i-incest emndenini, ngoba abaningi bavamise ukuthi uma zenzeka lezi zinto bazishanelele ngaphansi komata bese bethula bethi du; bahambe baye ezindaweni ezingekho emthethweni ezikhipha izisu zabantwana bababulale khona lapho. Ngalo mthetho senza ukuthi umuntu ahambe aye endaweni ebhalise ngokugcwele ukuze lowo muntu akwazi ukuthi kukhishwe kahle isisu sakhe.
Phezu kwalokho, asikhulumi nge-arbotion lapha - ngithemba ukuthi izilwane ezenza uku-abort. Abantu baye baya-terminate ukuze umuntu athathe ilungelo lakhe njengomuntu wesifazane, futhi athathe isinqumo sokuthi yini afisa ukuyenza ngomzimba wakhe. Phezu kwalokho, umuntu akavuki ekuseni kube sengathi uya kothenga uma ecabanga ukuya kokhipha isisu; umuntu uyacabanga, acabangisise uma ezogcina esesithathile isinqumo sokuthi uyafuna ukukhipha isisu noma cha. Ngakho-ke abantu mabangahambi bekhuluma izinto abangaziqondisisi kahle. Kufuneka bawufunde kahle umthetho, kuthi-ke noma uma amalungu echazela abantu ababavotela bazi ukuthi umthetho uthini.
Phezu kwalokho, abanye bayaphaphama manje ngemuva kokuba sewuvunyiwe uMthetho Wezingane, njengoba sekuthiwa izingane ezineminyaka eyi-12 nazo sezingazisebenzisa izindlela zokuhlela imindeni. Ngizama ukucacisa kule Ndlu ukuthi siyazi sonke ukuthi izingane zethu azikhuli njengathi. Thina sakhula kuthiwa asiwadli amaqanda noma izinso zesilwane esihlatshwe ekhaya. Kepha izingane zethu namhlanje zikhula ngokushesha okukhulu ngaphezu kwethu sonke. Yingakho-ke sesibeka izinsiza ukuze sikwazi ukuvikela ukuthi izingane zingamithi. Kepha mangichaze ukuthi ingane ayizihambeli yodwa. Ingane iyakwazi ukuhamba nomzali noma nalowo oyibhekayo. Ngisho noma uma ingane iphelezelwa ukuze iyohlolisiswa umzimba wayo, ayihambi yodwa kepha ihamba nomuntu omdala ekhaya. Lowo muntu nguye onikeza imvume yokuthi ingane ikwazi ukunakekelwa izidingo zayo ngokomzimba.
Ngiyethemba ukuthi uma amalungu efuna ukucaciselwa, angabonana nosihlalo wekomidi, uMama uJoyce Masilo ngoba ukhona. Uzoyichaza kabanzi yonke leyo nto.
Njengekomidi, sithanda ukuphakamisa ukuthi umbiko wethu wamukelwe lapha eNdlini ukuze oNgqongqoshe bezifundazwe kanye noNgqongqoshe Wezempilo bakwazi ukubhalisa izindawo eziyizinsiza; nokuthi izindawo lapho kukhishwa khona izisu kube yizindawo ezivumelekile, hhayi lezi ezingekho emthethweni ezivuka namhlanje. Namhlanje sekubiza ngisho namarandi ayi-1 000 ukuthi umuntu ahambe aye kokhipha isisu. Kepha uma umuntu engahamba aye endaweni leyo ebhaliswe uhulumeni, lowo muntu uzokwazi ukunakekelwa ngezempilo kangconywana futhi ngendlela eshibhile. Ngiyabonga, Sihlalo. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[We will remember that provinces have complied with the Constitutional Court order where the court found that, in fact, some provinces did not conduct public hearings, except for Gauteng because we, as the Gauteng province, conducted those public hearings. Let me bring to your attention the fact that now nearly all the provinces have conducted such public hearings, namely, the Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng which has conducted them again, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West and the Western Cape.
Let me say, Chairperson, that there is a lot of confusion with regard to this Act that we are amending. I am speaking Zulu here and I hope an interpreter understands me correctly. If you listen to the reasons put forward by the Doctors for Life and others, they say, and I quote: This Bill does not contain a clause that recognises a doctor or a nurse's right to refuse abortion. Many healthcare workers face intimidation and unfair discrimination because they believe that abortion is wrong, even though many other countries have specific clauses protecting health professions in this regard. Also, the Bill does not recognise a scientific fact that human life starts at fertilisation.
They go on and talk about other issues. What I would like to comment on is that the Act that we were amending has nothing to do with the Act that explains this issue in detail, which is the principal Act. There is an Act that we passed in 1996, which put forward reasons for pregnancy termination and it also specified weeks or months on which pregnancy can be terminated. But what we have heard from the provinces, as we are amending this Act, is that there is a lot of confusion. The people who are confused are the ones who are following what is said in the media. I think they have been asleep. They just woke up. When they woke up, they found out that even the 12-year- old children are allowed to terminate pregnancy. [Interjections.]
What we have been trying to explain is that when this Act was passed in 1996, it included 12-year-old children. We will remember what happens with other families. There is what we call "incest". In other words, a male member of the family has a sexual relationship with a girl in the family and then she falls pregnant. In the principal Act, we were trying to address those unpleasant circumstances where incest takes place within families because most people do not report these things. They just sweep them under the carpet and they do not say anything about them. Instead, they go to illegal places to terminate pregnancy. With this Act, we create a situation where a person would go to a legal facility to have her pregnancy terminated.
We are not talking about abortion here. I believe that animals are doing abortions; people are terminating pregnancy so that a person uses her right as a woman and decides what she wants to do with her body. Furthermore, it is not like a person wakes up in the morning to go shopping when she is thinking of going to terminate her pregnancy. A person thinks hard before she takes a decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy; therefore people should not go around and talk about things they do not understand.
Some people are waking up now after the Children's Act has been accepted, as 12-year-old children are now allowed to use contraceptives. I am trying to explain in this House that we all know that our children do not grow up like we did. When we grew up, we were told not to eat eggs or the beast's kidneys that had been slaughtered in the household. Our children today grow up faster than we did. That is why we have established facilities that will enable us to prevent early pregnancy - but let me make it clear: The child does not go there by herself. She can go with her parent or a legal guardian. Even if the child is going for a physical examination, she must not go alone. There must be an adult who gives consent so that the child's physical needs are cared for.
If members want clarity, they could contact the chairperson of the committee, hon Joyce Masilo, because she is here. She will explain everything. As a committee, we would like to propose that our report be adopted in this House to enable the MECs and the Minister of Health to register the facilities so that they become legal, not the fly-by-night facilities. Today, it costs R1000,00 to terminate pregnancy but if a person could go to a registered facility, she could get better medical care at a low cost. Thank you, Chairperson.]
Debate concluded.