{"id":1597,"date":"2020-11-06T16:30:32","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T14:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/?page_id=1597"},"modified":"2020-11-09T12:47:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-09T10:47:10","slug":"abortion","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/index.php\/projects\/gender-research-advocacy-grap\/abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\">[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1596 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-e1604671672619.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"513\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-e1604671672619.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-e1604671672619-600x160.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-e1604671672619-1024x274.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-e1604671672619-768x205.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-e1604671672619-1536x410.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-e1604671672619-640x171.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-e1604671672619-400x107.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-e1604671672619-367x98.jpg 367w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/> <strong>\r\nCurrent law<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe relevant Namibian law is the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/laws\/annoSTAT\/Abortion%20and%20Sterilization%20Act%202%20of%201975.pdf\">Abortion and Sterilization Act 2 of 1975<\/a> <\/strong>inherited from South Africa at independence. This law allows abortion only in these circumstances:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>where continuing the pregnancy will endanger the woman\u2019s life or constitute a serious threat to her physical or mental health<\/li>\r\n \t<li>there is a serious risk that the child will suffer from a physical or mental defect that will result in an irreparable and serious handicap<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the pregnancy resulted from rape, incest or unlawful carnal intercourse with a woman who has a severe mental incapacity.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nTwo medical practitioners must provide a certificate verifying the grounds for abortion. Where the basis for the abortion is unlawful intercourse (rape or incest), a certificate from a magistrate is also necessary. Abortion in any other circumstances is a criminal offence for both the woman who seeks it and the person who performs it. The punishment is a fine of up to N$5 000 or imprisonment for up to five years, or both.\r\nThe criminalisation of abortion has driven many Namibian women to unsafe abortions.10 The contribution of unsafe abortion to maternal deaths is not known, but the little data that is available suggests that it may account for 12 to 16% of Namibia\u2019s annual maternal deaths.\r\n\r\n <strong>How many abortions (legal and illegal) take place in Namibia each year? <\/strong>\r\n\r\n<em>We do not know the answer to this question.<\/em>\r\nIt is difficult to count abortions in practice because people want to keep it secret if they have done something illegal. Women who can afford it will most likely travel to neighbouring South Africa to access legal abortion services (abortion has been available on request during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy in South Africa since 1996), while the practice of \u2018<strong>baby dumping<\/strong>\u2019 is a common occurrence which may result from the inability to access abortion.\r\nNamibian Police statistics indicated that they received the following:\r\n\r\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1603 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-stats-1024x76.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"76\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-stats-1024x76.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-stats-600x44.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-stats-768x57.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-stats-640x47.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-stats-400x30.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-stats-367x27.jpg 367w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]<div class=\"porto-content-box featured-boxes wpb_content_element \"><div class=\"featured-box featured-box-secondary  align-left\"><div class=\"box-content\" style=\"\">[vc_column_text]<strong>Beware of misleading statistics<\/strong>\r\nFormer Namibian Minister of Health and Social Services Dr Bernard Haufiku stated at one stage that over 7 000 women and girls had accessed health services with abortion-related complications in 2016.12 However, a closer examination of the statistics showed that this number actually referred mostly to \u201cspontaneous abortions\u201d (miscarriages)[\/vc_column_text]<\/div><\/div><\/div>[vc_column_text]<strong>Attitudes in Namibia: <\/strong>\r\n\r\nIn June 2020, calls for legalising abortion in Namibia intensified, A petition to amend the law to increase access to legal abortion in Namibia has attracted over 60 000 signatures by September 2020.14 The authors of the petition proposed that the right to access legal abortion should be accompanied by education relating to sexual health and reproductive rights to prevent unwanted pregnancies and baby dumping.15 Attempts to liberalise the law on abortion have been met with strong opposition from religious groups and some women\u2019s groups and politicians.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]<div class=\"porto-content-box featured-boxes wpb_content_element \"><div class=\"featured-box featured-box-secondary  align-left\"><div class=\"box-content\" style=\"\">[vc_column_text]<strong>Legal Assistance Centre stance on abortion<\/strong>\r\nThe Legal Assistance Centre supports law reform which would expand freedom of choice in respect of abortion in support of women\u2019s reproductive rights. Although some of our staff members oppose abortion on moral or religious grounds, we believe that the decision is a matter of personal conscience which should not be mandated by the law in the absence of any scientific or human rights-based consensus on the issue. Furthermore, purely religious views cannot be imposed on the public by law in a secular state like Namibia. We advocate that increased scope to decide on whether or not to have an abortion should be coupled with:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>improved access to family planning measures for girls and women of all ages;<\/li>\r\n \t<li>continued action to prevent gender-based violence and gender inequality which can lead to unwanted pregnancies; and<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the provision of information before a decision on abortion is made since many people do not know about options such as foster care, adoption, or the mechanisms they can use to secure financial support from the father or the State.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n[\/vc_column_text]<\/div><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Please read the full report<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/projects\/grap\/Pdf\/abortion_facts-2020.pdf\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1601 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-pdf-link-1024x198.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-pdf-link-1024x198.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-pdf-link-600x116.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-pdf-link-768x148.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-pdf-link-640x124.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-pdf-link-400x77.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-pdf-link-367x71.jpg 367w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<!-- \/wp:post-content --><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Current law The relevant Namibian law is the Abortion and Sterilization Act 2 of 1975 inherited from South Africa at independence. This law allows abortion only in these circumstances: where continuing the pregnancy will endanger the woman\u2019s life or constitute a serious threat to her physical or mental health there is a serious risk [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":97,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1597","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Abortion - Legal Assistance Centre<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Laws on abortion in Namibia, family planning, adoption, fostercare and maintenance and statistics.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/index.php\/projects\/gender-research-advocacy-grap\/abortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abortion - Legal Assistance Centre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Laws on abortion in Namibia, family planning, adoption, fostercare and maintenance and statistics.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/index.php\/projects\/gender-research-advocacy-grap\/abortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Legal Assistance Centre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LACNamibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-09T10:47:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-e1604671672619.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LACNamibia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/index.php\/projects\/gender-research-advocacy-grap\/abortion\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/index.php\/projects\/gender-research-advocacy-grap\/abortion\/\",\"name\":\"Abortion - Legal Assistance Centre\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/index.php\/projects\/gender-research-advocacy-grap\/abortion\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/index.php\/projects\/gender-research-advocacy-grap\/abortion\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-e1604671672619.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-06T14:30:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-09T10:47:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"Laws on abortion in Namibia, family planning, adoption, fostercare and maintenance and statistics.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/index.php\/projects\/gender-research-advocacy-grap\/abortion\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/index.php\/projects\/gender-research-advocacy-grap\/abortion\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/index.php\/projects\/gender-research-advocacy-grap\/abortion\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-e1604671672619.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/grap-abortion-e1604671672619.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":513},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/index.php\/projects\/gender-research-advocacy-grap\/abortion\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Projects\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.lac.org.na\/index.php\/projects\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Gender Research &#038; 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