Masters Degrees (Sociology and Social Anthropology)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Sociology and Social Anthropology) by Subject "Abortion -- South Africa"

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    Nursing the stigma : conflicting realities of abortion
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-11-27) Raad, Rene; Cousins, Thomas; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In 1996, South African women gained the right to exercise “control over their bodies” through the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act (CTOPA). This was a crucial advance for women, as it represented the recognition of reproductive rights by South Africa’s first democratically elected government. In 2018, despite having this public service available, many South African women still seek out informal abortion services or pay to have their pregnancy terminated at private healthcare facilities. With the legal framework of the CTOPA supporting a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy, there should be little need for additional services outside of the public healthcare sector, yet the large number of advertisements for unaccredited abortion services plastered on the walls of public transport and lamp posts suggest otherwise. Various explanations are offered for why women do not make use of state-sanctioned, formal abortion services, including social stigmatization, religious dissuasion, and lack of knowledge of available services. Another possible reason that deters South African women seeking to safely terminate their pregnancies is that public healthcare providers leave women feeling degraded and ashamed. In this thesis, however, I examine the experiences and perspectives of those who are involved in providing safe and legal abortion services and explore how these providers navigate the moral ambiguities of a woman’s right to choose. By spending time in three non-governmental organization healthcare facilities, I reflect on the experiences of Termination of Pregnancy providers in their everyday life – experiences that are constituted and mediated by the various collectives with whom they identify and in which they form their individual moral codes. I do this to understand better how ethical and moral dilemmas are negotiated and how this shapes the understanding of what it means to access the right to safe and legal termination of pregnancy.