Op-ed: Reproductive Justice: The missing issue in party manifestos for 2019 Election By Louise Carmody and Marion Stevens
In every election period, political parties commit to improving service delivery, the economy, and tackling the enormous wealth, race and gender inequalities within South Africa. At 51% of the population, and 55% of the electorate, women outnumber men, yet politicians rarely address policies towards increasing their access to sexual and reproductive health services, especially in poor communities.
Lesedi*, 46 and a mother of six, explained that her community in rural Mpumalanga is “very poor, [with] less service delivery” and she wants the elections to bring change.I want to see our children working and living a healthy life and pregnant women [being] taken care of at the clinic, at home and in the community.”
Over 60% of birth certificates in South Africa do not include paternal details. Antenatal care is free in South Africa, but women described that they struggled to find support from their partners during their pregnancies and had limited access to adequate nutrition. Siyabonga also worries that unplanned pregnancy rates may spike after the community health centre in her area experienced stockouts of contraceptive options between November 2018 and February 2019.The community health centre in her community also fails to provide abortion services. The nearest service is at a hospital more than 40km away, a journey that costs R130 – which most cannot afford. Siyabonga told us that as a result, many women cannot access abortion services.
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