Conscientious objection and South African medical practitioners' constructions of termination of pregnancy and emergency contraception

Chiwandire, Desire

Title: Conscientious objection and South African medical practitioners' constructions of termination of pregnancy and emergency contraception
Creator: Chiwandire, Desire
Subject: Abortion -- South Africa
Subject: Abortion -- Moral and ethical aspects -- South Africa
Subject: Emergency contraceptives -- South Africa
Subject: Contraception -- Moral and ethical aspects -- South Africa
Subject: Medical personnel -- Attitudes -- South Africa
Subject: Patients -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- South Africa
Subject: Reproductive rights -- South Africa
Subject: Women's rights -- South Africa
Subject: Liberty of conscience
Date Issued: 2015
Date: 2015
Type: Thesis
Type: Masters
Type: MSocSc
Identifier: vital:2888
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017863
Description: Aim: The 1996 Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act decriminalized abortion in South Africa and the South African Medicines Control Council in 2000 approved the dispensing of emergency contraceptive methods by pharmacists to women without a doctor's prescription. This legislation has been hailed as among the most progressive in the world with respect to women's reproductive justice. However the realisation of these rights in practice has not always met expectations in part due to medical practitioners' ethical objections to termination of pregnancy and the provision of related services. The aim of this study was to interpret the varying ways in which medical practitioners frame termination of pregnancy and emergency contraceptive services, their own professional identities and that of their patients/clients. Methods: Sample of 58 doctors and 59 pharmacists drawn from all nine provinces of South Africa. Data collected using an anonymous confidential internet-based self-administered questionnaire. Participants were randomly recruited from online listings of South African doctors and pharmacists practicing in both private and public sectors. Data were analysed using theoretically derived qualitative content analysis. Results: Participants drew on eight frames to justify their willingness or unwillingness to provide termination-of-pregnancy related services: the foetal life frame, the women's rights frame, the balancing frame, the social justice frame, the do no harm frame, the legal and professional obligation frame, the consequences frame and the moral absolutist frame. Conclusion: Health professionals' willingness or unwillingness to provide termination of pregnancy related services is highly dependent on how they frame or understand termination of pregnancy, and how they understand their own professional identities and those of their patients/clients.
Format: 219 leaves
Format: pdf
Publisher: Rhodes University
Publisher: Faculty of Humanities, Political and International Studies
Language: English
Rights: Chiwandire, Desire

Hits: 4146
Visitors: 4545
Downloads: 720

Collections

Gender Action Forum (GENACT)

RU Department of Political and International Studies

SDG 05. Gender Equality

		Thumbnail	File	Description	Size	Format
View Details Download			SOURCEPDF	PDF	1 MB	Adobe Acrobat PDF	View Details Download