Cape Town - People opposed to abortion marched to Parliament on Thursday to “mourn” all baby deaths due to the procedure.
The march took the form of a funeral procession, led by a hearse.
The event was hosted by the Christian Action Network, which said it was in memory of the hundreds of thousands of babies killed by abortion who never had a funeral.
The network said that on February 1, 1997, abortion was legalised in South Africa, and by February 1, 2019 - today - an estimated 1600000 abortions had been performed
The provincial health department said since April last year, 12340 “legal and safe” termination of pregnancies had been performed at 40 public health facilities.
Melissa Hertz, 32, from the organisation Project Life, took part in the march. She said she had an abortion when she was 14.
“I was too young to have a baby and had an abortion. Today, our organisation teaches young and old women the dangers of abortions. Women who do not want their babies and are thinking about abortion can contact my organisation and we will take care of the babies.
“In most cases, young girls who get pregnant do not know what to do. But there are also older women having abortions.”
The spokesperson for the Department of Health, Mark van der Heever, said government hospitals, primary health-care facilities, designated private doctors and gynaecologists, and non-profit providers such as the Marie Stopes centres in the Western Cape, performed abortions.
“To have a free abortion, clients can request the service at a primary health-care clinic, where the pregnancy will be confirmed, counselling provided, an appointment made, and the client referred to the nearest facility where the procedure can be performed.
“Women are advised to go for safe, legal abortions rather than ‘backstreet’ abortions that are likely to endanger their health and their lives,” said Van der Heever.