[WATCH] The personal is political: 3 ways US abortion politics could affect SA

In South Africa, the Choice on Termination Act protects the rights of a person to have access to a safe abortion, as does the Constitution.

The reversal of Roe v. Wade won’t have much of an effect on abortion laws in the country but it’s hard to get an abortion in South Africa anyhow.

The effect of a sea-change in American abortion politics will be felt more on a social, political and economic level rather than a legal one. Watch this short video to find out what legal and policy experts expect to happen.

America’s highest court – the Supreme Court – has overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalised abortions in the United States. What sort of ripple effect will that have in SA? Legally, none. But there are other ways we could be affected.

Read the full script here

Yolanda Mdzeke

Yolanda Mdzeke is a multimedia reporter at Bhekisisa.

Joan van Dyk

Joan van Dyk was a health journalist, senior health journalist and news editor at Bhekisisa between 2017 and 2023.

[WATCH] The personal is political: 3 ways US abortion politics could affect SA

Yolanda Mdzeke

Joan van Dyk

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