The Citizen (Gauteng)

Abstain from risky behaviour

- Kekeletso Nakeli-Dhliwayo

Iam all for the right to choose. The body of a woman belongs only to her and she should have the right to make every decision that affects that body. Not a single soul on this earth will tell me how to manage and handle my body. It is mine and so should the decisions be that I make concerning my body. That being said, as we all know, we are in the silly season, but can we just limit how silly we get?

Morning-after pills, monthly injections and monthly contracept­ive pills – that’s how you remedy the possibilit­y of a pregnancy post unprotecte­d sex.

A back-street abortion after the legally allowed gestation period, flushing a living foetus down a toilet, wrapping a baby in a plastic bag and leaving it for dead in a veld. Those are not, and will never be, remedial actions for carelessne­ss. It simply makes one a murderer.

December festivitie­s come with a carelessne­ss that just cannot be explained.

Come September next year, the days of Saps members are filled with the recovery of children born to women who did not want them – and men who do not even remember that they had an encounter with the woman after a night of carelessne­ss.

As a society, how do we remedy the fact that we have such little regard for human life?

The government has been fair. It allows for the terminatio­n of pregnancy, but with limitation­s. How do we justify ignoring limitation­s that were guided by medical science? Government is advised by medical doctors, specialist­s and research.

Some countries outlaw abortions.

Parents, with the help of government, need to teach their children that unprotecte­d sex will lead to unplanned pregnancie­s, never mind the possibilit­y of all sorts of diseases.

And it is not just the women and girls of our society who need to be educated in this regard, but men and boys, too.

A man is an active participan­t in the making of these children.

Like I said, I am pro-choice. But with every right comes a responsibi­lity. This festive season, let us make the choice to abstain from risky behaviour.

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