US-funded anti-abortionists violating SA domestic laws

• Journalists uncover a network that gives women false and misleading information about terminations

The government is concerned about the funding of antiabortion campaigners by US lobby groups, it said on Tuesday, adding that they are violating domestic laws.

The constitution gives women the right to terminate unwanted pregnancies.

A nine-month investigation published by the global news organisation openDemocracy on Tuesday has exposed how anti-abortion groups based in the US are actively discouraging women from having abortions in countries around the world, including SA.

Their activities in the country are at odds with the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, which prohibits “directed counselling”, said the department of health’s deputy directorgeneral for communicable and non-communicable diseases, Yogan Pillay.

“We are very concerned. We didn’t realise there were so many of these organisations funded from outside SA. We should be doing everything we can to protect our own legislation,” Pillay said.

Undercover journalists working on openDemocracy’s investigation identified a global network of “pregnancy crisis centres” funded by the Ohiobased Heartbeat International and Virginia-based Human Life International. These organisations are providing women with false and misleading information about abortions. Both groups also oppose contraception.

In Italy, an undercover reporter was told that an abortion can cause cancer and that having a baby can cure serious illness, while in SA a reporter was told that if she had an abortion she could be murdering a future president.

The SA investigation also found two nonprofit organisations that are funded by Heartbeat International and are working inside government health facilities.

Heartbeat International supports 70 local “pregnancy help centres”, run by Africa Cares for Life, according to its website.

Pillay said the department of health will investigate the issues exposed by openDemocracy, and urged the public to report organisations that are breaking the law to the relevant authorities, such as the Health Professions Council of SA.

“We can only intervene if a complaint is laid with us,” Pillay said.

Marion Stevens, director of the Sexual and Reproductive Justice Coalition, said Heart Beat International’s extensive activities in SA exposed the paucity of government services.

“The government is reneging on its responsibilities and relying on nonprofit organisations. There is such a desperate demand for counselling and mental health services that anyone can pop up and offer services in a clinic or regional hospital,” she said.

Nonprofit organisations are required to register with the department of social development, but the department of health is not actively scrutinising their activities, she said.

“There is very little commitment and stewardship from the health department.”

Pillay said the government is trying to improve both contraceptive and abortion services. It has recently issued its first tender for a generic version of the medical abortion pill mifepristone to Medi Challenge, he said, and several other companies are seeking registration for their products with the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority.