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CAPE TOWN – A Botswana government official has decried the increase in the number of abortions in her country, saying government should consider legalising the operation, a report says.
Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Botlogile Tshireletso said women in Botswana were forced to conduct illegal backstreet abortions as the operation was forbidden by the law, according to a Xinhua report.
Tshireletso said Botswana should follow countries like South Africa and Cape Verde where abortion is legal, adding the move would end the “real tragedy” of backstreet terminations of pregnancy in the country.
She said women resorted to illegal abortions due to high levels of poverty and lack of support from their partners.
Statistics reveal that 450 incidents of illegal abortions were registered in 2012 in Botswana, while in 2013 until October, a total of 530 cases were reported.
The report comes at a time when South Africa announced early this month that a total of 82 920 abortions were performed across all nine provinces of the country during the period April 2012 to April this year.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the termination of pregnancies were performed at an average rate of more than 200 a day. — News24
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