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A South African Doctor faces charges for saying a foetus is a human being

A pro-life doctor in South Africa is facing charges for telling a patient that a foetus is a human being.

The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) are hearing a case against a doctor, Jacques de Vos, who is faceing charges of unprofessional conduct and has been prohibited from practicing medicine due to his views on abortion, according to Sowetan Live.

In December 2016, the former intern at 2 Military Hospital in Wynberg discussed the nature of pregnancy and abortion with a patient. During the consultation he supposedly told the patient that a foetus was a human being.

Furthermore, he allegedly likened abortion to killing an unborn human, while working for the gynaecology division during his intern year.

The complainant alleges Dr de Vos tried to infringe her autonomy with his anti-abortion utterances.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK Catherine Robinson said:

“This case is nothing short of incredible. That a foetus is human is a well established scientific fact and to claim otherwise demonstrates a complete failure to grasp basic human biology.”

“If this doctor, or any medical doctor, claimed that a foetus was not a human being, it would raise serious questions about the value of their medical training.”

Dear reader,

You may be surprised to learn that our 24-week abortion time limit is out of line with the majority of European Union countries, where the most common time limit for abortion on demand or on broad social grounds is 12 weeks gestation.

The latest guidance from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine enables doctors to intervene to save premature babies from 22 weeks. The latest research indicates that a significant number of babies born at 22 weeks gestation can survive outside the womb, and this number increases with proactive perinatal care.

This leaves a real contradiction in British law. In one room of a hospital, doctors could be working to save a baby born alive at 23 weeks whilst, in another room of that same hospital, a doctor could perform an abortion that would end the life of a baby at the same age.

The majority of the British population support reducing the time limit. Polling has shown that 70% of British women favour a reduction in the time limit from 24 weeks to 20 weeks or below.

Please click the button below to sign the petition to the Prime Minister, asking him to do everything in his power to reduce the abortion time limit.