Doctor’s for Life is proud to have been a part of the annual National March for Life in Durban on the 5th of October 2014. There were approximately 2300 people from all walks of life who attended, a 50{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} increase on lasts year, and attendance is expected to increase considerably next year.
The National March for Life is an event where all pro life organizations and individuals gather together to show their support for the pro-life movement, and demonstrate their opposition to legal (and illegal) abortion. It is held on the first Sunday of October every year and is promising to grow exponentially. The National Alliance for Life (NAL) can be contacted regarding future events.
In 1997 when the South African public heard that that there were plans to legalize abortion, they insisted on a national referendum which was denied them. They were steamrollered and abortion was legalized by the South African Government.
It was during the process of legalization of abortion that Doctors For Life International was brought into being. It had become clear that somebody would have to oppose legalization and be one of the voices for the unborn. In four of the most important embryology text books, the beginning of the life of a human being is clearly recognized as beginning at conception, and this is the position that Doctors For Life holds.
According to Health Minister Mr Aaron Motsoaledi, statistics show that 94 000 schoolgirls fell pregnant in South Africa in 2011, of which 77 000 had abortions at public facilities. Discussions based on research and sound science will have to be brought to the table to challenge the status quo. It is clear that the law on abortion is not effectively dealing with the social challenges facing the youth, and the crisis that the Department of Health is grappling with.
Prime Minister David Cameron has expressed his opposition to assisted suicide in advance of the issue being debated in Parliament, arguing that people who are terminally ill will feel unfairly pressurized into ending their lives. Mr Cameron has opposed assisted dying before but was speaking out because the private members’ bill drawn up by Lord Charles Falconer is due to be debated in the House of Lords. The bill would allow terminally ill patients to end their lives if two doctors confirm they are unlikely to live more than six months. But opponents to the move, including Lord Carlisle and Baroness Butler-Sloss say safeguards in the bill are inadequate.
