SAAF grantee partner Abortion Support South Africa (ASSA) is part of a group of organisations which has successfully appealed for pharmacists to provide abortion medication without prejudice.
A study carried out by ASSA found that 40% of pharmacists surveyed were implicated in the refusal to provide abortion medications to patients. They wrote an open letter to the council and national department of health to highlight “alarming reports of pharmacists refusing to dispense abortifacients (drugs that induce abortion) despite patients having valid prescriptions.” The South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC) has now issued a notice confirming that pharmacists may not refuse to dispense the drugs based on their personal beliefs.
“When a woman in a rural part of the country is told by the only pharmacist in town that they won’t dispense her valid prescription for abortion medication, this often means she won’t get the help she needs, or she’ll resort to unsafe methods.”
“Pharmacists cannot decide for a woman if she should have an abortion, and they should not push women into the backstreet.”
Executive Director of Abortion Support South Africa Victoria Satchwell