Government leaders in South Africa are pushing a plan to teach school girls about abortions in an effort to combat skyrocketing teen pregnancy rates.
Under the proposed Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) policy, children would learn about “safe” abortions, the morning-after pill and other contraception in school, The Mercury reports.
“The CSE should include counseling on the range of options, including the choice of termination of pregnancy,” the draft policy states.
The Basic Education Department said something must be done to reverse the escalating teen pregnancy rate. In 2015, 15,740 schoolgirls became pregnant in South Africa, according to their data.
While some parts of the proposed policy are encouraging, such as making sure schools accommodate pregnant students and monitor them for signs of abuse, the abortion advocacy part is deeply concerning.
“As parents we support teaching of sexuality. But we have a problem where we talk about termination and contraceptives,” said Matakanye Matakanye, general secretary of the National Association of School Governing Bodies. “It’s just that we don’t have powers as parents. If we had powers, we’d be approaching it by saying you should only have sex when you’re ready.”
But the pro-abortion policy has the support of the teachers’ union and even a national religious group, Diakonia Council of Churches, according to the report.
Abortion activists in the country also support the policy, claiming it could “save lives” by teaching girls where to get “safe” abortions. This suggests the proposed policy will not teach girls that an abortion destroys a unique, living human being, their unborn child. Instead, it will teach impressionable young girls that abortion is an acceptable option.
This troubles Freedom of Religion SA Executive Director Michael Swain.
Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com
“Obviously, it’s important for children to understand pregnancy and how to avoid an unwanted pregnancy,” he told the news outlet. “What we believe is a negative thing is when abortion is put forward as well, (that) if you do fall pregnant then the first option that you have is abortion.
“We believe the first thing that should be taught is to avoid pregnancy, either through contraception teaching or by abstinence. There are also other options to look into, like putting the child up for adoption or foster care,” Swain continued.
In America, abortion activists also are trying to push abortion on impressionable school children. Last week, Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit challenging a new Trump administration policy that prioritize abstinence and other sexual risk avoidance strategies in sex education programs. Planned Parenthood teaches sex education in public schools across the country and promotes risky sexual behavior to vulnerable young teens.
