The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) said it doesn't believe "unrestricted access to abortion (pro-choice)" is in the best interests of a moral society. 

This comes as the party held a two-day national policy conference in Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal, where the party adopted several draft policy documents to be ratified by its leadership after the Christmas period.

The party's draft policy on health said: "The conceptualisation of abortion as a form of contraception is ethically dubious, and of considerable danger to a population which is experiencing an Aids epidemic."

The IFP will conduct public hearings with a view to amend the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act. 2.6 Universal Provision of Free Basic Health, the party said.

"The legality of abortion is still one of the most controversial issues of our times," the draft policy said. 

It added: 

At one extreme there is the view, based on religious principles, which abortion amounts to murder of the unborn child and is never justified. At the other extreme there is the view that the woman is autonomous as far as her own body is concerned, and that the embryo or foetus is part of her body with which she can freely do as she wishes.

The policy document added between the "two extremes", there is a range of views on the limits within which abortion may be or should be justifiable. 

The draft policy added: "In many countries of the world, particularly in the West, the 20th century has seen the societal attitude towards abortion become more lenient".

The leniency spread to this country when the Choice of Termination of Pregnancy (CTOP) Act 92 of 1996 was effected on 1 February 1997, resulting to the abolishment of the Abortion and Sterilisation Act of 1975.

The party said CTOP Act No. 38 of 2004, which came into law in 2005, amended the main CTOP Act to expand access to abortions. 

"It allowed registered nurses, as well as registered midwives, to perform abortions up to the 12th week of pregnancy. It delegated to the provincial MECs the power to approve and disapprove abortion facilities and the power to make regulations under the act, powers which had previously belonged to the national minister of health," the draft policy on abortion said. 

The CTOP Act also introduced a provision that exempts facilities with a 24-hour maternity service from needing the MEC's approval to perform abortions in the first 12 weeks.

Dr Bonginkosi Buthelezi said people shouldn't use abortions as a form of contraceptives. "We have always opposed CTOP and we still continue to stand on that position because if you look at the number of teenage pregnancies - about 90 000 in the whole country - that tells us that we should strengthen the contraceptives. We don't support unrestricted access [to abortions].

"It's not a wise policy [CTOP] because it encourages abortion to be used as one of the methods of contraceptives."

Academic, Marion Stevens, the outgoing founding director of the Sexual and Reproductive Justice Coalition in SA, said abortion is not a contraception option.

Contraception options are pills, patches, IUDs (Intrauterine Device) and the loop, among others.

She took exception with the line that said "unrestricted access to abortion (pro-choice)" in the draft policy. She also said there is no unrestricted access for abortions in South Africa. 

"Our law governs very particular parameters on which you can go to a clinic and have an abortion. Even then we're not matching our law with delivery because only 5% to 7% facilities are providing services," Stevens said. 

She said the use of the term "pro-choice" and other issues in the draft statement showed that American political language had filtered into the IFP's drafting of the policy.

Stevens said: 

If you look at the current guidelines within the health department, they're framed within the context of 'reproductive justice', particularly because we've had a legacy of population control, which essentially has sought to police black bodies.

Abortion and contraception are two different medical packages and the former isn't a contraception option, she said. 

"Whoever is saying abortion is a form of contraception is probably listening to right-wing American speak because that's what Republicans say," Stevens said. 

The IFP held seven commissions on health, cooperative governance and traditional affairs, among others, until 21:00 on Tuesday.

The content coming out of the commissions could inform final policy positions.

Delegates zeroed in on a range of issues, including immigration, the Israel-Palestine war, the crises at SA home affairs, safety and security, among other things.

A recurring theme from the policy conference was how they would devolve powers in several government functions. 

However, uMhlathuze Municipality Mayor Xolani Ngwezi was emphatic that the provinces as South Africans know them won't go away. He said the IFP had fought for those in the lead up to the advent of the democracy in 1994.

Education

A draft policy document on education states the IFP's belief that education bears great development for individuals.

The party proposed that a clause on free education must be added in the Constitution. 

"By including this clause, the party aims to ensure that everyone has equal access to high-quality education, regardless of financial means. Recognising education as a basic right, the IFP asserts that constitutionally ensuring free education will promote fairness, empower individuals, and contribute to the nation's overall growth and advancement," the policy document said. 

Another grant

IFP Youth Brigade national secretary Mlungisi Mabaso proposed a monthly R3 000 grant aimed at helping young graduates transition from unemployment to workplaces. 

This would assist in travelling and other needs for graduates in this transition phase.

He said this would be a separate grant from other grants, such as the one that already assists the unemployed. 

The party also called for reforms at the United Nations, with national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa saying that the power of veto made the organisation polarising. 

The IFP reiterated its support for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine to end the Middle East war– the party also condemned the Hamas organisation.