South African geneticists' attitudes to the present Abortion and Sterilisation Act of 1975.

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To ascertain the attitudes of clinical geneticists and genetic counsellors practising in South Africa to the current Abortion and Sterilisation Act of 1975 (the Act).

DESIGN

Postal questionnaire.

MAIN RESULTS

Ninety-two per cent of the questionnaires were returned, and the responses were comparable to those of the South African Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1990 and the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa in 1992. No respondent felt that the Act should be more restrictive, and only 4 (17.4%) felt that it was acceptable in its present form. Section 3(1)(c) of the Act, which relates to termination of pregnancy (TOP) on genetic grounds, was acceptable in its present form to 13 respondents (56.5%), but 16 (69.7%) considered that TOP on genetic grounds should not be curtailed in future legislation.

CONCLUSION

The geneticists' attitudes to the present Act concurred with those of the obstetricians and psychiatrists previously documented, and confirmed the need for review of the Act. All three specialist groups appeared to support an increase in the indications for legal TOP rather than the introduction of TOP on request up to a specified post-conceptual age. With regard to Section 3(1)(c), the geneticists' responses indicated an acceptance of the limitations of the present Act, coupled with concern about the implications of future changes to this section of the Act.