March 11, 2005 The Rose Clinic have filed a Defence Plea in the Durban High Court action which Doctors for Life are conducting on behalf of Crystal Osler the Danville Park schoolgirl who had an abortion in her matric year. She claims R250 000 damages against the clinic because the abortion was illegal, and against the school who arranged the abortion behind her parents’ back. In their Defence Plea the Clinic says: The abortion was legal because it was done by a qualified midwife at no more than 20 weeks. Doctors for Life have alleged in their pleading: 1. The abortion was illegal because it was done without a doctor – that makes it illegal under the Abortion Act at anything over 12 weeks. The Rose Clinic do not deny the midwife acted alone. 2. The midwife recorded in writing on the clinic’s form (held by the Police) the date of Crystal’s last menstrual period as 8/10/03 – 20 weeks and 3 days before the abortion date of 28 February 2004. The midwife also wrote “20/40” to signify a 20 week pregnancy. 3. The government pathologist carried out a post-mortem on Crystal’s son whose birth was induced by the abortion and found him to be a 28 week baby. The Headmistress and School Counsellor have yet to file a Defence Plea; they are out of time. ‘Doctors for Life International’ represents more than 1000 medical doctors and specialists, three-quarters of who practise in South Africa. DFL was founded as a South African organisation in 1991 and has spread across the globe. DFL is involved in several community projects including orphan care, the care of terminal AIDS patients, malaria treatment and the care of abused women. More press releases on this topic.
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