Justifying the decision to terminate pregnancies: comparisons of women’s narratives from South Africa and Zimbabwe

Malvern Chiweshe, Rhodes University, South Africa
Jabulile Mavuso, Rhodes University, South Africa
Catriona Macleod, Rhodes University, South Africa

Research that compares the decision-making process regarding abortion in two distinct social and political contexts is few. Drawing on Foucauldian, feminist post-structuralism and post colonialism as well as a narrative-discursive approach, the study sought to explore and compare women’s micro-narratives of the abortion decision-making process in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Purposive sampling was used to recruit a total of 25 participants from three abortion facilities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa and 18 participants from three sites in Harare, Zimbabwe. The participants were in the Eastern Cape ‘Black’ women, mostly unemployed and unmarried with ages ranging between 19 and 35 years old. The study sought to compare how women in these two different locations (illegal vs. legal, safe abortion vs. unsafe abortion and cultural differences) justified the abortion decision given the differences that exist.