Africa News
South Africa floats idea to give the pill to 12-year-olds
May 1, 2011, 12:52 GMT
Johannesburg - The youth league of South Africa's ruling party has proposed that 12-year-old girls be given birth control pills, to prevent unwanted pregnancies, City Press reported Sunday.
The report said the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) had a position paper which recommends the 'mandatory initiation into contraception for all adolescent girls from the age of 12 to curb teenage pregnancy.'
A spokesman for ANCYL declined to comment on the report.
The league is also supporting legalising prostitution and raising the age limit for buying alcohol from 18 to 21, ahead of its next national congress in June.
Katharine Hall, a senior researcher for the Children's Institute at the University of Cape Town, said the proposal to distribute the pill to minors would likely violate children's rights and could hurt the effort to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS.
With more than 5 million people estimated to be living with HIV, South Africa is believed to be the country with the highest number of citizens with the virus.
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