Need an abortion clinic?
With our service, you can manage your abortion at home using pills if your pregnancy is 10 weeks or less.
If your pregnancy is 10 weeks or more, you can visit a safe abortion clinic. Abortion is legal up to 20 weeks in South Africa. After 20 weeks abortion is possible only in cases of fetal abnormality or where there is a risk to the pregnant person’s life.
Where can you find an abortion clinic?
You can visit the WhereToCare map to find public and private clinics that offer abortion services. Please turn on your mobile data service, enable location services when asked, and select ‘Comprehensive Family Planning Services’ – the map will show clinics nearby.
You can visit any government clinic. Most clinics should offer abortion up to 12 weeks and 6 days gestational age. If the clinic does not offer abortion services at all or care for the gestational age of your pregnancy, they must refer you to a hospital or clinic that can help. You must start at a clinic, to get care at a higher level healthcare facility, you will need a referral letter.
Alternatively, you can visit a private abortion clinic, like BMM Reproductive Health (Johannesburg), Marie Stopes (various locations) or a gynaecologist.
Please go to the clinic as soon as possible as it can take some time to get an appointment.
The Siza Map was updated less recently but may also be of use.
How much does an abortion cost?
Abortion is free at government clinics – even if you are undocumented, a refugee, an immigrant, or not a South African citizen.
Abortion Support offers a low-cost option if you 10 weeks pregnant or less. Our service is free – you only pay R220 to the pharmacy for the medication. Our partner doctors provide a prescription so you can collect your medication, instructions on how to safely use abortion pills at home, and support throughout the process.
Private clinics charge a fee, usually starting at R1 500 or more. The cost depends on how far along the pregnancy is – for example, it might be R1 500–R2 000 for abortions under 9 weeks, and more than R3 000 for later care.
How far along is your pregnancy?
Some clinics only offer abortion for pregnancies up to 12 weeks and 6 days, while others can provide care later in pregnancy. If you are more than 12 weeks and 6 days, it’s important to find a clinic that offers services for your pregnancy duration.
There are only a few public health facilities in South Africa that offer abortion after 12 weeks and 6 days. However, the government has a legal obligation to ensure you can access this care. For this reason, it’s important to act as soon as possible – finding a clinic early helps you get an appointment before the legal time limit.
After 12 weeks and 6 days, you may be asked to give a reason for the abortion. Legally accepted reasons include:
- You cannot afford to have a child or another child
- The pregnancy is the result of rape or incest
- The fetus has a serious problem or is unlikely to survive
- Continuing the pregnancy would be bad for your mental or physical health
How do you know if a clinic is safe?
Some pregnant people may choose informal or ‘backstreet’ abortion services. These services may not be safe, and treatments may not be effective. We advise that you try to find a doctor or nurse who is properly trained and registered.
To check if your provider is legitimate, you can ask for their registration number.
For doctors this is called an HPCSA number. You can check the validity of the number here.
To search, only enter the HPCSA number including the letters ‘MP’ (e.g MP0510343) – don’t enter any other details. If a doctor does not appear in this register, they may not be safe.
For nurses, this is called a SANCA number and you can check the validity of the number here. If a nurse does not appear in this register they may not be safe.
Your provider may not be safe if they:
– give you any medicine other than Misoprostol, Mifegyne (mifepristone) or painkillers,
– do not check how far along your pregnancy is either by ultrasound or asking about your menstruation,
– use phrases like ‘pain free’ unfortunately medical abortion usually involves some pain,
– use phrases like ‘womb cleaning’ or ‘same day’,
– offer to meet you somewhere away from a clinic or pharmacy to give you medication.
It may not always be possible to use a legal provider. If you want to check that the instructions provided are correct or that the medicines you bought are legit, send us an email with a photo of your medicines and we will try to help.