South Africa's youth league proposes to give the pill to 12-year-olds

South Africa's youth league proposes to give the pill to 12-year-olds

2011-05-01 21:38:37 GMT+7 (ICT)

JOHANNESBURG (BNO NEWS) -- The youth league of South Africa's ruling party proposed that the government gives contraception to 12-year-old girls to stop teenage pregnancies, City Press reported on Sunday.

The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) describes teenage pregnancy as a "perennial societal problem" and thus it supports the "mandatory initiation into contraception for all adolescent girls from the age of 12 to curb teenage pregnancy".

Katharine Hall, a senior researcher for the Children's Institute at the University of Cape Town, said the proposal would likely jeopardize children's rights. She said it would be in contravention of the new Children's Act, which already made provision for 12-year-olds to access contraceptives, but it is not mandatory.

The ANCYL is also proposing legalizing prostitution and raising the age limit for buying alcohol from 18 to 21. The proposals are part of the ANCYL's education and health discussion paper for its 24th national congress in June.

ANCYL declined to comment on the report.

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