CAPE TOWN, South Africa (LifeSiteNews) – A pro-life doctor in South Africa can now begin practicing medicine again, after having been suspended for five years for advising a woman against abortion.
Dr. Jacques De Vos received notice last week from the Health Professions Council of South Africa that the five-year suspension of his medical license is now lifted. De Vos had been prohibited from practicing medicine in 2017 as he neared the end of his medical training as an intern at 2 Military Hospital in Wynberg, South Africa, and was then charged with unprofessional conduct for an attempt to dissuade a patient from an abortion.
According to LifeNews, the accusation leveled against him by the Health Professions Council was that he had counseled a woman who was 19 weeks pregnant against an abortion, telling her that life begins at conception, her “fetus was a human being,” and abortion kills an unborn human. These charges were dropped in 2020, but the suspension of his medical license remained in effect until now.
During the hearing of the case prior to the withdrawal of charges, De Vos defended his statements on the human life of the unborn with third-party medical testimony and evidence. Based on that evidence, he hoped for full acquittal from the court.
According to LifeNews, in 2020, De Vos’ lawyer said of the hearings, “While we view the withdrawal as the closing of their case, our client had already made a plea and as such he is entitled to an acquittal. We presented expert evidence to the panel which has never been contradicted, so they must pronounce on it and tell us that a doctor who acts in that way is not in breach of his ethical duty.”
According to the local report of Cape Argus, MP Marie Sukers, a politician with the African Christian Democratic Party, said of the recent lifting of the De Vos’ suspension, “This is a massive victory in the battle for the sanctity of human life. It is also a major step in the right direction to guarantee the unborn child the reasonable protection that it deserves.”
“He can once again make a crucial difference in the lives of our people, especially in that of the unborn.”
Since 1996, South Africa has allowed abortion on demand and taxpayer-funded abortion. At the time, Nelson Mandela signed the legislation that broadly legalized abortion, titled the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Bill.