Teenager critical after abortion

A PREGNANT teenager was admitted to hospital after becoming violently ill when a suspected illegal abortion clinic in Port Elizabeth allegedly gave her liver disease pills to terminate her late-term pregnancy.

Senior management at Dora Nginza Hospital have called for a criminal probe into the well organised clinic – allegedly run by a registered "general" nurse – following the 17-year-old's admission to its intensive care unit after following instructions on how to take the medication.

Police are already investigating the case, which has highlighted some of the horror practices involving desperate young women at such illegal clinics in the Eastern Cape.

Since the beginning of the year, there have been 14 emergency operations at Dora Nginza involving patients who had illegal abortions. - Estelle Ellis