Law-making process challenged in Constitutional Court

Doctor\'s for Life International says four health Bills were passed without proper participation by the public. The Bills in question, according to an SABC News report, are the Choice of Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill, the Traditional Health Practitioners Bill, the Sterilisation Amendment Bill and the Dental Technicians Amendment Bill. ‘When a Bill goes to the NCOP, the purpose is that people who live away from Cape Town can have a say. (This was) not done with these four Bills. It\'s often not done in other many Bills,’ said John Smythe, a Doctors for Life official. A Business Day says Doctors for Life wanted the court to declare the conduct of the National Council of Provinces was inconsistent with the Constitution because the council failed to facilitate public participation in its discussion of the Bills. Advocate Kemp Kemp for the doctors’ group said that while some of these Bills had been enacted, the group did not want to the laws declared invalid. Kemp said the court should grant an order that would allow for further public comment or possible amendments to the laws. In its defence, Parliament says it met its constitutional obligations. Full SABC News report Full Business Day report