Kopanong in a spin over TOP.

IZINDABA A Vereeniging theatre sister has resigned rather than meet Kopanong Hospital's insistence that she scrub for all theatre evacuations, including those involving 'clean ups' after messy abortions. Sister Wilhelmein Charles is the sole remaining objector among more than two dozen theatre colleagues who signed a petition in 2000 refusing to conduct or be associated with terminations of pregnancy (TOP). Her fellow objectors have not protested since and have fallen silent. Kopanong Hospital management feared that granting her 'exceptional' working rights in theatre would lead to a resurgence of conscientious objectors and exacerbate existing staffing problems. Instead they assigned her to a general ward in an attempt to defuse the situation. The dispute is being taken to the Equality Court and may even end up in the Constitutional Court after Doctors For Life heard about it and chose to fight Charles' case. Charles told the SAMJ that although she had offered to scrub for other theatre lists, her seniors insisted that she fall in line with her colleagues. A letter to management outlining her position very early on proved fruitless. Not wanting to 'create conflict', she scrubbed twice for the post-TOP theatre procedure in 2001 when the monthly average in theatre was 15. She told the SAMJ that she felt 'deeply uncomfortable' both as a mother and on religious grounds. 'We wouldn't know whether the fetus was still inside or not, although it was supposed to be expelled in ward 12,' she said. Matters came to a head in March last year when, in spite of a dramatic drop in post-TOP procedures in theatre (less than 1 on average per month), she found herself the senior on night duty in theatre and once again facing the dreaded scenario. With the patient due to arrive, she called a senior nursing colleague who had previously offered to help should such a seemingly unlikely dilemma arise. However, the colleague, who had since moved into management, declined and referred Charles up the chain of command. Charles said she called an area-nursing manager, who told her that because she was the only one available and the doctor was in a hurry, she would have to scrub. 'I did the job but I knew I had the right to refuse,' Charles said. She subsequently presented to management a Doctors For Life pamphlet outlining health care workers' rights and was told that the patient and the institution …