Abortion clinic beyond reach of law
Abortion clinic beyond reach of law
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post/Surabaya
After attending to a client Agung (not his real name), an
employee at the office of an abortion clinic in Dukuh Kupang,
Surabaya, begins checking off names on the list of reporters who
regularly come to pick up hush money.
The list contains about 100 names of journalists, many coming
from dubious media companies, who regularly extort money from the
clinic in return for not writing stories about its existence.
"They often come to take their share. Not just anonymous
reporters, but several well-known ones from the local media firms
in Surabaya," Agung said.
A man in the parking lot, who refused to be named, said police
men also made regular visits to the office.
It is located about two kilometers from Surabaya's infamous
prostitute village of Dolly, which said to be the biggest red-
light district in Southeast Asia. Running since 1996 when it was
last shut down by police, the operation has survived the
leadership of former East Java Police chiefs Insp. Gen. Sutanto
from 2001 to 2002 (now National Police chief) and Insp. Gen.
Firman Gani from 2002 to 2004 (now Jakarta Police chief).
Police under the present leadership of Insp. Gen. Edi Sunarno,
meanwhile, claimed they were unaware such an abortion clinic
existed.
A few hours later, a black van stops in front of the office
and several women waiting there get in. Most are young, in their
late teens or early 20s, and some are prostitutes while others
are students.
The van heads toward the residence of "Dr. Stephen" in one of
the upscale neighborhoods in Surabaya; the clinic where the
abortions are carried out.
Security is tight at the residence, with guards outside the
office tightlipped about the house's operations.
A client, "Mia", said that before performing an abortion, the
doctor would explain his reasons for carrying out the abortion --
that it was better to abort an unwanted child than bring it into
the world, especially if there was not enough money to feed it.
He also assured patients abortions were not against most major
religions if the baby was less than three months old.
A student at one of the private universities in Surabaya, said
Mia said it was the second time she had terminated a pregnancy,
the result of a sexually active relationship with her boyfriend
who was also a student.
"It's better to resort to abortion because we cannot afford to
bring a child up at the moment. Besides, it would be a great
shame to the family if I fell pregnant before I got married."
The costs of an abortion range from Rp 1 million to Rp 2
million depending on the age of the fetus. Dr. Stephen performs
about 20 abortions a day.
A procedure with Stephen takes about three hours. After
regaining consciousness from the general anesthetic a patient is
sent back to the office and told to return to the clinic for
checkups each month.
While criticized by religious leaders, the practice of
abortion is supported by many non-government organizations
involved in family planning.
"Abortion is the mother's right," said Djunaidi Saripurnawan,
the research and development coordinator of Plan Indonesia.