Comments on abortion
Comments on abortion
From Kompas
Government officials' comments on abortion are confusing and marked by mutual reproach. The police complain that the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) should have informed them about doctors and clinics practicing abortion.
An IDI member stated that he did not agree with abortion but he had not reported any cases to the police. Somebody else said that the act of terminating pregnancy was in violation of the medical code of ethics.
The complaint voiced by the police sounds naive because doctors and clinics practicing abortion are a public secret. The media often add names to their reports on such practices. Follow- up measures were never heard of.
If an IDI member thinks abortion practices are criminal, he or she should report them to the police. I knew about them but did not report them either because I do not think all abortions are criminal. There are cases requiring abortion. It would be better to have it done by a professional for the mother's safety.
In the Indonesian medical code of ethics no mention is made of prohibition on abortion. Moreover in the medical profession abortion is recognized if it is done to save the mother's life.
It is as if all officials like to be seen as saviors of the nation's morals by condemning abortion, while until now there has been no uniform criterion on abortion, neither legally nor medically.
The late Mother Teresa was consistent as a Catholic and did not approve of abortion but she did not condemn it. If there was a woman with an unwanted pregnancy, she would say: "Come to me. I will take care of her until the baby is born. And I will also care for the baby if the parents do not want it." Mother Teresa approached the abortion problem with love, not with condemnation.
In Malaysia where the state religion is Islam, a 1986 law says that an abortion for the mother's health, as a result of rape or incest, can be carried out in a clinic and with a qualified doctor. This is to reduce the maternal mortality rate and the risk of severe physical impairment due to the illegal practice of abortion. The World Health Organization defines health as being not only physical but mental and social as well.
In 1994 Indonesia signed the Cairo Declaration that says: "... determined to eradicate illegal practices of abortion endangering women's health."
What else have we done except condemning? Is there somebody wishing to become a Mother Teresa? Or is there courage to be like Malaysia?
Let us stop the mass hypocrisy in this country.
KARTONO MOHAMAD
Jakarta