Doctors demand ruling on legal abortion to curb illegal practice
Doctors demand ruling on legal abortion to curb illegal practice
JAKARTA (JP): Lack of a government regulation in performing
abortions has led to the uncontrolled illegal practice in
Indonesia, obstetricians stated Saturday in a symposium on
abortion.
"It has been eight years since (the issuance of) Health Law
No. 23/1992 and the government hasn't issued a regulation yet,"
obstetrician and gynecology expert Sudarji Sumapraja from the
University of Indonesia said.
Article 15 of the law stipulates that a "certain medical act"
can be performed under emergency circumstances in an effort to
save the life of a pregnant woman and/or her fetus.
The content of the article contradicts itself, Sudarji said.
"A termination of pregnancy is never understood as an effort
to save the fetus," he said.
For years confusion has stemmed from the explanation of the
above article 15. While a "medical act" is allowed in
emergencies, "medical action in the form of abortion, for any
reason, is prohibited, as it violates legal, religious and
decency norms."
Nevertheless many illegal abortion clinics are in operation,
Sudarji said.
Several cases of illegal abortions have shaken the capital in
recent years. The numbers are unrecorded and unknown.
However studies by the World Health Organization (WHO)
estimate an annual 2.3 million abortions in Indonesia. This is
over 50 percent of WHO's estimate of 4.2 million cases in
Southeast Asia.
One of the most widely publicized cases, involving two clinics
in North Jakarta, occurred in March. One of the midwives at one
clinic admitted that the clinic moved from one place to another
to avoid suspicion.
Doctors attending the symposium also demanded an appointed
institution to perform legal abortions soon after the regulation
was made.
Sudarji said that one circumstance in which an abortion should
be performed lawfully is, "when the continuance of the pregnancy
involves greater risk to the life of the woman or a greater risk
of injury to her physical or mental health, than if the pregnancy
were terminated."
He also said that abortion should be performed prior to
viability, which is the ability for the developing fetus to live
on its own if it were delivered by caesarean section or by normal
delivery.
Viability typically occurs sometime after the 21st week after
conception, Sudarji said.
Sudarji said that an abortion should require the opinion of
two doctors and must be performed in a prescribed hospital.
He said to avoid abortion delays because of undetected
pregnancy, women should use pregnancy test pads which are easy to
use. (08)