Education vital to prevent abortions

Education vital to prevent abortions

The recent case of dumped fetuses in Jakarta has unveiled more
shocking facts. It is said that hundreds of fetuses are being
dumped in the capital everyday. Medical doctor Sugiat A. Sumadi,
chief of the Council for Health Development of the large Moslem
organization Muhammadiyah discusses the problems related to
abortion.

Question: Chairman of the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI)
Azrul Azwar has suggested that abortion be legalized. Do you
think that legalizing it will help?

Answer: No. Whether abortion is legalized or not, the result
will be the same -- the demand for abortion will remain high.

Q: Why?

A: The demand for abortion has actually been high since the 1970s
when the government promoted the so-called "menstruation
regulation", a method of early abortion, with the aim of reducing
the country's maternal mortality rate. There was also a
commitment that prosecution offices would not bring such cases to
court.

The demand for abortion is now still on an upward trend
because the number of unwanted pregnancies is increasing, while
facilities are available to handle abortion.

That is why the number of abortion practices is very high, far
higher than that ever reported by the press, particularly in big
cities.

Q: Where does the high demand come from?

A: About half comes from women involved in extramarital relations
and the other half from married couples who, for health and
economic considerations, do not want to have more children while
they do not want to join the government-sponsored family planning
program.

Q: So, it is not necessary to revise the Criminal Act, which
forbids abortion, even though the law on health allows abortion
to be conducted for health reasons?

A: No. It will be a shame for us to revise it just because of the
heated discussions while international society continues opposing
it. U.S. President Bill Clinton himself became more popular
because he opposed abortion.

Furthermore, the majority of the Indonesian population are
Moslems who believe that abortion is haram (forbidden).

Q: If the majority of Indonesians are Moslems who believe that
abortion is haram, why are there also Moslem women who have their
pregnancies terminated?

A: In Islam, there are different points of view on abortion. In
1985, the National Agency for Family Planning Coordination asked
Muhammadiyah to send teams to other Moslem countries in the
Middle East where abortion was allowed at certain stages of
pregnancy.

I led one of these teams a few years ago, visiting Egypt,
Tunisia, Algeria and Turkey. Moslems in those countries are
followers of Imam Maliki's school of syariah (Islamic law), which
believes that life begins when the heart of the fetus starts
beating -- at 100 to 120 days.

Most Indonesian Moslems are followers of Imam Syafi'i's
school, which believes that life begins when sperm penetrates an
ovum -- a belief which is also shared by Christians. The
Indonesian doctors' oath, therefore, includes honor to life which
begins with the penetration of sperm and ovum.

Because there is a school which allows abortion before the
heart of the fetus starts beating, many Indonesian women,
particularly those following Imam Maliki's school, do not feel
guilty when they have their pregnancies terminated. Such practice
is, therefore, not regarded as murder.

But Islamic teachings of whatever school allow abortion which
is conducted for health reasons.

Q: Then what are the benefits of legalizing abortion if the IDI
chairman suggested it?

A: There will be some benefits from the health point of view.
When abortion is regarded as legal, society will get better
information on abortion practices, medical doctors can carry out
abortion practices in accordance with regulations, bleeding and
mortality among women can be reduced and the number of unwanted
children, who usually face psychological and social troubles
during their lives, will be reduced.

But the legalization of abortion should meet at least three
conditions -- the age of pregnancy must not have reached one
month, the abortion practice must be conducted by competent
personnel and the motivation for abortion must be clearly
acceptable and recognized by no less than three experts of
different kinds of competence.

Q: What is the best way to reduce the practice of abortion?

A: Sex education for society. Many young women who do not want to
have children for some reason do not know the signs of pregnancy.
When they are sure that they are pregnant, it is too late and yet
they go ahead with their plans to abort.

Some uneducated women, realizing that they have an unwanted
fetus in their wombs, try to abort them by taking traditional
medicines. When such medicines prove ineffective, they go to
doctors for an abortion even though they have to face high risks.

With education, women and their partners will have better
knowledge that there are many ways to have sexual relations
without producing children. (riz)

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