Midwife gets 10 years in jail for abortions on 83 women

BOGOR (JP): The Depok District Court handed down on Thursday a 10-year prison sentence to a midwife for performing abortions on 83 women in three separate maternity clinics in Depok between September 1999 and February 2000.

Presiding judge Roki Panjaitan said 49-year-old Habibah L. Yahya was guilty of violating Paragraph 1, Article 80 of Law No. 23/1992 and Law No. 8/1981 and Article 64 of the Criminal Code on abortions.

The defendant burst into tears upon hearing the verdict although it was three years less than the prosecutor's demand.

She did not say whether she would appeal the verdict.

The midwife's husband was among the few spectators in the courtroom.

Prosecutor Tatang W. said during Thursday's hearing that he was considering an appeal, while the defendant's attorney, M. Natsir, said he could accept the verdict but planned to appeal.

"The aggravating factor was that the defendant performed abortions for financial, not medical or social reasons. Some fetuses were over four months old," judge Panjaitan said.

According to the charges, Habibah, a resident of Cimanggis district, Depok, received between Rp 500,000 and Rp 2 million for each abortion.

"Habibah worked for three maternity clinics: the Anugrah clinic on Jl. Koja No. 29; the Samudra clinic in the Pancoran Mas district; and the Alam Permai clinic, also in Pancoran Mas, all in Depok," Panjaitan said. "She cooperated with two other midwives, Indrayati and Mardianis, in performing the abortions."

Indrayati and Mardianis, who were tried separately by the same court, were given 22 months and 15 months respectively for performing the abortions, which are only legal here if the mother's life is in danger.

Before the hearing on Thursday began, Habibah told The Jakarta Post from the detention cell that she could not accept the prosecutor's demand.

"The demand for the sentence was too harsh. Indrayati, who initiated the practice, got only 22 months," she said, adding that she would move to Semarang or Tegal in Central Java after serving the jail term.

"I just want to avoid people who ask me to perform abortions," she said. (21/sur)