Pro-choice or pro-life? Make up your mind

Pro-choice or pro-life? Make up your mind

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"When will this country cease its ambivalent attitude towards
abortion, while at the same time, deaths of women go on
unnecessarily?"

This rhetorical question was posed by Mely from Jakarta on an
Indonesian Internet website www.aborsi.net recently. The question
was one among dozens of others that cursed and condemned women
who had abortions.

Some even quoted lines from the Holy Koran and the Bible, and
most denounced women who had or supported abortions to eternal
damnation and hell fire. Not surprisingly, those who have this
outlook on abortion are mostly -- but not exclusively -- male.

The abortion issue has always been a controversy, not only
here in Indonesia but also in countries like the United States
where the heated debate between "pro-life" and "pro-choice" goes
on unabated despite the fact that abortion was legalized in 1973.

Pro-lifers argue that all human beings, including those yet
unborn, are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable
rights, the first of which is the right to life.

Pro-choice activists allege a woman should have complete
control over her body, therefore should be allowed the choice of
whether or not to go on with her pregnancy.

In clear-cut cases like rape -- where going through with the
pregnancy could cause long-term distress to the mother and
potential abandonment to the child -- abortion is sometimes
understood by some of the pro-lifers.

But pro-lifers say the legalization has also created a culture
of "abortion on demand", or used as another method of birth
control.

In Indonesia, too, this view is shared. Many believe
legalizing abortion only harbors "sinful" conduct such as pre-
marital sex and provides an easy way out for "sinners".

"If you don't want to run the risk of getting pregnant, then
don't do illicit sex, if you do then you have to take
responsibility in the face of God. Abortion is an act cursed by
God and devil," Andrea from Surabaya, East Java, wrote, after
going into great detail about the terrible things the aborted
baby would do to the soul of a woman in the afterlife.

The country's law shows no mercy on people who have abortions,
with the 1992 Law on Health stipulating that "certain medical
actions" such as abortion could only be conducted in an emergency
situation where the life of a mother and her baby is at stake,
based on medical indications.

Otherwise, abortion is considered a criminal act, and punished
under the Criminal Code article 346 against the woman, article
347 and 348 against the person or people conducting the abortion
without and with the woman's consent respectively, and article
349 against a trained professional conducting the abortion.

Punishment ranges from four years to 15 years in prison, and
could be increased if a professional conducts the abortion.

"The problem with our law is that it doesn't define health
beyond the medical terms, meaning that a woman has to be bleeding
to death for a doctor to be able to legally conduct an abortion,"
Zumrotin K.S., a member of the Women's Health Foundation (YKP)
advisory board, said on the sidelines of a dialog on abortion
here last Friday.

Contrary to popular belief that abortions are usually done by
unmarried teenagers, data indicates that many more were sought by
happily married couples, she said.

"In Medan for instance some 90 percent of those seeking
abortions are married women, about 75 percent in other areas,"
Zumrotin said, adding that many quoted economic reasons.

"Only a small percentage of those seeking abortions are
teenagers," Christoffel, a doctor with the Indonesian Society of
Obstetrics and Gynecology (POGI), added without stating any
numbers.

The rigid law apparently does not stop people from having
abortions.

A study by POGI, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
Ministry of Health in 2000 showed that an average of 2.3 million
abortions are performed in the country each year.

Some 600,000 abortions were done for reasons of contraceptive
failure, 700,000 abortions due to poor economic conditions, and
another million due to medical problems with the mother.

Of the various reasons given for abortions, 47.1 percent of
the 579 respondents surveyed said they have had "enough"
children, and at a distant 17.2 percent was the desire to
continue school.

Other reasons given include for medical reasons (15.7
percent), work (6.8 percent), being on medication prior to the
pregnancy (2.9 percent), and others (10 percent).

Given that abortion is largely illegal, many women wanting to
have an abortion end up at illegal clinics, often with
unconventional methods that pose a risk to their own lives.

Zumrotin said laws criminalizing abortion make abortions
unsafe but do not eliminate them.

WHO estimates that 11 percent to 17 percent of maternal deaths
are caused by unsafe abortion. In a country ranked high on
maternal mortality, this is cause for concern.

Indonesia's maternal mortality rate ranked one of the highest
in the Southeast Asian region at 390 maternal deaths per 100,000
live births, compared to 208 in the Philippines, 44 in Thailand,
39 in Malaysia, and 9 in Singapore.

"This situation is really embarrassing to our nation ...
legislators are increasingly aware something should be done about
this," Ermalena, a legislator of the House of Representative's
Commission VII for social welfare, said in the dialog.

At present, she said, intense dialog goes on both within
the House and various community and religious groups about an
amendment to the 1992 Law on Health to give more access to safe
abortions for women.

"We try to explain to various groups on the issue, explain in
terms they can relate to, and the political importance (of
bringing maternal mortality rates down)," Ermalena said,
explaining that as long as it can be shown statistically that
there is a problem then people will understand.

Organizations such as YKP are also on the forefront of the
campaign to provide safe abortions to women, Zumrotin said,
explaining it aims to make their views heard and heeded when the
amendment on the Health Law takes place.

The decision to terminate a pregnancy is perhaps the most
important and traumatic decision that a woman has to face in her
lifetime.

"I am still haunted by guilt that is very painful to me.
Abortion is painful and leaves an extremely deep scar," wrote
Nita from Yogyakarta about her decision to undergo abortion.

It is therefore very important for women to receive counseling
about her choices, Zumrotin said. A survey conducted by YKP in
2000 showed that some 85 percent of 600 people surveyed agreed
that the decision to terminate a pregnancy had to be made with
adequate counseling.

"When the concept of counseling was first introduced, many
were suspicious it would encourage women to have abortions. But
what we're doing is providing comprehensive information to the
woman about her choices, so she can decide what's best for her,"
Zumrotin said, stressing that it was important for the woman --
not a third person or even the State -- to make that choice.

Considering that most women who have abortions just made the
most difficult decision of their life -- that no one tries to get
pregnant just so they can terminate it, they certainly do not
need others telling them it is a murder.

In a sea of condemnation, Nale from Jakarta says wisely:
"I'm not someone who agrees with abortion, but that doesn't mean
I have to force others to think like me. I know that when a woman
decides on abortion, it is a very difficult decision. No one
chooses abortion if possible. Must we close our eyes then,
without doing something, while thousands of women die every year
from unsafe abortions?"