Rape and abortion

Rape and abortion

From Bisnis Indonesia

It has been widely reported that some of the victims of gang
rapes which happened during the mid-May 1998 riots are pregnant
and are receiving treatment in some hospitals in Jakarta.

One of these cases is that of Rina, 16 (reported by Stevie
Emilia in The Jakarta Post Aug. 13).

Rina must have been shocked by her pregnancy, realizing that
she was pregnant as the result of a rape. Her gynecologist has
yet to decide whether to abort her pregnancy because the Health
Act prohibits abortion and exacts criminal penalties on both the
doctor performing the abortion and the pregnant woman undergoing
it.

Indeed, the Antiabortion Act must be enforced in a normal
situation, when a pregnancy is the outcome of sexual intercourse
between a husband and a wife or the result of a love affair
between a man and a woman later legitimized by the families of
both parties.

However, if the pregnancy is the outcome of a rape, I believe
it is only appropriate and wise to have the pregnancy aborted for
the following reasons:

1. The pregnant woman is mentally depressed, a factor that will
exert a negative impact on the baby.

2. A baby born of a crime, in this case a rape, is considered
illegitimate by the community, a label which will serve as an
unfair mental punishment to the child.

3. If the mother decides that the baby is to be given up for
adoption, the child may not have a good life if it happens to be
adopted by someone lacking loving kindness.

KATHLEEN HARJADI

Jakarta