Tarmizi wants religious teachings reinforced
JAKARTA (JP): Parents and religious leaders are being called on to reinforce religious teachings as a means of instilling high moral values to inhibit illegal practices such as abortion.
Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher said religious teachings were important in curbing what he perceived to be a decline in moral values.
"I appeal to the nation, let's go back to the values contained within our inner hearts," he told reporters during a break in a hearing Tuesday with the House of Representatives' Commission VII for religion, education and youth.
"Whoever you are, officials, intellectuals, employees, if you lack moral values, your future will be doomed," he warned.
Commenting on the recent discovery of several fetuses from illegal abortion practices in Jakarta, Tarmizi said he believed the moral decline in Indonesia's religious-based society stemmed from modernization.
"Religious values have rapidly shifted. If we are not prudent, (our religious origin) will be uprooted," he said.
He argued that modernization has led society, particularly intellectuals, to a life of materialism and hedonism.
"The specialists, the medics and the health assistants who performed the abortions were driven by money. And the unwanted pregnancies spawned from hedonism," said Tarmizi, who earned his medical degree from Surabaya's Airlangga University in East Java in 1964.
He urged the Ministry of Health, the Indonesian Doctors' Association and the police to take action against those responsible.
Police confirmed Monday that the remains of at least 10 fetuses found buried in the front yard of a clinic in Tanah Tinggi, Central Jakarta, were from suspected abortions.
The latest discovery follows the unearthing of 10 bones, believed to be from aborted fetuses, and an infant skeleton in the backyard of a school for disabled children in Central Jakarta and another 11 remains in North Jakarta over the past two weeks.
All were believed to be a result of abortion.
Investigation
Police are investigating the alleged involvement of two clinics -- Herlina and Amalia -- in the abortion practices.
Police have detained 13 suspects, including the owners of Herlina and Amalia clinics, two doctors, a gardener and a school employee.
Under the Criminal Code, abortion is strictly prohibited. But Article No. 15 of Health Law No. 23/1992 allows abortion under certain medical situations.
A Health Ministry official claimed that many working in the health profession violate the abortion law.
"They know (about the law) but they violate it in their medical practices," Budhi Yahmono, the head of the bureau for legal affairs and public relations, told The Jakarta Post.
Despite the recent discoveries, he said the abortion law was still sufficient, but a tough application of sanction was needed to deter such practices.
"The sanction must be applied to those who break the law, and it must be exercised through open investigation and court so the public will be aware of the violations," said Budhi.
He added that chapter one of Article No. 80 of the abortion law stipulates a maximum 15-year sentence and Rp 500 million fine. (09)