Tarmizi wants religious teachings reinforced
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)