The abortion debate continues

At the office last week we held an informal meeting with representatives from other women-focused organizations in Jambi.  The topic was safe abortion; the conditions where abortion is legal in Indonesia, the services our clinic provide for abortion, counseling, and family planning, and why the right to safe abortion is a health concern and women's right that cannot be overlooked.  It was interesting to watch the discussion, all were concerned about the effect on Jambi’s youth, particularly in the case where a 14-year-old had been sexually assaulted by a angkot driver but then also could not legally be allowed an abortion from our clinic.  The discussion between this diverse group of women took another turn when the self-proclaimed pro-life and pro-choice women voiced their views.  While I could not catch every nuance, it all sounded not unalike abortion debates in the US.  One jilbab-clad woman pointed out that after 5 weeks a fetus’s heartbeat could be detected, thus meaning it had a soul and the option of abortion should morally be taken off the table.  My supervisor Helfi argued back that while that is true, in cases where pregnancy can harm the mother’s health or she is truly not ready to have a child, whose rights are greater?  Those of the potential mother or fetus?  In our clinic we provide abortions, or inductions, up to 8 weeks into the pregnancy, and only for married women.

This reminded me of a day last fall when a couple came in to our clinic with the desire to obtain an induction.  After deliberation the couple had come to the difficult decision to terminate the wife’s pregnancy and sought out our clinic.  During counseling it was revealed that the woman's pregnancy was a mere one week over the eight week limit, making her ineligible for the procedure.  With abortion legally out of the question, the couple was left with no choice and took this news home solemnly, reflecting on the impact it would make on their lives.  They already had four young children and did not want to bring a fifth one into the world because the father did not have steady employment and they could not afford more mouths to feed, let alone the schooling and health care children require.  The mother had been taking daily contraceptive pills, but like most busy housewives in Indonesia she occasionally forgot to take a pill at the correct time, thus increasing her chance of unintended pregnancy. 

This issue is something even couples in the US have to consider when realistically determining the number of children they can afford to raise and feed in a healthy and strong family, and thus use family planning methods that suite their lifestyles best.  Unfortunately, family planning services are not as readily available or well-known in countries like Indonesia where limits are also placed on women’s access to safe and legal abortions.  In Indonesia abortion is in most cases illegal and when not, only stringently allowed.  My office is also only one out of the seven PKBI chapters around Indonesia that offer abortion services in those cases that fit the countries vague abortion laws.  But as statistics show, this stringency and denial of women’s right to self-determination only burdens families to bear the costs, frequently that cost is the mother’s life or the children's well-being.