August 12, 2024
JAKARTA – The government just enacted a new rule that makes it easier for women to get safe abortions in cases of rape or medical emergency. This is part of a larger health reform that was introduced last year to improve women’s reproductive health and reduce maternal deaths.
The regulation requires certain large clinics and hospitals to provide medical assistance before and after abortion for rape survivors with a gestational age up to 14 weeks, and women with life-threatening medical conditions or if the fetus has lethal anomalies.
The regulation has been welcomed by women’s and human rights groups, but they have also criticized a requirement for rape survivors to obtain a statement from the police attesting that their pregnancy resulted from rape or sexual violence.
The big question now is whether the police will actually implement the policy and whether there are enough hospitals in the country that can provide safe abortion services.
Abortion is illegal in Indonesia, except in cases of rape, where the pregnancy is no longer than 14 weeks old, or if the woman has a life-threatening medical condition or if the fetus has lethal anomalies, according to the latest health law and the Criminal Code. Previously, the cutoff gestational age in cases of rape was six weeks.
But in practice, women have long been struggling to access safe abortions, even when they have the right to terminate the pregnancy.
A case from 2021 involving a 12-year-old rape survivor in Jombang, East Java, is a case in point. The girl was turned away by the police when she asked for a safe abortion, even though she was eligible for one under the previous law.
In a Muslim-majority country like Indonesia, where terminating pregnancies is still a touchy subject, the lack of information about safe abortion and the victim-centered approach of the authorities are often seen as reasons why rape victims do not seek the help they need.
The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) reports that 103 cases of rape-related pregnancy were reported between 2018 and 2023. Unfortunately, almost all of these women were unable to access safe abortions.
It is worth asking whether rape victims will turn to the police for help, given that the force has yet to issue any internal regulations about specific assistance for the victims, including safe abortion services, as well as special training for officers.
Furthermore, in a patriarchal society, unsafe abortion is more likely to happen. Male babies are preferred as they are believed to bring wealth and prosperity to the family while girls are often seen as a burden.
UNICEF data in 2006 found that 10 million girls have been killed by their parents since 1986, both before and during childbirth, in India. It is likely to be a similar case for Indonesia.
Data from the Health Ministry show that the maternal mortality rate hit 183 per 100,000 births in 2022. Of that number, an estimated 11 percent resulted from unsafe abortions.
Actually, there is very little research on abortion in Indonesia, let alone on abortion-related deaths. Nevertheless, the United States-based Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research group, estimated 43 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age between 15 and 49 took place in 2018 in Java, where almost 57 percent of the Indonesian population lives. The figure was higher than the rate for Southeast Asia, which stands at 34 abortions per 1,000 women.
It is crucial to make safe abortion services available to reduce one of Southeast Asia’s highest rates of maternal deaths. Indonesia has a much higher maternal mortality ratio than other countries in the region.
Safe abortion has saved many lives. At the very least, it protects the rights of women who are victims of sexual violence.