Should abortion be legalized?

After reports of several Bhutanese women dying due to unsafe abortions conducted across the border, the society is increasingly debating whether or not abortion should be legalized.

The Penal Code of Bhutan states that abortion is illegal except when it is conducted to save the life of the mother or when the pregnancy is a result of rape, or when the mother is mentally unsound.

The premise of the debate is that Bhutanese women are slipping out of the country to undergo abortion because it is illegal at home. It is when they land up in unsafe clinics in Jaigaon leading to complications and deaths.

While rich women reportedly go to world-class clinics and hospitals in India and Thailand for abortion, the poor ones resort to unsafe clinics in Jaigaon.

When the issue was raised at the 15th Meet the Press yesterday, Prime Minister Jigme Y Thinley said Bhutan has a law that makes the abortion illegal, causing certain problems and deaths to mothers.

“The debate on the issue will go on, and it would be interesting to see the kind of discourse the media promote,” he said.  “No initiative will be taken by the government for the time-being.”

Opposition Leader Tshering Tobgay said the issue is causing a lot of distress to Bhutanese women, who are subjected to inhuman and dangerous circumstances.

He said there is no proper study done on the number and causes of abortions so far. The government must study the abortion issue to enable decision makers to formulate appropriate strategies to address the problem, he added.

However, the view on the legality of abortion is divided. Some lawmakers support legalizing it while others oppose it.

National Council member, Karma D Nidup, said abortion should be legalized to give choices to women whether they want to keep the baby.

Some men impregnate women and they either go scot-free or never own up to the misdeed. “In such cases, who will pay the price?” she asked, adding that the mother will have to raise the child by herself.

She said unwanted pregnancies increasingly occur among young girls who have the whole future ahead. They deserve a second chance to make their lives better.

Legalizing abortion provides choices to people, so if they decide to undergo abortion, it could be conducted safely, the MP said. It will also help the government maintain records and take necessary advocacies on safe sex.

However, she said the issue needs to be studied to get accurate statistics. Abortion victims, the public, and doctors have to be consulted.

“I will raise the issue. The social committee [of NC] will raise it. But I cannot prejudge what the plenary will decide,” MP Karma D Nidup said.

A male NC member, who didn’t want to be named, said Bhutan is a Buddhist country and killing is not acceptable. Therefore, legalization of abortion should not be encouraged.

The MP said legalizing abortion might not be a solution to the problem. Even if it was legal, people would still prefer to go across the border to abort for privacy reasons, he added.

A senior gynecologist at the national referral hospital in Thimphu, Dr Ugen Tshomo, said “if possible, it is better to legalize abortion.” If people want, the doctors can conduct medical abortion. “If women really want to go for abortion and come to us, we will recommend them the right place,” she said.

However, MP Sonam Yangchen feels that it is important to find out the real causes of unwanted pregnancies. She suggests agencies and individuals concerned to come together and work towards minimizing abortion related problems. She says the solution lies in advocacy and education.

MP Karma Lhamo is also against legalizing abortion. She said awareness campaigns, education, family planning, and parents being open with their children will go a long way in addressing unwanted pregnancies.

According to Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley, if abortion were to be legitimized, questions arise as to how it can be controlled and monitored to ensure that there is no infanticide.

He said morally, ethically, and legally, once a foetus has grown to a certain size, it’s an individual, a human being. “As sad as it is to see a mother dying, one has to think about the moral authority and the legitimacy of the law makers on deprivation of human life,” he added.

In the first six months this year, 150 cases of natural miscarriages and post abortion complications were reported in the national referral hospital in Thimphu. In 2010, Thimphu recorded 234 cases and Phuentsholing recorded 118 cases of post abortion complications.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), legalizing safe abortion alongside increasing access to contraception and care could be the solution to reducing unnecessary maternal deaths and injuries.

However, the global health conference in Geneva, Switzerland, held this year found that legalizing abortion does nothing to improve maternal mortality for women living in developing nations that lack access to improved medical care.

WHO estimates that more than 19 million abortions carried out every year in the world are unsafe. Of them, 68,000 die.

By Sonam Pelden

6 Responses to “Should abortion be legalized?”

1. JAS says:

   July 31, 2011 at 8:21 am

   it should be legalised

   Reply
2. Dekimo says:

   August 1, 2011 at 10:50 am

   No please, our country is a Buddhist country and we never kill fellow sentient beings. I support MP Karma Lhamo who is also against legalizing abortion. Like she said, let us do through awareness campaigns, education to girls in schools and villages, family planning etc. I think our health staff, school teachers and also the parents will cooperate to do so in curbing this problems. PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE. So likewise family planning methods through education may bring better results than letting them do abortion which kills both unborn loving child and our kind mothers.

   Reply
3. Kunzang says:

   August 4, 2011 at 2:19 am

   What about the right of the foetus inside the woman womb? The soul has to go through intense suffering when it is killed through abortion. There are many tormenting souls around the clinics practicing abortion. Besides, the future mother will be affected by this gloomy action. It’s not just free and it will be also negative karma for suppressing a precious life. YES PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE.

   Reply
4. Sanja choi says:

   August 4, 2011 at 12:37 pm

   As some commented, killing is against social principle and it is deadliest even think so. It is in Bhutan that none have an interest to kill who ever or what ever it may be. To discuss this issue about abortion, lets not begin from halfway like from the prospect and conscience of pregnant women who is puppet being controlled by the threats of her man, parents and life of longing to confess society. Every man and woman like to be on the safer side while on fire. For me being a Bhutanese, i look for the people who creates a heart of life not the physical warmth. Remember, if you haven’t any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.

   So lets not so philosophical, and here whats trouble leads women to abortion. Might be society and its attitude. In some culture like in western Bhutan, it humiliate women more than the hell for having just a simple coconut in her belly. Whereas in eastern part of Bhutan, it may trouble for few days to confess it to her parents and friends, but the words of giving is less than getting. Here i mean the one troubling with pregnancy gets more consul and care than scold.

   Some may blame her behavior and some her character. But do you know the true character of your 20 years friends? Some men gives more words than action and some sweet kiss than just a kiss. Women are never predictor nor rock. so they fell less easy to trap in his hand. To make it simple, once the smell of fact enter into women and makes her impossible to bear it, illegal abortion kills two lives and even more.

   If Bhutan is expert in making such law in Bhutan, does she makes law outside Bhutan? Will illegal in Bhutan be illegal in miles away from Bhutan? Does Bhutan restrict pregnant women to cross the boarder?

   so as far as i am concern, Bhutanese never kills if they are not force to do so. How far government will educate and tilt the heart not the people? People know it is wrong to make unwanted pregnancy, but no one is there to force the men at that moment of feelings secure to have neck sex. And by the time he realize, he is wrong and woman got to do something, that is abortion outside Bhutan and if it is possible, DO Save Abortion In Bhutan.

   Reply
5. Unborn Child says:

   August 4, 2011 at 1:57 pm

   Dear Fathers and Mothers of the world, Please do not invite us and then kill. Know how to play safe. Think not twice but many times before you act. The greatest mistakes the fathers and mothers do is this already facing problems. Plan wisely and then act accordingly. Give sufficient advices to your young sons and daughters about Sex Education. It is natural but we must know how to deal with it.

   Reply
6. Legalize abortions - Tshering Tobgay’s Blog says:

   August 8, 2011 at 1:40 pm

   [...] asked about abortions, the prime minister reportedly accepted that our laws are “causing certain problems and deaths to [...]

   Reply