Should abortion be legalised in Malaysia?
posted in - Nation, - Palmdoc |
I thought we could start off the week with a controversial topic. At the moment abortion is allowed in Malaysia only on medical grounds if the health of the mother is in jeopardy.
That is not stopping people seeking abortion, as the NST reported yesterday:
Three of six private clinics and maternity homes called at random to find out if they could perform an abortion said they could. And they all offered the same instructions.
The three said they could do it, two refused flat out and one recommended the general practitioner down the road.
A medical centre in Kuala Lumpur said it would cost about RM450 and could be done in half a day. The nurse promised there would be “no pain and no scars”, and that it would remain a secret.
Another clinic said the price would range from RM500 to RM700. The caller was asked to bring cash and her identity card.
The third place offering the abortion was a maternity centre in Perak with a more cautious approach.
“We’ll only do it if you’re less than two months pregnant. But the doctor must talk to you before we decide anything.”
An assistant at a centre in Negri Sembilan said it only performed such services on medical grounds, but she believed a nearby clinic would do it for RM300 to RM400.
“Next time, be more careful,” she said.
A nurse at a maternity clinic in the Klang Valley recalled how the doctor performed at least two abortions a day.
“Some patients walk in wearing school uniform, accompanied by their boyfriends,” said the nurse, who declined to be named.
The former nurse said those who came in were usually in their first trimester but there were a few cases in which the women were more than six months pregnant.
While it appears that more clinics are now doing illegal abortions, no doctor has been found guilty for want of evidence.
A doctor can be struck off the Malaysian Medical Council register if found guilty of gross misconduct.
The MMC has received complaints against doctors over the years but could not proceed with the case when the complaints were withdrawn.
“We also have difficulty getting the complainants to come forward and prove their allegation,” said MMC secretary Dr Wan Mazlan Mohamed Woojdy.
There was a case where the patient died after an abortion and the relatives filed a complaint with the council, only to withdraw it later.
“There is no protection of a Whistleblowers Act, so many withdraw their complaints,” he said.
Dr Ravindran Jegasothy, the chairman of the Malaysian Medical Association Ethics Committee, said there were doctors doing illegal abortions as there was a demand for it.
While the MMA does not condone illegal abortions, he said, it fears that restrictive laws may drive women to seek unsafe procedures at the hands of untrained people.
The last point is moot – there would be women anyway who might seek abortion at the hands of untrained people and in doing so their lives are in danger.
There’s also the pressing problem of unwed mothers and infanticide in this country – something far worse than abortion IMO.
Abandoned and left to die. This is the fate of an increasing number of unwanted babies that end up in toilets and rubbish bins among other places. A few are found dead while others are saved in the nick of time.
Links:
Wikipedia on abortion
Wikipedia on Religion and abortion
So should abortion be legalised in Malaysia? I would be interested to find out your views.
Take the MMR Poll
Loading …and also leave your comments here….
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August 24th, 2006 at 8:57 pm
If the abortion is made ‘illegal’, the governmental bodies, NGO or religious bodies should provide a place for these unwanted babies. These mother after counseling if they insist do not want to have or take care the babies, they should be allowed to give these babies to these organizations. These organization should take full responsibility to bring up these babies to their fullest potential. If they are just talk and do not help like what happen now, it is no point talking about banning the abortion because these mothers have really no choice. These mothers do not get any sympathy from the society. They have to take all the blame, shame and responsibility if they continue the pregnancy. Many have produce problem childrens which eventually lead to the social problems in the society. These mothes should be given a second chance after their mistake. Abortion is really a personal choice because they are the one who bear the consequences. In Malaysia, if you look at the latest mortality repost (1996-2000), mother died of septic abortion or procedures related to abortion is exceedingly and exceptionally RARE. This mean most of the abortion are done by trained personnel. There is no right or wrong of this procedure if you talk at the medical point of view. It may be wrong in the moral or religious pount of view. But in our society, how much assistance we gave to these mothers even by these so called welfare or religious body. The right answer is sex education but this seems so difficult to implement because many especially those religious people think that sex education means teaching the young ones to have sex.
Yes what Dr Ravi said is true, there is a demand for it and most important of all is this is done by trained professional and contracdict to our belief, the complication is actually very rare.
The report also quoted that difficulty getting the complainants to come forward and prove their allegation. But who is the complainants, the patients cannot be the complainants because they are the one who demand the service and they will never be the witness against the doctors. The complainants are those people who against the abortion but do not provide alternative to these mothers in difficult situation.
The only way out is for these organization to provide an option that these mother can ‘dump’ these babies to their organization who will resume all the responsibility to provide care to these babies with any questions asked.
Until then, the demand will be always there.
I would say those mothers who choose to abondon or even ‘kill’ their babies should blame the society as well especially those organization who just talk and do not provide any realistic alternative. Help doesn’t mean counselling or monetary help but also to take away these mother’s reposnsibilty of taking care of thier babies if these mother ask to do so!
August 24th, 2006 at 11:03 pm
>There’s also the pressing problem of unwed mothers and infanticide in this country – something far worse than abortion IMO. >
Unwanted pregnancies in unwed mothers, particularly teenagers, are difficult to handle in our society. Counseling should be available to help these mothers make their appropriate choice. Options available include:
-Marrying and raising the child.
-Remaining single and raising the child (single parent family)
-Remaining single and giving the child for adoption at birth.
-Abortion (in countries where this is legalized)
The pros and cons of each option should be discussed. The decision is never easy.
November 19th, 2006 at 1:59 am
The pros and cons of each option should be discussed ??
Against: Truth – Love – Life
For:- Sin – Murder – Death
Difficult to handle ? So is having a unwanted baby is a excuse to kill it?
Why then don’t we kill everyone that makes life difficult for us ?
You people well go save a animal and say it has rights but you kill a baby ?
You’ll shout against US fighting the war on terriost but vote for
killing babies ?
Evil rules the day because Godly man do nothing to stop it….
November 19th, 2006 at 5:58 am
The Catholic Doctors Association of Malaysia is appalled at the high percentage of the poll respondents who think abortion in Malaysia should be legalised
Shocking news on Abortion poll
August 9th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Unfortunately, none of the letters above look carefully at Malaysia’s actual legal provisions in relation to abortion. I hope the summary below will clarify the legal issues once and for all(at least for your readers)
There is an incredible amount of confusion among the general public and even among medical professional on its legal status.This due to many factors; among them are the often sensational media coverage, vague statements by ministers and even professional bodies which include both doctors and lawyers. Sadly, the people who suffer most are those who are despeartely in need of a safe abortion at a fair fee and don’t where they can seek one, this despite the fact that the law allows this. Atually, whether abortion should be legaised is no longer in question. Perhaps it could be made more clear and certainly there is a need to educate the public an the law and their rights.
Malaysia’s Legal Provisions on Abortion, a summary.
1. The legal provisions affecting practice of abortion in Malaysia are spelt out in Sections 312 to 314 of the Penal Code
a) Section 312 makes it an offence to perform abortions
b) Section 313 makes it a more serious offence when consent is not obtained and
c) Section 314 provides even more serious penalties when it results in the death of the pregnant woman.
However,
d) Section 91 of the penal code makes an exception when abortion is performed to save the life of the mother in referring to Sections 312 – 314 above, and finally,
e) Amendment to Section 312 made in 1989 made further exceptions including the intention to prevent adverse effects on the physical or mental health of the mother.
2. Thus, to summarise,
a) Our present laws allow for abortions to be performed by a registered medical practitioner, if it is his opinion made in good faith, that it is done to save the patients life or to prevent adverse effects on her physical or mental health and it is done with her consent.
b) Even without her consent and death results as in Sections 313 and 314, Section 92 specifies it is not criminal act if there is a bona fide intention to benefit the woman.
c) A meeting of state authorities concerned with the implications of the present abortion laws on doctors and patients chaired by the DG of Health in June 2005, with representatives from the Malaysian Medical Association and Attorney General’s Office arrived at the above opinion and concluded that there was no urgent need to amend the present laws because they already provide sufficient protection for doctors who perform terminations of pregnancy in good faith.
Prepared by Dr S P Choong based on documents presented by Mr Radhakrishnan and Dr Ravindran Jegasothy at the inaugural meeting of the RRAAM. Extracts of the relevant sections of the Penal Code can be obtained on request via email from
September 1st, 2007 at 2:04 pm
im the victim of this. im now left alone, the boy ran, the clinic still aperateing their work, how i wish they can stop doing it forever. i did it in klang valley.sh*t! im so angry with the people and the stupidness of mine!
September 14th, 2007 at 9:07 am
Of course it must be legalized. Children of single mum or unhappy families are much more likely to grow up as criminals. Imagine if abortion is legalized 20 years ago, Malaysia should be a country with must lesser crimes. Nowadays, even 12 year olds are performing rape now. Imagine if your spouse, family or loved ones are the victims, how would you feel? Our government is really a failure and corruption is rampant everywhere with flawed laws.
If those single young girls as young as 12 to 16 are forced to keep their babies, they can never give them a good life, education and love. And these kids are most likely to be criminals in the future. Please read Freakonomic to gain an enlightenment. And also do not keep on saying that abortion should be banned because you can never be in their shoes and can never pretend to be them or neither think like them. So do not decide for them as they know what is best for themselves.
Mr Jesueisgod, please, are u pregnant before? do u know what they are going thru? Please do post such stupid comments if you have Really seen the real world yet. Thanks.
September 14th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
emotionally i would say just banned it.dont allow d abortion.but later we have to think,maybe age like me 20 years old, i can do a mum’s job, care of the unwanted baby, but for the younger?? a school girl maybe wont have such a good care, such a realy understanding character in herself. yes, maybe true we dont allow killing animal but we allowed killing a baby, a human. so for all parents, all human,please care of yourself, yourfMAMILY, YOUR BROTHER YOUR SISTER,care for whta they need, what they feel, what they hide from yourself.dont ignore the problematic person. she or he need friends,need a listener, need a supporter and a teller of what is the right..
December 4th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
First and foremost ;
Lets put Religion / Righteousness / and other selfish elements out of the equation,
which seek to only serve itself but not these poor victims who are
facing their ultimatum, “To abort or not to Abort”. question in mind.
Unless we plan to feed the baby on Mothers milk only until the child
is old enough to fend and feed itself.
Lets put LOVE and TRUTH and LIFE in perspective.
1) LOVE: its to general, Love multiplies, you bring a potential partner home,
you meet the family, the family approves, you get married, the cycle goes on..
This is so idealistic, and far by realities standards we know this isnt always the case.
NOT TO MENTION FACT:(TRUTH) a BABY in this era, and society,
potentially means MONEY, COST , Expenses, Time to nurture and care…
This is hard work.. i cant blame those who could ill afford it let alone get
themselves into this predicament, Call me selfish but it is you who give them
no other options, then you Shun them and outcast them as
if they are the plague. WHO are we as fellow human beings to place
someone else in hot soup and judgment just because they dint abide by standards
you most probably have questioned yourself.
Does religion still play a role? Good parenting? Out cast Society among further outcasts?
and we simply risk so little and point the finger at other blaming them
accusing them they deserved it, it is their fault. !.. Think about it
2) TRUTH: Today we have more abortion rates, because society itself is consumed and
infested with the lack of morals and accountability of each individual
to take responsibility for their actions and known/unknown consequences.
WHY i say known or unknown because its only through each individuals mistakes
they will know what category they are in.
And lets not be mistaken the statistics currently shows, the Majority is actually the minority.
They are teenagers, whom each of them has yet to understand their role in
society, their rights, and the community they line in…
They don’t know any better, IF you do, then legalize Abortion with laws allowing them to be
assisted by those who are in need, and get their families or friends with proper
discretion and education. THEY ARE NOT victims or a SHAME to Society.
THEY ARE the youth of our Nation and the signs of our times… Just goes to show what kind of
a society we live in,( WHO WE AREALLY ARE, SLEFISH, SELF CENTRED AND UNCARING )
if we do not debate this issue and analyze these issues clearly without PREJUDICE.
3)LIFE : The SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST :Some war torn countries see their born children bombed
out of their homes, and you debate here like we have created some internal war that we
cannot handle and forces us to ABORT our young before they are even ready?
May it be out of Financial difficulties, an unwanted child, a rape victim, etc
It is sad in FACT to see we assume that it is our right to preserve life? or take it away?
We seem to see ourselves fit to play Godly-ness and do the right thing, and defend life,
and others seem to want to take one life away to preserve their way of life?
How do you justify this decision, with so many external factors influencing the individual?
Isn’t it in any case still their Body, their decision? Abortion rates have also had
fatality rates, whereby neither the mother survives.. Think about that, they
probably have also considered their lives on the line as well.
What is right is We give them professional and expertise to help them justify
THEIR FINAL DECISION.
We can only do so much as to nudge a person to the direction we believe is right.
But then again, when something is not legalized, many practitioners may also take advantage
of the situation for monetary gains, regardless if there is a fatality or not.
In the end corrupting our own Medical practitioners with an age old Dilemma,
TO BE OR NOT TO BE.
Don’t do this… The people has always been for the people.
No Organization Profit / Or non profit in the world can proclaim
that it is not self serving.
When actually they are indeed.
So is every individual, before they can contribute to society….
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:19 am
I am not pregnant right now, but i am so afraid if i pregant.
i got two pregnancy test, one is on the due date of my period, and another one is 3days after my due date.
The result all negative.
So that’s mean i am 99% not pregnant, and i found out that is still 1% it’s fault negative. then i take the morning after pil.
and my boy friend asked me eat punch of pineapple.
haha. so funny,but i am really scared right now.
We do the pull out method , and i did take the birth control pill. Just , i am quite a lazy person, i always forget to take the pil.
Almost 100 % of my friends told me that i am not pregnant, but the fear still conquered.
I am still small.(not a minor for 5 years)
me and my partner planned for marriage but not in this soon because i still taking my degree and he finacial status not so stable, that’s why we do all the way we can do to prevent pregnant.
We like babies, but not now.
I have no sypmtom of pregnant except my period have already 7 days late.and i now starting thinking about to do any things that can cause misccariage,
i aet a lot chocolate bar, drink red bull, coke, pineapples juice. and the result is i went toilet many times for “baking my stinky chocolate cake”.
…. ….
I know abortion was wrong in the legal size, because i am pratised in this legal field, but …
do u ever heard RU 486 ?
That’s a very safe way to do abortion within 49 days of pregnant.
I think this medicine is cool, and should be approve in Malaysia.
In case for a small women like me to stop the pregnancy. The function is to cause contraction of uterus, and to cause lining thin and the fetus fall.
Within 49 days, i think there is still not yet a HUMAN , because since it can be NO NEED to do any surgery to take out the fetus,and it is not a baby shape yet .
Maybe you’ll think i am so cruel, but ,
But —-
if i pregnant, and i marry to my boy friend when we not yet buy our own house, he still depend his mother’s income, and i have to drop out from Uni,
then can my baby have a bright future ?
it’s still possible my baby can be a lawyer or doctor too, but are there’s more good for all of us if Baby come late 5 years after ????
that time i’ll have my carrier, my bf also already can manage his shop. and we can plan better for the Baby.
Lastnight, i talked to my Bf , i suddently emerged a very weird idea in my mind,
if the medical now can take out the fetus and frozen it. then afer 5 years when we ready then we can get back the fetus and continue the joy of being a parent.
If this can happened, it should be good.
But in nature, the things come and go as its like it.
haha…
So headache…i can’t imagine if i pregnant now.
Abortion are really needed to all women who are not ready for Baby yet.
Serious, aren’t the adult human are more important to the fetus???
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:26 am
And more…
There ‘s far more risk for women to have alternative misccariage and it’s 100% illegal!!!
and dangerous to women.
In that times, not only the fetus dead, mother also dead.
It’s dangerous also to go thru the surgery in the un-known clinic…untrained so called pratician doctor.
and it is gurantee dangerous for who seek for the BOMOH for abortion.
This will definitely cause more problems in this sick society and increases the crime rate.
^^
So, RU 486 should be sales in the counter of any pahmacy.
Abortion have to be legalised to public.
and
sex education is indeed .
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Me again,
i went to clinic last-nite, and i took another preganacy test, this times with the Doctor helped.
and it’s Negative.
Doctor says it might be my stress to delay my period.
and this is not the point,
if i relly pregnant, then the Doctor will NOT provide any abortion act.
But i know next of his clinic there is a clinic which provided abortion.
They have put the banner outside the clinic.
So, that’s mean in Malaysia we stil can find a lot of clinic that provided abortion, just are there’s safe for us????
I am an educated women i know how to chose the way to protect me and i want to have baby after marriage,
but so many girls , i mean maybe the minor they do not know what to do when they noticed they’re pregnant.
Got Bomoh Also offer abortion act.
Do u think this is safe for women.???
NO , definitely NO.
Life is precious, but i think to stop the pregnancy occur before the fetus form it’s not to stop the life, since it’s still in just small cell.
so , abortion within 3 months is acceptable, and should be open offer to all women and girls who have this kind of problems.
For the benefits of all.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Thank you for sharing. I think proper contraception is the better alternative. Do speak to your doctor about it.
September 24th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Little me: I wish to correct your statement. According to the latest Mlaysian Maternal mortality report, there is NO Maternal death due to abortion (early abortion within 3 months). The morbidity associate with abortion also extremely low if done by trained personel contrary to common believe.
Abortion should be part of the women’s right after adequate counselling.
October 26th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
btw, can v get ru486 in msia?
October 26th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
http://www.mims.com/Page.aspx?menuid=mng&name=mifepristone
November 13th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
in my humble opinion, i think abortion should be legalize if the mother health are not in risk. such as 49 days of pregnancy when the fetus is not yet been form, i think is ok for abortion since it is not so dangerous yet to remove from it i think. and about those religious stuff or kindness or sympathy stuff. i think is bullcrap because when u saying abortion is equal to killing a baby/human/life, then i’m sure u do not study biology before. if your so-called is cruel to abortion statement is correct, then every move we made, every minute, every second u will be crying out loud and asking god y this world has become so cruel.. because every sec cells dies, bacteria dies. it will be so sad and in the future we might invade mars to place cementary and held funeral for cells there.. wow!!
i know we(baby makers) are responsible for making the baby. but accident do happens and we must seek for the best solution. and zane80 totally say it right about this.
please people, don’t be too religious. god love us and he surely don’t like us use him as an excuses for blaming people. concentrate on improvement rather than complain. keeps on complain and blaming wont help anything but produce extra problem to the world like terrorist did.
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Whatever you do, don’t legalize abortion there! I am from the United States, and it is legal here and it has been an unbelievable nightmare! We have thousands of women dead, millions who have been seriously injured, a great increase in cerebral palsy and breast cancer, millions of women who agonize over the abortions they had, and general unrest and conflict in society. Legalizing abortion does NOT make it safe. And by the way, medical abortions are very dangerous. The second course of medication usually given can kill a woman in hours. The manufacturer says it is NOT to be given to a pregnant woman. In my opinion, giving it to a pregnant woman is malpractice. When there is no medical problem, abortion is being done to a perfectly healthy woman, and the consequences of abortion are not outweighed by some medical problem, so it is all a one-sided risk. As for the babies, there are plenty of people willing to adopt and raise these children. We adopted and raised two, and one of our daughters has adopted two. Even though it is highly desirable to discourage women from having babies out of wedlock, grandparents really owe it to their daughters to welcome the new grandchild and to support her. And I am speaking from experience here, too, because we have one grandchild who was born out of wedlock. He is just as precious as our other seven grandchildren. Sex education can also be a nightmare. Unmarried women need to look out for their own best interests. That means not subjecting themselves to this kind of risk. They deserve better. And by the way, real feminists oppose abortion. http://www.feministsforlife.org/ Also, you don’t want to encourage abortion for a rape victim, simply because it is a far deeper invasion of her body. In my personal experience, the women I have known who became pregnant from rape, the two who kept their babies are doing just fine, but the woman who had an abortion has been in and out of mental hospitals for years. People should stop using rape for their political agenda. Most women who have been raped don’t even want an abortion, but society puts unbelievable pressure on them through expecting them to have an abortion. And by the way, contrary to what some people here have said, the baby has a heartbeat, brain waves, eyes, and FINGERS by the time most women are sure they are pregnant! And by the eighth week, the baby is fully formed. People who want to cite biology ought not to tell tall tales (in other words, they need to be informed, and they shouldn’t lie). Our experience says the only way to protect women from unscrupulous butchers is to keep abortion ILLEGAL. If it’s legal, you will have a proliferation of butchers, and it will be LESS safe than when it’s illegal, because butchers who operate legally aren’t afraid of getting caught!
January 19th, 2010 at 1:50 am
i had an abortion when my pregnancy was 6 weeks old in a clinic.it cost me RM 550. but my concern in whether or not it will affect my pregnancies in the future?i did not know anything when it was going on. All i know is they injected me with something that had me unconcious and next moment, it have already been done. i was told to go for check up a week later n went for the check up and they gave me some kind of pills, so called to strengthen my uterus
February 6th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
I’m getting my abortion today. It’s extremely hard in this country to decide otherwise, and honestly if I had any choice in this I would keep it. No matter how old you are I reckon if you’re still unmarried, the whole society would disapprove of having a child. Although abortion is illegal, the personal individual consequence of keeping the child would be harder. This is what I do not understand. Why illegalize abortion if keeping it is seen as a whole new sin?
If I were to keep this child, my parents would have to kill me first. My dad would probably disown me. My family would never want to see me again. They would tell their friends I ran away or something like that. Honestly, for those who abide by the law and not get an abortion in this country, there would be no support available. Not from their families, at least. The most support would be (if i was very, very lucky) that I would have to marry my boyfriend. And neither of us are ready for that. Yes, we have planned marriage but we are too young and financially unstable to be taking care of each other, yet alone a child!
I am scared today even, not of the physical or emotional pain I would probably experience, but of the fact that my family might suspect something is wrong with me. I was even contemplating whether to do the medical or surgical abortion by the side effects obvious to people living with me.
In conclusion, abortion is an extremely hard decision to make, but Malaysia gives no support or sympathy to those who decide otherwise.
May 8th, 2010 at 8:31 am
I was thinking of getting abortion. I am going to get married but my househole financial is not allowed to have a child. and yet after my resignation then only i found out that i am preganant. I would alomost guarantee there would not be any employee would wants to hire a pregnant lady. i do pratice safe sex (condom / pills) all the while, but i dont know how i get pregannt.
i am very unhappy. and yes i would really wanted to keep the child as it my first baby. Yet my financial not allowed. if anyone know any company in KL wouldnt mind hiring pregnant admin or clerical staff, i would appreciate you posted it here or leave ur email.
in malaysia, pregnant lady really hard to survive, if they are those who pregnant b4 marriage, i really pity them as they are so few helping hands around who really wanted to help them.
most malaysian only know how to stand on not to legalize abortion but there are accident, i think we should have more topic on how to get better benefits for pregnant mums, married or not married.
June 29th, 2010 at 10:24 am
unhappy but agree with little me.it’s not dangerous if its being done by authorised medical practitioner. once my friend did abortion for two times and yet now she had already married with her bf b4, she got a baby boy and they live happily.b4 they were still in universities.if they continued pregnancy,families would not accept them,so does the community.their life would be destroyed,expel from university if found unwed etc.this is sure a personal decision to be made by individual.but the consequences might be better..they did it b4 in one of the famous private hosp in kl 4 rm500.the nurses took a good care n thank you for the doctors for giving my friends a bright future that day
June 29th, 2010 at 10:31 am
sorry for giving such comments but i think,malaysian is not open to this issue.so who will help the girls who get pregnant b4 marriage?too many cases of unwanted babies being thrown here n there, including the dumping area??thanks for the ngo for opening a shelter for these babies.this is not the best result,but at least the babies could be saved..