VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Deputy for the Protection of Women's Rights, Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA), Ratna Susianawati, made assurance of continued state protection to women from the practice of abortion that has lately become rampant.

"The state has clearly regulated and is present to ensure that abortion is prohibited," Susianawati noted in a statement, here on Sunday.

"This is to protect and guarantee the right to life and survival for every human being, including fetuses, who have not yet been born," she affirmed.

However, Susianawati pointed out that abortion is allowed in special-case scenarios, such as life-threatening medical emergencies and pregnancies resulting from rape.

She noted that the PPPA Ministry highlighted the abortion case involving an eight-month pregnant woman from Banyuasin District, South Sumatra Province, who died of bleeding after an illegal abortion process was performed on her in a hotel room.

The police have arrested two suspects in the case.

"We are sorry for the death of a woman from Banyuasin District due to bleeding caused by an illegal abortion in a hotel room when she was eight months pregnant," she stated.

"This practice of illegal abortion not only threatens the life of the mother but also the fetus in the womb," she cautioned.

Susianawati said the prohibition on abortion has been regulated in Law Number 36 of 2009 Article 75, paragraph (1) concerning health, which states that everyone is prohibited from having an abortion.

"This rule illustrates that the state is present through statutory provisions made to protect and guarantee the right to life and survival of every creature, including unborn fetuses," she stated.

Paragraph (2) of the Health Law further stipulated that abortion can be done based on medical emergency indications detected at an early age of pregnancy.

These emergency indications include those that threaten the life of the mother and/or fetus who suffer from severe genetic diseases and/or congenital defects, as well as those that cannot be cured, thereby making it difficult for the baby to live outside the womb.

Moreover, abortion can be conducted in pregnancies resulting from rape that can cause psychological trauma to the victim.

Based on Article 194 of the law, anyone intentionally having an abortion not in accordance with the provisions referred to in Article 75, paragraph (2) will be subject to a maximum imprisonment of 10 years and be fined up to Rp1 billion. (Antaranews)