Abortion in Malaysia - A Short Thread

1. Abortion is governed by s312 of the Penal Code. Abortion is illegal in Malaysia with two exceptions. The first is if a medical practitioner is of the opinion that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the woman’s life. https://t.co/PgOHRJ2jPY

2. The second is if a medical practitioner is of the opinion that continuance of the pregnancy would involve injury to the mental or physical health of the woman that is greater than if the pregnancy is terminated.

3. If an abortion is done outside of these two exceptions, it would amount to a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment up to 7 years and a fine.

4. This becomes problematic in some circumstances, for example, a rape victim who is pregnant as a result of the rape cannot get an abortion and is forced to bear the perpetrator’s child.

5. She is forced to do so unless she can prove that the pregnancy would cause a risk to her life or cause her physical or mental injury greater than the continuance of the pregnancy. This may not always be the case and would depend on a medical practitioner.

6. The recent leaked US Supreme Court majority opinion overturning Roe v Wade decision have reignited interest in this issue. The crux of leaked draft opinion is, (1) The US Constitution does not recognise a right to abortion.

7. (2) Roe v Wade was wrongly decided and must be overturned because it omitted the fact that when it was decided, the common law, most countries and the majority of the states still outlawed abortion. The drafters never intended for abortion right to be part of the constitution

8. (3) The issue of whether abortion should be legalised should instead be left to the legislature of each state and not for the judiciary to decide. Roe v Wade had usurped the legislative process by holding that abortion right is protected under the constitution.

9. While any US Supreme Court decision has no legal bearing in Malaysia, it would certainly create public discourse all over the world on abortion rights. In Malaysia, it’s high time we have a similar discourse because Malaysian law is extremely rigid when it comes to abortion.

10. Whilst the State does have a legitimate interest in regulating abortion, the woman’s bodily autonomy must be taken into account as well. Laws cannot be so rigid and one-sided that it deprives women of their dignity,life and liberty.

11. We don’t want to drive abortion underground because that would only punish those less aware, the marginalised. Bad medical practices would fester and it becomes a public health concern. We must have an honest discussion about abortion.