Grounds on Which Abortion Is Permitted s2

Malaysia

ABORTION POLICY

Grounds on which abortion is permitted:

To save the life of the woman Yes To preserve physical health Yes To preserve mental health Yes Rape or incest No Foetal impairment No Economic or social reasons No Available on request No

Additional requirements:

Third-party authorization by a medical professional is required. The legal period allowed is 120 days and the woman’s consent is required.

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CONTEXT

Government view on fertility level: Too high

Government intervention concerning fertility level: To lower

Government policy on contraceptive use: Direct support provided

Percentage of currently married women using modern contraception (aged 15-49, 1988): 31

Total fertility rate (1995-2000): 3.2

Age-specific fertility rate (per 1,000 women aged 15-19, 1995-2000): 25

Government has expressed particular concern about: Morbidity and mortality resulting from induced abortion Yes Complications of childbearing and childbirth Yes

Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births, 1990): National 80 South-eastern Asia 440

Female life expectancy at birth (1995-2000): 74.3

Source: Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references. 119 Malaysia

BACKGROUND

Under the former language of section 312 of the Penal Code of Malaysia, which was in effect until 1989, the only legal basis for the performance of an abortion was to save the life of the pregnant woman.

In April 1989, however, section 312 of Act 727 of the Penal Code was amended substantially to permit abortion if a medical practitioner was of the opinion, formed in good faith, that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman, or injury to the mental or physical health of the pregnant woman, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated. The change appears to reflect to some degree the view of Malaysia’s population. A national fertility and family survey found that 71 per cent of the women surveyed endorsed abortion on the grounds of rape or incest; 54.3 per cent endorsed it if the woman was unmarried, 52.2 per cent for health reasons and 34.5 per cent for economic and social reasons.

If an abortion is performed in violation of the provisions of section 312 of the Penal Code and the woman consents, both she and the person performing the abortion are subject to up to seven years’ imprisonment and payment of a fine if she is “quick” with child; if she is not “quick” with child, they are subject to up to three years’ imprisonment and/or payment of a fine. A woman is usually considered to be “quick” with child around the fourth month of pregnancy. If the woman does not consent, the person performing the abortion is subject to up to 20 years’ imprisonment and payment of a fine whether the woman is “quick” with child or not. If the abortion results in the death of the woman and she has consented, the person performing the abortion is subject to up to 10 years’ imprisonment and payment of a fine; if she did not consent, the person is subject to up to 20 years’ imprisonment.

Information on the incidence of abortion is not readily available. A report issued prior to the 1989 amendment of section 312 of the Penal Code estimated an abortion ratio of one in three live births. In addition, induced abortion ratios per 100 pregnancies have reportedly more than doubled, with ratios in urban areas three times as high as in rural areas.

Citing the advantages of a larger population in providing both an expanded domestic market and a reservoir of labour resources, the Government promulgated a revised population policy in 1984, which sought to decelerate the tempo of the decline in the fertility rate and to stabilize population size at about 70 million by the year 2010.

Under the new programme, the family is being promoted as the basic unit of society. The “total family concept” calls for greater emphasis on parenting, child development, marriage and family counselling and for the provision of childcare facilities to allow women to combine parenting with labour-market activities. At the same time, the Government reported that, according to family planning surveys, a sizeable proportion of the couples that did not want additional children were not practising contraception and that many couples were relying upon inefficient traditional methods. The Government concluded that the situation called for greater educational efforts to bring those under-served target groups into the programme.

Malaysia has over 25 years of history of family planning. In 1966, the Malaysian Parliament passed the National Family Planning Act and established the National Family Planning Board to formulate policies and methods for the promotion and spread of family planning practices in the country. The Employment Ordinance of 1955, which provided for a maternity leave and allowance for a period of 60 days, was amended in 1976 to disallow a maternity allowance to a woman with three or more children.

A comprehensive family planning programme was formulated as part of the Sixth Malaysian Development Plan for the period 1991-1995. Both the Ministry of Health and the Malaysian Federation of Family Planning Associations disseminate information and family planning services to both men and women.

Source: Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references. 120