The WHO has disclosed that an average of 73.3 million – safe and unsafe – abortions took place worldwide per year between 2015 and 2019, with the rate of abortions being higher in developing regions than in developed ones.

Women, including adolescents, with unwanted pregnancies often resort to unsafe abortion for several reasons, including restrictive laws, stigma, conscientious objection of healthcare providers and unnecessary requirements, such as mandatory waiting periods, mandatory counselling, third-party authorization and medically unnecessary tests that delay care.

Riznawaty Imma Aryanty, reproductive health program specialist at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Indonesia, said the issue of abortion was always sensitive, not only in Indonesia but everywhere in the world, even in countries where it was broadly legal, with high stigma regarding abortion.

“In Indonesia, abortion is legal for medical indications and in rape cases. However, due to sensitivity of the terminology, people tend to avoid using the word abortion,” she told The Jakarta Post by email on Tuesday.

“Women may hide the fact that they have attempted to terminate [unintended] pregnancies, so they try different ways and seek help only when there are complications. The problems are very complex.”

Earlier, she gave a presentation at the 10th Asia Pacific Conference on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (APCRASRH10), held online on Sept. 28, the date an NGO has declared as International Safe Abortion Day.

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